Should I go o/o?

Welcome aboard. Well, there was a time if you bought a truck without any mechanical skills, you were a dad-burned fool. Today, with trucks being so much more reliable, it's entirely possible to do that. I'd say the bigger question, is can you handle the business end of it. It's where I made my big mistake. I did all my own repair work, but lacked the business smarts. Pretty tough these days making it as an O/O, especially with repairs, and all trucks break.So, I'd say don't do it. So many good company jobs out there today, might take a couple to find a home, but O/O's don't make a heck of a lot more at the end of the day ( or year), however, it is rewarding having your own. Sadly, that doesn't pay the bills. Insurance today will kill ya', too. Good luck.

 

The more small mechanical things you can do to your truck, the better. Grease it, yes that means get under it. Look for anything that could be loose, falling off. Leaks, belt wear. Just because you can't rebuild your engine etc doesn't mean you can't do the smaller stuff. Trucks take a beating on a lot of these bumpy roads. Spring u-bolts, suspension bushings. The guys at the TA, speedco, or where ever point out some things. Bottom line its your truck, if you are the owner opp. They don't have skin in the game. Not saying you have to do it this way, but save $ where you can. Catching a potential problem before you are setting, waiting for road service.

 

No. If you want to know why, look at some of the o/o threads in the owner operator section of the forum.

 

Just got get a good paying job with bennies somewhere! I have never ever seen so many help wanted signs in my life!

Ohio is booming at least!

Seriously man.....it is SOOOO much work going O/O...I don't know if I would do it again.

You are either sleeping or driving or wrenching or thinking about the company and that is it. Everything else suffers.

 

Just because you don't know now doesn't mean you can't learn. There is enough sources out there to learn how to do the basic stuff. Get a good mechanic that will let you watch them or see if your company's mechanic will let you watch them do PM on your company truck. Being an O/O is not something to just jump into. You should take time to learn both the mechanical side and the business side. I kept track of my company trucks expenses for over a year and took every opportunity I could to get under the truck with the mechanics and help before I made the jump to O/O. I can tell you I only made a little over 6,600 dollars more my first quarter then I did as a company driver for the same company I am leased onto. That number is for four months also. IMO people become an O/O for the freedom they can have more then the possible money they can make. So take your time and soak in as much info as you can.

 

been an o/o for a long time and I have gotten to the point of not doing much work at all on the truck use to do almost everything just don't want to spend my days off turning wrenches have a good shop that I trust to do most of my work .. I don't think you have to have any more mechanical ability being an o/op than a company driver ... you need to learn the simple easy stuff as you go .... most of the problems today are with the electronics or def and your not going to be able to work on anyways

 

At the very least you need to be a diagnostics EXPERT and have 2-4 off the beaten path shops within 60 miles of your parking spot that really know you and your rig and know what they are doing.

Just my .02

 

At the risk of being called everything from a know it all to a bad guy, if you have to ask that question you are not ready.

 

Know it all bad guy.