Taking the plunge. My journey as an O/O.

Your tires are probably recaps. Not virgins. Thus, the different brands.

 

There is no learning how to operate a trucking business by being a mileage paid o/o. You will learn some by being on percentage and you will learn even more by booking your own loads, then getting own authority is just dealing with extra paperwork.

 

Good luck.

Leasing / purchasing a truck from the same entity that also has complete control over your income is seldom a good thing.

 

Specially at $1 per mile.

What's he gonna do for dinner?

 

I’ll buy.

But only at Club 76.

 

You’ll do just fine.Only thing I would be wary of is making sure you get maintenance fund if you quit. I personally think you’re making a good decision. One step at a time. You should make considerabley more than when Company Driver. Add the deductions/ depreciation you’ll do good at tax time also.Meanwhile Planning for next move.Considering the current New Carrier insurance rates. It’s a costly adventure getting own authority.Same with buying a trailer. Each step you increase revenue at an added cost.Taking a week off gets much more expensive as Overhead grows.Exit plan should include possibility of owing more than Truck is worth.You bought the farm now, May as well plan on a good 2 yrs. with this Truck for better or worse, before being able to Exit above water. Best of Luck. You know you work hard either way. Might as well be with Your Truck.

 

Taxes. Deductions. Fuel planning. Making sure to get, keep, and organize receipts. There are a lot of details and habits one must deal with as an o/o, no matter if one has their own authority or not.

 

Farmer do not even listen to all the naysayers. You will be just fine, and in fact. You are probably smarter and better off doing it the way you are. Just make sure
1) don't get comfortable and stay there forever.
2) PAY YOUR QUARTERLY TAXES
3) Put money into your maint fund every week.
4) Do not use maint fund unless you have no other option. One good thing about being leased onto a mega is. They will front money for large maint bills and take back in payments.
5) Set monthly goals and do not go home till they are met.
6) when your home remember you have a job. Get back to it.
7) ALWAYS always always keep your eyes and ears open. Opportunities pop up when least expected.

 

well I guess I did it wrong I didn't have a exit plan when I started on my own but made it 30 years so far .... you're what i call a tweener because you are going to be between a company driver and a owner operator but do not have any of the benefits of either. .... you still will have someone telling you what to do and when the truck breaks down you have to fix it . the pay you are getting is pretty low with today's rates hopefully you are getting paid for the deadhead miles that makes up for a lot . but this really isn't a bad way to find out if you want to do this or not . certainly better than staying a company driver and always wondering what if. and not everyone is cut out to be an owner operator and the longer you stay a company driver the harder it seems to make the transition. and there isn't anything wrong with being a company driver and there are a lot less headaches. it's a lot harder than you realize to be a good load planner and you won't have to worry about that just taking care of the truck. well good luck

 

Thanks!

Yes, I do get paid deadhead miles. Same rate as loaded miles. My deadhead miles on this account are usually rather low though.

Today I received my first load as an o/o. No major malfunctions yet. My fuel card worked without needing to make any phone calls.

I also reconfigured my CAT Scale app to charge me, rather than the company.