So, I watched a YouTube Trucker video

I started at OD in 2013

 

the more I learn the less I actually want to know. Easier to stay happy that way.

 

they’re a good LTL company. I thought ABF was a mismanaged joke by comparison and didn’t stick around long.

 

ABF is still around. They're one of the last union jobs in LTL. They pay great and their benefits are outstanding.

 

Are you talking gross or net? Your numbers seem pretty good. Hell, in this environment I think that's great.

 

That's great. So you're hauling mostly direct?

 

She's nice to look at too!

 

You definitely aren’t who he was referring to. In my opinion there is a huge difference in what I have seen you post and those that @Long FLD was referencing. A few on the forum are determined their way is the only way to success. You clearly are proud of your great paying job with a well run company. I feel like you are letting people know how good you have it so maybe they can try to better themselves if they want a change. In my opinion you should be proud of your job because you have the caliber job in trucking not everyone has. Pride in one’s accomplishments is something I have and I highly respect others that have it.
I have posted my income occasionally not looking to brag, but simply to show others who may need a different avenue what is available. The vast majority of folks I personally know outside this forum who make $100,000 + a year driving a truck for someone else, who have also inquired personally to me about buying a rig I have talked out of buying a rig. Those few who I helped go from company driver to owner op (in the Carhaul business) have generally told me the same thing several years in. How great a decision it was. One owner op at my former terminal who went from company driver to owner op 8 years ago told me recently something I have felt and expressed myself. “This was a life changing experience”! It certainly was for me and for select people who are able to find success in hauling cars.
On the flip side of the coin I know several folks who are doing the exact same thing as I do leased to the same company with the same revenue opportunity as I have and they can’t make it work. Not every good truck driver has the ability to manage money and a rig and succeed. One of my best friends and the hardest worker I know, I have talked out of buying his own rig. I did so because he and his wife don’t manage money and they would spend every dime if he ran his own truck and have nothing left for rainy days. It rains on all of us eventually and when you work for yourself it is a Hurricane sometimes.

 

Gross

 

I've had a few buddies leave OD and buy their own trucks with varing degrees of success. Some tried it and failed then came back to OD. A few others are still out there owning their own trucks trying to make it. I often look at these really nice tractors out on the road and think about how awesome it would be to be your own boss. I'm not mechanically inclined enough to make it. The repair/up keep cost would be my downfall. I ran OTR for years before I started here at OD and I did enjoy the lifestyle. I still get out run when the opportunity presents itself. I love traveling and seeing different places. I definitely don't want to come across like LTL is the far superior niche in trucking. After close to 30yrs out here I got to the point where dealing with brokers, shippers, receivers, lumpers, and just the overall changes in the industry just got to me. I needed a break so here I am. I'm now a lazy freight hauler!