Starting new as O/O

If you can team drive, I cannot sleep in a moving truck, you can make that kind of money team driving for FedEx, Old Dominion, and some other LTL companies. Frito-Lay ain't paying $100k as far as I know. They are advertising $50-60k in my area. If you choose well and have a perfectly clean background you can make $50k or better as a newbie. Stay at your first company 1-2 years and you can work for 90% of other trucking companies. The LTL companies, especially if you team, is where company drivers make the best money. Those companies are hardest to hire on to/have the highest experience requirements. The key is to not volunteer to work at junk companies that treat you like a used kleenex which increases your chances of getting tickets, getting fired or quitting under bad circumstances, etc which knocks you out of getting hired at the better companies. Job #1 is to protect your record/license at ALL costs. The best way to do that is to stay put until you have info from drivers at the company you want to work for and you honestly decide that is the type of work that works for you. Then build up your experience levels which allows you to go to the better places. Wherever you are at, stay there and build seniority and learn the job until you are CERTAIN you have found the next rung on the ladder to improve your career. Then move and endure the low-seniority "perks" until you get the better conditions. Moving too often, moving based on some "promises", moving to "try it out" are good ways to get trapped at mediocre or poor companies. Bad companies make your daily life harder and increase the chances you will ruin your "resume." Remember Rule #1

 

IMO, anyone entering this field NEEDS to get one solid year at ONE company at a minimum to be eligible for better jobs in year 2. So whether a newbie picks "free training" in exchange for a 1 year contract or they pay for their own CDL they should consider themself "stuck" at their first company whether they have a contract or not. In my mind that means NOT rolling the dice, signing a contract with Everybody Stinks Trucking and accepting $300/week. It means don't pick the first company until you have enough info to be certain you can stay there 1 year. Anyone that shortcuts the research will pay the price and greatly increases their chances of starting and quitting trucking in the same year. There is no safety in being just a number at a big company some newbie found in a 3 second Google search and assuming you will get average pay and average miles and things will work out. Newbies that do that are very likely to have little to show for their time but an outstanding bill for CDL school repayment and be looking for their next career. Research is required if anyone wants good results. Make long-term decisions to get long-term results. The majority of bitter opinions come from the guys that felt they were owed a good outcome and did little to make that happen. Like a child they claim it's the company's responsibility to make them happy or the industry must make companies make them happy, or the govt must make companies make them happy. It's your life, be responsible.

 

Many or most of the guys selling the idea of a newbie starting as an Owner-Op or Lease-Op haven't finished their first year doing it, so they haven't faced the big tax bill they will owe. 99% of every YouTube video by some new O-O or L-O is either forgetting to deduct the taxes he owes, or is too clueless to know he's got a huge tax bill coming his way. They are making no distinction between having $5k per week in revenue and having a W-2 paycheck of $5k per week. His revenue or settlement of $5k is leaving out thousands per week in expenses or expenses AND taxes. I don't know if the guys on YouTube are all dishonest, ignorant, or equally divided between dishonest and ignorant. No newbie is walking into a $900/week truck payment plus all of the other expenses and depositing $100k in after-tax income in their first year. EVERYONE of those guys says that's what's going to happen when they start their YouTube celebrity videos. Compare the number of "I just started my new lease and I'm going to be rich" videos and then notice how many of those YT stars just stop posting all videos and disappear. Hardly any of them last 1 year. It's easy to hide from the IRS for 11 months. Every day after that it becomes more certain the IRS knocks on their door and the discover reality.

 

Why wait? Buy the Truck and Trailer now, since you have the cash. Take written tests, practice in your new T/T and go take road test. Learn as you go, sounds like you’re a fast learner. Soon you’ll have more coin than you can spend.

 

You will find the experience closer to this picture.

I wouldnt take a loan out to buy a truck. If you have to buy, make sure you have the cost to replace the truck that is equal to what it cost to purchase.

 

Why do so many try to sugar coat it !!!!!!! There are of few of us who say it the way it really is and are blunt about it. Can you they say “silver spoon” ? They want it handed to them when we earn what we work hard for.

 

OK I get it, you think this is going to be easy and you will make replacement income or better.

Alright ...

Come on ... we all know who it is.

Why pay for private school?

I mean you mentioned a "freind" who is in this business, go get your permit and work for him while he is driving to learn, you can't come up with a better (read ... FREE) solution that would get you road experience and on top of that start your O/O learning like that.

5 YEARS. Anything less puts you into the 75% failure category.

Well READ the next quote I posted ... and read it again.

Look I am an old prick and will not sugar coat this, I am in this business to make money and one way I make money is off of people like you who thought they would make it because it sounds so easy. Beside owning a fleet, I buy up assets, most are distressed and I either liquidate them or incorporate them into my fleet. I have a bunch of trucks and even more drivers and make good money BUT it is hard work, even with one truck, because it isn't the good times that matter but hedging against bad times.

So if I had someone come to me and ask if they could make money, I would tell them of course but then you could lose all of it with stupid moves. In the case of your friend, he is feeding you a bunch of crap by leaving out the failure issue, and Ruthless makes a great point, if your friend tells you that the waters fine, go on in, then he could help you by proving it is by financing you. AND his point is clear, we hear this crap ALL THE TIME and it is amazing that we don't hear from people wanting to make the big bucks why the failure rate in good times is still well over 85%.

Yep pay for it, that way people like me can walk into a deal. I just bought four trucks this past week and the owner was so desperate to produce something, I didn't want them but he kept bothering me and the broker so I offered .... $25k for all of them and got all of them for $25k.

OK here is the thing, many of us run into this thing about "i have business knowledge" but most of the time it doesn't apply. If you had a business with employees where you had to actually strategist to keep/gain market share, then I could see it helping but otherwise ... nope. Some of the best run O/O had no business knowledge but a willingness to learn.

Yeah more people are getting laid off and some are getting fired, so of course trucking is the last resort for them, the OP Is wanting to make a change, I think if he does it right and listens, he will be fine.

AND how does this help you?

Seriously this is important, like I said, if your friend is so good, then let him teach you how he does things, and run with him. Let him buy you a truck, they are cheap, put you in the seat to learn and get your CDL, then put you on the road. This is the BEST way to learn ...

BUT I think your friend won't. I think he is afraid of the competition, which is all too common. Reality is that there is enough work to be found and had that no one should struggle but most will think it is so secretive that it has to be kept to themselves.

Well listen to the negative, listen to it carefully because if you don't, well you will fail.

 

If you're doing really well with your business, that gross will be 300k+ per truck with 100k+ bring home....buuuuuutttt ....

If You're expecting to walk in the door as green as your grass and be there right away?? Lol... No.

The last guy I gave critical advice .... he totally ignored it and his business was folded within a year because of stupid mistake after mistake I warned him about.. that was easily correctable.
Such a #### shame....but so many want to walk in on that ground floor and be the big man on the first day!!


@Ridgeline. ... Covered the bases well on that post !!

 

Union companies?... my first choice would be UPS if you qualify