Owner Operator vs Company

I'd say it's a weigh the benefits thing.

The O/O may have better rigs. He probably won't make you clean out the truck for 3 days of hometime, and will probably let you take the rig to the house. You'll get to run a little quicker, but that can be a negative too. Some guys have to drive to the limit of the truck (to make money) even tho they're running 66 in a 60 zone which hurts your pocket book when the Trooper wants to say hello. Don't forget, the weigh stations will average your speed on your logbooks... Me, I use the extra speed to ramp up for a hill, but thats it.

When the O/O rig breaks down hard, what will you swap into to keep making miles? When his brother-in-law needs a job, will you be let go? When his wife (or son, etc) has a sudden expense and he has to sell an asset to cover it, will that asset be your truck? Will he be able to keep up on tires, brakes etc?

Weigh the risks and benefits carefully. Try to see the situation from a business owners point of view. Don't just jump on the extra .02/mile.

 

do the co. route first to learn the ropes. I drove 11/2 years back in '77 to '83 before my wife's uncle let me drive one of his trucks in '79. I knew how to log properly & what the OTR life-style was all about before he would trust me with his truck.

 

Will you be insured??? Will you train as a team?? There are a lot of variables when you consider going with an O/O as other members have said. With Swift you will do 50hrs as Solo driving then 190hrs or 3 weeks as a team. In total with the right trainer it will just as long with Swift as its with the o/o.

KH

 

The one advantage we may hold i guess is that we operate more like family than most companies. A seriously underpaid family , but a family none the less. LOL

 

No, not actually in the shop itself. But a driver isn't going to be expected to, for example, tear down a motor. However, there are tasks every driver should know how to do on the road... replacing bulbs, replacing damaged air lines, adding anti-icing agent into the air system if need be, and various other minor repairs, which can also help to make help the shop run more efficiently if drivers do these things on their own, rather than to create a backlog of trucks waiting to go into the shop for the sake of little things the drivers should be able to take care of themselves. I would also say that drivers should know how to change tires, but most trucks aren't very likely to carry all the stuff they need for it with them.

 

We had a small shop and when I first started driving, I use to work with the mechanic on my truck to save money.I've done many oil changes and grease jobs plus changing tires and doing small or large repairs. I think it helped me to understand the truck better. We now have a company come in to service our small fleet [ 4 trucks ] and the newer drivers don't get the same opportunity to learn .