Why do most owner operators fail?

everyone on here will tell you they can't manage there business.

but what they don't tell you. and never seem to think about. is that repairs will break you also. shops LOVE to sell parts.

you can manage a business all you want. but you can't see the future and know when your truck will break down. and from what i've seen out there. most of them have no clue how to fix your truck. and if you have an isx. most won't even work on that.

i bought 8 drive tires. 4 got warranteed.
clutch got replaced twice becuase the shop installed a 6 inch instead of an 8 inch.
turbo got rebuilt. then warrenteed 4 weeks later because of that stupid plate inside.
an electrical problem that lasted 3 months. and cost 10G. 1000 for new wiring harness. 700 for batteries. 9300 in shop time and road calls.
a dead cylinder that was cheaply fixed.
an oil leak that was in the shop 4 times now there's two leaks. front and rear.
steer tires replaced 3 times and 2 alignments that still isn't done right.

factor in the cost to repair. factor in the down time not making money. factor in the payments that still need to be made.
factor all that in a 5 month time frame.

get the picture?

now people will come along and say that truck was a lemon. but that truck never once saw the shop in the previous 12 months before hand. other then oil changes.

mismanagement is reason for failure. but learn from your mistakes and you can easily recover.

it's hard to recover from a truck that don't want to work anymore.

 

Some has to do with fuel useage. A lot of em wanna be the fast boys like they lease purchases.. faster u go more fuel u burn. No reason u can't run 62

 

Most people mismanage their finances. Person like that gets a $2,000 settlement they think they've hit the lottery and blow it on nothing. Then they have nothing saved when a turbo breaks, or anything mechanical All settlement money goes to the truck first then what's left, if any goes to you. This is why most fail. Close second would be hauling for cheap rates.

 

the difference in fuel is way less then what you really think.

faster is revenue that far outweighs the puny puny savings in fuel.

my truck gets the same at 55 or 75. so i'm not saving fuel. i'm losing revenue.

not to mention. some of us get really really bored and tired tired tired driving slow slow slow.

and your a nuisance holding up traffic driving that slow. an accident waiting to happen.

but yeah. a fuel effiecint truck can make a big deal also. 7 mpg vs. 5 mpg.

 

At least be believable, if you're going to tell stories. In one discussion, you're an O/O, here and the next you're a company driver? In 30 odd years, I've never seen or heard of a 6 or 8 inch clutch in a big truck. Maybe in a Yugo, but not in a big truck. 14 and 15 inch clutches are in big trucks.

As to why people fail, failure to plan is the biggest reason. Not knowing what the heck they are doing, rates up there, too. Then there's the matter of not knowing costs, but still booking freight.

 

Being a good waitress doesn't mean you can't run a restaurant. Same rule applies you can be a great driver but does that mean you're a great business man.

Picking the right truck for your application. Money management, picking the right shops to work on your truck. To picking the runs that are the most profitable that work in your lifestyle. Being a owner operator you're a business owner 98% of the time and a driver 2%.

Need to learn how to be a good numbers cruncher especially in a business where profits are pennies on the dollar. You'll get 100 different answers on how to be successful but success to one man another man might call it a failure.

 

They do not transition from company driver to business owner. As a business owner you now work or think about or plan 24/7 it is not a 9 to 5 job

 

i can only say what i'm told by the shop. i'm not a witness to actually see what they installed.

and stories. what stories. i'm not like you who's owned my own truck since WW2.

 

seems like you will get a host of answers

from my perspective, because they know how to drive truck, they dont understand the business of trucking

and then there are the breakdowns that can sideline you permanently

then they get beat down, miserable, and become company drivers who are running elogs and convinced themselves that working for someone else is better than working for yourself