Owner Operator in this Economy

I am in the same boat as you are on this idea. I am finishing school in December and I want to go out and be a O/O. I talked to a close friend who is an O/O and he said unless you can find something lucrative to get on with that you know you will be working for a while do get into it right now. Depending on where you are located you may just find this in your area. Many energy jobs are coming up and they are looking for drivers so they may be willing to hire on O/O's to help out. I currently work in a DC and i have not seen as many O/O trucks as I used to the last was an O/O for heartland express and before that was a O/O for SNI but for the most part its company drivers coming in with company trucks. Hope this help you out some. Also if you do find something please share it.

 

If you find the right gig there's plenty of money to be made.

 

I wouldn't recommend a newbie be an owner operator no matter what the economy is at the time. Why on earth would you want to do that without knowing what you will be getting for miles, who your dispatcher will be, if you even like the company etc... Not to mention you have absolutely no clue about the industry, knowledge about fuel and brokerage.

Not being negative here. I have been an owner operator for many years and though there is money to be made you need the experience and knowledge first. Make all your mistakes on the companies dime.

I highly recommend you drive company for at least one year. Learn everything you absolutely can about the industry, the truck, the freight. Learn to refine your driving so that you aren't burning up all of your profit in fuel. Newbies burn up lots of fuel, tires, and brakes and those things are very costly. Keep track of everything you do while you are out there and see how you did as if you owned the truck. You may just find you will make more as a company driver. Most important of all, save your money! You want to have at least $20,000 in the bank before embarking on that adventure. One good breakdown could cost you a second mortgage!

Another thing that will really help is to learn all you can about running your own business. There are lots of good materials on cd you can listen to while driving down the road and a lot of good books you can read while waiting to get loaded.

Good luck to you, I really hope you heed this advise.

 

My question is, how would either one of you lease on to a company with no experience or no recent experience?

You sure don't want a mileage lease. Most of the companies that have percentage leases require multiple years of experience.

Don't even think about a lease purchase unless you want to get a weekly bill instead of a paycheck for weeks with home time or breakdowns.

 

Mileage lease is not that bad in some cases. You have to look at the entire package no matter which way you go. In my case, the carrier reimburses me for my base plate, and the total cost per week for what they require is a whopping $38. Meanwhile I get to capitalize on all their negotiated fuel discounts, which can be substantial, and the cost for using their fuel card is a terrible .35 to .75 a transaction. Dead head is compensated, unlike most if not all percentage based carriers.

The total package determines the best way to go. Percentage can be better, but not always. It is a business decision and you have to run the numbers on the entire package. There is no one way that is better than the other. It isn't what you make, it is all about the net at the end.

 

I like ppl who think like this. More money for me on a percentage as you dont know what your doing. Get the experience first and learn everything you can while on the company dime. This is why ppl get into lease purchase deals and go broke. They think they know it all and can make money on a mileage deal. The name of the game is making the most money which means getting paid the highest amount you can while hauling the least amount of lbs. Do you even know what write offs you have or like how much 1/10 of a mile per gal increase would save you? These are all things you need to learn plus tons more. Im not trying to talk you out of it just trying to makyou do, dont be dumb. Its a business and has to be treated as such or you will go down in flames.

 

I just recently bought my first truck and leased on with a company out of Denver and so far so good. I have been running 3,700 then taking a 48hr reset at home then back out again..

Seems to be working well.

However, if you are a "newbie" i would not recomend being an owner...

 

It's up to the individual regarding being an O/O. Got to have some business sense, plans, goals, $$, etc...

My philosophy is that being an O/O should be everyone's goal, but that's just my thoughts. Some folks though are happy with what they're doing and I respect that.

As a newbie... No way would I suggest or encourage it. Must get some training and experience and learn the industry first and foremost.