Who is the BEST COMPANY a new owner operator should sign with?

CRST Malone is not for everyone, I worked for them many years ago, wasn't pleasant nor a good experience. Do your homework, check out Landstar, their a nation wide O/O company, or team with JB Hunt, find a good dedicated contract. I ended up with Fed Ex Critical, owning two trucks, and now I have a Gov't contract. Its all about the right information at hand. Best of fortune, be safe.

 

All the companies are different, just ask them everything you want to know, especially things related with your income - some companies charge $150 every year for permits, $10 weekly for fuel card usage (with no discounts to driver of course), $100 quarterly for IFTA calculations, security deposit, they charge you for violations etc. I realized, that company which offered 13% of gross with my own trailer is better than another one with 10% service fee, because they charge driver for everything. Do you own research and you'll see which one is the best for you. Very important - ask if they have own trucks (company drivers), if so it's not the best choice. How many trucks per dispatcher (5-6 is good)? Ask if they have 24H emergency contact. I have 39 important questions to ask them and can share with you guys.

 

Could you display the questions here?

 

Please share

 

Why do you say this? Do you think there would be no profit at all? Or just not enough for the owner to live off of? I'm thinking about maybe growing my own fleet one day and I wouldnt be looking for a huge profit off of each truck… Just "A" profit, and I'd make my living by having as many trucks as it took to get the income I want.

 

How many trucks and trailers do you own now?

 

If u just make enough to live off how do u maintain the truck

 

Zero. That's why am here asking questions so I can learn.

 

The way it works in other business models I'm familiar with is that after all the expenses including employee wages, taxes, and maintenance and repairs, there may be a small profit which would not be enough to make a living for the owner, but if you repeat that process by adding several units, the profit adds up for the owner to the point that he or she could live off of the whole business.

 

I'll be nice as it doesn't seem like you're trolling, you're just currently ignorant about the business side of the industry. You maximize profit on a daily, weekly, monthly and annual basis. Trucking is a high revenue, low margin, cyclical industry with a normal 100% driver turnover rate. The drivers here today, might not be here tomorrow, your truck may be abandoned 2000 miles away, the economy as we know it may not be here tomorrow, or maybe your customer might not be. It's easy to have receivables get to 45 days, and if that's a primary customer, that could put you out of business instantly. Let's say you have 10 trucks and run a 10% margin. All it takes is one driver quitting, wrecking, getting fired, or just breaking down and the shop has a 4 day wait to just diagnose it. It's far different than owning, say, 10 subway franchises.