Part time otr owner operator

Think of it this way. If you could make ok money doing it part time, why are not all O/O's who do it full time rolling in the dough? There is a reason most fail. The reason is it's a very slim margin business to be in. If one does not get it right from the start, one will likely fail. And this is working more than full time (70+ hours a week)

What I would suggest is get your CDL, get some experience in. Once you get a little experience, see if you can find an O/O that is is semi-retired and run the truck when he is not.

 

Howdy Polar86. I join your struggle. I am currently active military but have been around the trucking business my entire life. These folks post a lot of good information and what sounds like a lot of expierience, but I do believe where there is a will (and a little intelligence) you can make this work. I would love to discuss further with you in a PM but as I am new to this page I cannot, if you would like to make contact and share some ideas place your email in this post and I will respond. God Speed.

 

It's not going to do it.

The time you sit burning money that 4K load you speak of will vanish within a week or two at most, then more fixed costs due at end of month etc. Followed by quarterly settlements with Uncle Sam etc.

You have to have a bunch of cash in the bank, a paid for truck and all fixed costs currently paid up before you think you can sit a little bit. Trucking is not about sitting. It's about rolling. Once you start into this, you cannot stop.

Or your entire operation stops and then collapses under the weight of the ongoing fixed costs.

I was operating as a team for a medical distribution company during 9-11 and saw fuel prices triple to around 6 dollars a gallon. Something close to 300 gallons filled at 6.00 came out to.. 1800 roughly. Somewhere in there. Company paid the fuel ticket on demand because we hauled million dollar loads of medicines and narcotics and were constantly loaded. It would be one of the few times I deliberately did not look at the pump that awful day. Things calmed down after a few months. And as a team we needed hundreds of gallons daily. As far as I know they paid it always. And they were about 50 trucks. So... the revenue flow was there, so was the cash outflow.

Another big problem was for about 6 weeks, the company could not issue payroll settlements each payday, the attacks had destroyed and killed people who cut the checks and kept records etc. We had some savings to fall back on and keep rolling. But if we had to make that tractor sit 6 weeks it would have been a total and complete disaster. I think it was around 12,000 consumed in that time period and mostly broken even once the settlements begin to roll in again. (We were in the middle of a 4 figure room replacement from storm damage on our home that time... )

Never heard a word from our owner. He was not in the best of moods during that time so we left him be. When things calmed down and we kept rolling, he got better as the money situation improved for him and the fleet.

Ive been with a wide variety of trucking all my life, one man with two trucks and a farm up to 15000 tractor operations and everything in between. And that particular experience was something of a bond that will not be broken.

 

You want to drive part time? I wouldn't do the owner op thing for part time work. Even if you find a truck for a cheap price. There will be issues with getting her on the road if she isn't on the road all the time.

The best way to run part time would be to run for a temp company. But in order to do this, you are going to have to somehow get experience. I don't think a temp company will give you a shot if you don't have previous experience.I don't know how you can get experience and be active military at the same time.

 

Air Force Academy grad here.

Having your own authority will cost over $1000 per month. If you fail to pay it your insurance then you authority is revoked. You have to keep great records and have a separate person keep you drug records. They you have an entry audit. All pains.

No if you buy a truck talk to Landstar or some other company about leasing on to them part time. Then you just call dispatch when you want a load. Use their trailers.