Why do most owner operators fail?

Whatever happened to looking at the trip you are on, looking at the delivery time, then looking at each place where you need to stop for the night to make it good? Most trips are not demanding you do 11-11-11-deliver. Usually some of the days you can do say 8-10.5-9.75-deliver or whatever. If you have freight that they will rip off the trailer as soon as you get there then by all means give 'er hell. Then go sit in the truck stop for 18 hours waiting on your next load. It all changes depending on who is paying for the fuel.

 

You also have to rememeber that those times only work out if you start driving and do not stop at all for the entire trip.... stop one time, just to use the restroom or get fuel and those times are completely pointless now. You can't figure in the variables of what will happen when you are stopped or how long it takes. SOmetimes you can get fuel in 10 mn, sometimes it takes 25..... same with driving thru high traffic areas as well. The driving times will only equate if you do not drive thru anywhere significant at all. A trip thru the desert from say Reno to SLC could only take you that time, but a trip from Des Moines to Detroit could fluxuate to much, same as any trip down the I-95 corridor or down I-5.... hence the point of going 60 or 70 is about the same.

I can honestly say that I have at least a couple hunderd times had guys pass me several times in a 11 hour day, and as Autocar said, I usually see the same truck at the fuel island about the same time as I get there, or I wind up getting to the same place delivering as they do.

 

Spreadsheet justification and reality are two different things. Only way I can see the spreadsheet work in terms on time in the real world are with a 24/7 drop and hook operation.

But then you are also talking about low dollar, high mile operations.

I prefer profit over justification for wanting to run faster. I may not be the brightest bulb in the pack but smart enough to know that all my spreadsheets will never over come physics. I will leave the baseless justification for when I want to buy a new bike I don't need.

 

Drag racing from pee lot to pee lot is not profitable. Most of us saving fuel are not peeing in bottles like the guys who must get every mile in.
Us slow pokes probably all had your dragstrip point of view at somepoint. Patience is a virtue, and some learn patience...some dont.
The heart of my business is my truck and i baby it as much as i can. Maybe you and the other dragsters will learn someday Mr ezx1100. Untill then to each his own.

 

Speed,

All is relative , I am out of Quebec and two of my trucks should be governed @ 67MPH , the 1994 Pete is too old and does not require governing. None are governed , will fight the ticket if ever I get one. The speed control in my trucks lies in the drivers experience and instincts, that is why they are still with me since 1994. None of them cruise over 67 mph but the power and speed is there if they need to get out of a bad spot.

Staying under 70 mph helps the bottom line.

 

Simple, No plan, and No startup money!!

 

embellishing my point to make yours? what a sad way to debate

where do you get "drag racing" from? because the speed limit is 70 and i do 70 constitutes drag racing?
or because i dont drink the safety manager's koolaid, i must be an outlaw and a danger to society?

 

They do say that confession is good for the soul.

 

TO Billard:

We are out of Quebec Canada.

Here is what insurance costs are here:

1) Running in the litiginous U.S.A. , which is what we are set up to do. We pay $12,000.00 / truck running the lower 48 and Canada. $5,000,000.00 liability and $250,000.00 Cargo with a $5000.00 deductible. ( we have had no accidents in 11 years) .

2) Running only in Canada, no US exposure is $8,000.00/ truck.
3) Running only in Quebec ( A pretty big place) = $4000.00/truck.

So you need a plan to be competitive.

 

Forget it. you dont know how to do math and are probably a company driver. not a business owner. just forget it.