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

I do not think anyone who managed to survive as a o/o is a fool. Nor do I think that people who dropped out due to major expenses early were fools.

There are degrees of risk that people are willing to take. There are also many different types of risk that must be considered.

I have chosen a path that seems less risky to me. I have chosen stable, dependable freight with access to a large company health plan and fuel discounts, over less dependable freight and dealing with insurance and fuel on my own.

Other drivers would prefer to have had no debt at all to start. My financial situation made that a non-issue.

Some drivers wouldn't want to buy another driver's problem, and would want a new truck. I bought the same truck I had been driving for 250k miles with Crete.

Some drivers would want to handle all aspects of their paperwork, billing, etc, themselves. I definitely do not want that, as it simply takes away from either money-making time, or rest time.

I'm learning. I've made mistakes. Nothing horrible yet, I'm still in the game. At this point, even if my engine or transmission goes tomorrow, I'll be staying in the game, as my emergency maintenance account is over 15k, and I have 6k liquid and 10k credit available.

I am on track to pay off the truck without stretching my finances by mid year next year, after about 18 months. I could possibly pay it off as early as January if the miles stay strong and I choose to stretch my finances a bit to end payments. At that point I will have driven the truck around 180k miles, and have about 50k miles left on the extended warrantee. There is a very good chance I will trade the truck for a new or 1-year-lease return truck at that point.

Moving to a company with a load board is going to happen if I remain an o/o for more than a year, but I won't pull the trigger on that for at least another few months. Pretty sure I either want the truck paid off, or a new truck before I do that.

 

Well, a mystery was resolved, but I forgot to mention the resolution. During my last year-to-date recap, I noted an odd mileage discrepancy.

Turns out that was an entire week's mileage missing from a month because I turned in my settlement a day late in the last week of that month. Oops. Not a biggie. That's why o/o should have at least several weeks of operating expenses in the bank.

This last week was a nice week:
Victorville, CA to Irving, TX.
Waco, TX to Joliet, IL.
Yorkville, IL to Hazleton, PA.
Hazleton, PA to Austell, GA.

Total of all paid miles, a hair over 4000.

It wasn't a real 4000 mile week though. I drove last Monday and today, so it was 8 calendar days.

On a side note, I stayed in the Raphine, VA Petro's hotel for a 34 this last weekend. It's not bad for sleeping in. A solid 2 star hotel room. Small room. Tiny desk. Decent bed. AC tried to freeze me out, even set at 72. The thermostat looked like it might have been installed in 1972.

 

Well, this week has been pretty meh.

I lost a half day of driving due to waiting for a repower in the Wilmer yard, because there were no account loads immediately available.

The load was Wilmer, TX to Victorville, CA.

I made it to Barstow, CA in two full days driving.

Stopped at 33 miles until delivery. BUT my load out of Victorville would not have been ready for 12 hours or more after I arrived, AND I would be forced to take a 34 the day after that.

Rather than flip my sleep schedule over 24 hours, I asked to deliver the current load tomorrow AM, giving me time to take a 34.

I will finish a 34, roll in tomorrow early AM, and immediately roll out again with the loaded trailer.

This is one reason why I like the account I am on. We rarely have firm delivery schedules.

 

Well, folks, the last couple days have been rough.

I either ate something that gave me a touch of food poisoning, or I got a taste of this year's flu.

My reaction developed too slowly and lasted too long for it to be food poisoning, I think.

Two days ago, I had some minor stomach discomfort.

Yesterday, the fever started, some more stomach issues, and a couple more bathroom stops than normal, but some Pepto Bismol and a couple aspirin kept me in shape to drive.

Last night and today were bad. Despite taking pepto bismol, an anti diuretic and some more aspirin, I woke up every 2 hours last night for a run into the restroom at the truck stop. Then, while driving, my stomach was cramping and I was stopping every 100 miles for extensive and very 'productive' restroom breaks.

I literally lost about 10 lbs today, despite taking in a lot of fluids. No joke.

Right now, I think it's done.

The fever wasn't bad at all, I only felt the barest bit of discomfort from it, and could concentrate fine, but the GI tract issues were pretty #### severe, despite over the counter medicines.

If you have elderly relatives or children, I strongly suggest you get them the vaccination for this year's flu, and make sure you have something to restore their fluids and electrolytes.

 

Well, the last couple days have been annoying.

Yesterday, I picked up a nice load running from Hazleton, PA to Dallas, TX.

Had to stop a few miles from pickup and put a mud flap on the trailer.

Today, I lost the LFI trailer tire at speed, and never noticed it until I stopped for lunch. I suspect dry rot related failure. The trailer is one of our older reefer units still on the road, and every tire had significant wear, but none had severe wear or under inflation. I asked the shop to give a close inspection of the other 7 tires as a second opinion, and they agreed with me that the remaining tires seem good.

Hopefully, they and I, are right, and I can get this trailer to Dallas without any more 'fun.'