Struggling as an Owner Operator in this economy.

This #### is real. The struggle is real. Husband and wife team trying to decide what to do. Have our own authority, truck and flatbed trailer and feeling the hurt of the economy. Please advise.

 

Hold on and cut your expenses

 

You are about to move into winter, which can be slower. Open deck does a lot of building materials for new home construction and industrial expansion. One can figure with raising interest rates this will dampen the demand for new builds, hence over capacity in opendeck. Minimize expenses. Possibly build a lane with a direct customer and use spot market for back/ trihaul. Your lane should cover a shortage in capacity out and inbound equally. That is what I have done and we are doing fine. I also have 22’ truck trailer and Reefer which keeps my repair cost low.

 

Maybe swap trailers? I've considered this myself. I've got a dry van but I live in the middle of flatbed territory. I should have bought a flatbed and have been considering selling my van for open deck.

Deadhead further? Rates using mileage is toast right now...you may have to tuck tail and move into a better paying area to get decent freight.

Run for less money? Or, spend less time at home... Shorter runs and staying in the truck for longer periods of time between loads seems to help, but so much time away from home really sucks balls.

Call other flatbed carriers and ask to contract with them to move their freight? I assume you want to do everything you can to keep your authority BUT you may need to work for someone else and just keep paying your insurance to keep your authority open until things get better.

Maybe become O/O for another company? Kinda the same as above except you would run under their numbers and just keep yours open for the future.

Park your truck and go be a team for another carrier?

 

I would park the truck and find a dedicated company job or run with a good ltl company, many have team positions.
Walmart is still over $100k per just for solo drivers last I know.

wait it out with a stable company job until things get better.

 

Sorry to hear your struggling. I learned this the hard way when I had stayed with a single carrier/company, I thought they will never run out of loads. Then in 1990/91, it hit, we went to war. Everything went downhill. Unfortunately I ran into another company that had a little extra freight, that’s when I realized I can NOT put all my eggs in one basket. I started looking and hauling loads(locally) for whoever had freight. Never again did I stay dedicated to one. At the moment I do stay loyal to 2 companies, but I have others that still contact me. Everything I own(Truck, trailer, and 2 homes, cars) are paid for. So if I sit for a few days, weeks, I’m not worried about it. However, like I mentioned, I’ve been in your shoes. Keep looking, don’t give up. Something should be able to come up.

 

Draw a box from Memphis to Atlanta to Cleveland to Chicago back to Memphis. That’s the sweet spot for most flatbed freight. Do not leave the box unless it pays enough to deadhead back to the box.

Main thing is keeping your head in the game. Only take loads worth the rate and time involved. If you need to sit a day or two fishing for that kind of a load, so be it.

And as others have said, cut expenses. But do so in a way that makes sense. Don’t skimp on maintenance and don’t run your personal finances broke trying to subsidize the truck. There is a point when you got to know when to fold.

If you do have to fold, do not fret. It happens. Find a carrier to lease to like Mercer or Admiral Merchants.

 

@pumpkinishere --

Time to think outside the box....?


Obviously--no one knows how bad the current recession will be--or how long it might last.

Thus, as an owner-op, it might be a decent idea to consider diversifying....by checking out other types of freight.

There's A LOT of opportunity out there--if you know where (else) to look.

I'm seeing a lot of ads for opportunities to pull cyrogenic tanker loads--for third-party carriers.

Apparently, the main cryo suppliers just can't keep up with demand--and/or can't keep enough drivers on board (but that's off-topic).

The customer base for cryo work is virtually endless...as is the list for cryo applications.

Cryo duty is clean, easy, fairly steady work--once you learn the needed skill sets.

Since you live in Indiana--I'll list examples that are relatively close to you:

Southern Pines Trucking hires owner-operators--no previous cryo experience is necessary:

Tanker (spinestrucking.com)

and

Facility Locations (spinestrucking.com)

Also--LGT Transport hires owner operators, as well...opportunites with them are nationwide for owner-op drivers:

Truck Driving Jobs | Truck Driving Careers | LGT Transport

Note that front-to-back product "surge" is NOT a problem--with cryogenic tank trailers.

The downside to the above is of course....you'lll need both tanker and hazmat endorsements to do this kind of work (if you don't already have them).

Soooo....it's up to you....

Anyway....just some food for thought.

--Lual

 

I didn’t mean to sound harsh, just direct.
With your own numbers your primary job is being a business man/woman. Driving is secondary. Many don’t even drive. The sky is the limit! You can visit companies, submit a proposal or just jump in on the annual lane bid. Relying on the spot market is risky in down turns. Many of the successful ones here don’t even drive any more or not as much. Too busy working on operations and sales. If this is too big of a leap, it’s ok. You can always lease on to a established company that doesn’t rely to much in the spot market and has customers and established lanes. Sure in a under capacity you will be hauling for less but it’s a good steady hedge to grow on. Knowing your costs/ revenue/ per mile/day is a must. If you can’t haul for less than 3.10 a mile and be a business. You don’t. There are slow times. Business cut back services during those and look long term. Hauling in a downturn can be a slow death. I do want to hear of y’all coming back here and sharing your plan when you survive this!

 

Call Paul.

FR8Connect An online direct carrier and direct shipper load matching load board.

or sign up and he’ll call back.

Flat used to slow in winter, dudes good.