Why do most owner operators fail?

You're right on Boywander. Any load I book will pickup at any given hour in a 24 hour window. As soon as I'm loaded and slam the doors shut I'm off to deliver it straight thru they take it off as soon as I get there. This is why speeds and fuel mileage rank at the bottom of the list of my concerns whereas getting unloaded so I can get to the next load or get rested in a 24 hour window ranks as utmost important. Average length of haul has trended downwards from 400 miles in Jan to right at 200 miles the past several months. Rates have risen from low $2's to almost $4 a mile loaded. This is the kind of freight I seek out. I do not take 10 hour breaks with a load on the truck. I very rarely keep a load warehouses on the truck over a weekend. My truck is always available for the afternoon , night, and weekend high dollar stuff that sometimes hits while everyone else is either on a 10 hour break loaded or warehousing freight on their truck at the house. That kind of freight equates to cheap with a dry van. If you have set routines about fueling, eating etc and all the other work you do on any given load you ought to do well as an o/o provided you play the game smart and don't self impose limitations on what freight you are willing to haul - unreasonable limitations that will have you solar powered warehousing loads and working cheap. Patience is the key to everything. The sooner you realize you do not HAVE to have any given load on your truck the btter off you will be. You do not HAVE to keep those wheels turning. You turn those wheels when they pay the right rate. When you understand that time sitting at home is a bonus that costs you nothing you will also free yourself from thinking inside a box.

 

ummmm, i didn't modify my post. it was all there when autocar copied and pasted.

and who makes 500 running 4000 miles???

in the fllatbed business. there isn't a lot of sitting. unless it's onions.

and 4000 isn't hard when you've got help booking the loads. but it does suck running that much.

 

I got a letter from a new ( internet ) friend that had a oil by pass filter put on his truck and built a valley of metal that caught fresh air and pointed at the by pass filter, which in turn caused hes oil temp to fall while running, in his letter, he changes the filters ever 10,000 miles and replaces the oil lost ? and sends in a sample to the company that he bought it from . they - have always - since installment said hes oil is fine . they have some kind of pc hookup/tester when they get the sample can tell which part of the engine to have a look at , or keep a eye on. says he maintenance/oil changing cost has went way down.

 

I hear you, and the thought of picking up a dry van and tapping you and Bill has crossed my mind. Right now just keeping the lights on while the dust settles following John's unexpected departure. That is, no changes to cargo/customers for now. I've been adjusting to how things are gonna work moving forward and finally getting back into more of a routine. Now that we're thru the first holiday week I'm getting in shape to do a better job of calling ahead. I've gotten a few of my customers on point with how I'm running (actually how I'm willing to run) now and it's working ok at the moment.

I spent some time yesterday afternoon getting my son started up on finding his own loads and that went well. I'm gonna test him out next week and see how well he does escaping San Antonio LOL. I took the easy load to Dallas and haven't decided if I'm gonna shoot straight back or dawdle in AR or LA and make a few more dollars. Short haul reefer works just like the van loads. In fact, that's mostly what I've been doing and why my rate per mile has been substantially higher than my drivers. On and off the truck in a day makes the profitable rates.

 

Red, Don't spend too much time on the road. Mrs. Foreman and credit cards could lead to a person fiscal cliff.

 

You're still trying to sell that line?

 

Snowy,

Back in the early 90's, prior to the new log book regulations I used to run between 3600 and 3800 miles per week, that was pretty hard to put into 70 hours a week, and we could split the sleeper , I would definitly work a 16 hour day. . I used to run 80 mph between Joplin Mo. and Tulsa Ok. I did not own that truck. That was picking up a loaded trailer in the Yard with one delivery, one pick up and then again dropped in the yard on the return

I am just wondering , how you managed to do close to 4000 miles per week, in 5 days (800miles per Day). That means that you are averaging 73 mph for 11 hours. You need to be driving close to 80mph to achieve that. Add to that the fact that you yourself state that you must honor , the receivers standard hours of operation. Therefore you loose time at the pick up and the delivery.

How do you manage this, are you running a team?

 

Yesterday in a thread labeled "student driver found job" you said you have only had one year you made over $500 in a week.

Please just cut the tall tales. You just make yourself look foolish.

 

When we were children, we loved going to Fantasyland. Some never left.

 

you are so so right

some still love being told when to go to bed