Why do most owner operators fail?

LOL

You mean my loyal Hurst followers?

No sir,. I've found the best way to really upset those who hate you is to just be happy and successful.

Besides,.. a good 80% of them managed to get themselves banned from here anyway. Meanwhile I'm still stirring up the pot and like Sinatra sang it,.. "I did it Myyyyy waaaaay".

Hurst

 

Most people today have no mechanical idea. They buy a truck and expect it to run when they should be expecting it to break. They should be a acutely award of every little noise, shudder and shake so it can be found and fixed before it bankrupts them. But they aren’t.

They should have $20k set aside and expect to spend it getting stuff squared away the first year they own a truck. But they don’t.

And they get what they deserve.

 

The near top reason also is they make the big checks and don’t set themselves on a average salary and spend like crazy. When something does break there is no money for repairs

 

Agreed,.. this is why I go over every inch of my trucks.

You need to become familiar with your truck. I'm no diesel mechanic by any means. I can do AC, alternators, belts, hoses,.. sensors, shocks, brake adjustments,.. the little things than can nickel and dime you to death. I pay to have my overhead done, I pay to have anything more than I feel comfortable doing. I do my utmost to make sure the truck will be as reliable as it can before it heads out.

Any new noise, vibration, engine miss, anything out of the ordinary. Tire wearing unevenly? Chances are its going to blow when and where you least expect. Dont replace it with some cheap used tire or recap. Your only compounding your problems. You have to nip it in the butt before it becomes a problem.

And I agree,.. those who neglect the maintenance on their equipment deserve what happens to them.

Hurst

 

Look guys, it is a combination of things and one thing it isn't is the truck itself unless it is just junk - a lot of owners buy just junk without knowing how to buy a truck.

I think the number one thing is there are people out there who should not be in any business, they need to work for someone and only work for someone, they would fail with a subway shop. Seriously some can't comprehend how to put a figure in one column or how to pay themselves reasonable or realize that the business comes first when it comes to paying the bills.

The number two is not being discipline enough to keep a schedule, like PM. I've seen enough trucks where the PM was forgotten, I heard every ****** excuse imaginable, just amazing what people use.

A side note to this is one important think about mentality, we here in the states suck when it comes to maintenance of vehicles. One thing I have seen after a bunch of years buying and selling trucks is people expect trucks to last forever and those emission trucks just suck because they break down, well got to tell you something guys, that's bs. We just don't take care of the trucks as we should, oil changes are just a little part (a number of years ago I argued with a guy over his 8000 mile oil change, that's a waste of money and his truck just had an in-frame done at ... 725k the oil changes didn't help, everything was worn).

I digress .....

So the number three thing is under capitalization, most have enough for a down payment and that's it. they need money for three months of operating save up, not to expect to make the big bucks out of the shoot. It is sad to see someone get into the game and then be held up for three weeks because they didn't plan on an accident or something else. Again the excuses appear but hardly any one wants to say " Hey I ******ed up!"

Number four is an issue I have, many owners are crap drivers, they don't give a crap about how they are perceived "Move out of my way mother *****, I is a big time trucker, yahoo!!" I have dealt with this several times buying trucks, I always ask them to be honest and tell me why they are getting rid of the truck and a few times I would get "well I had this accident and that accident and had a couple speeding tickets and the insurance went up"

 

I expect my trucks to last forever. The Pete is 32 yrs old and I'm 51. It should outlast me.

 

I know a few that failed due to health problems. Some just died due to diseases acquired at doing this job. This is not a healthy lifestyle.
I've been at this 16 years and the older I get the less I tolerate spending all this time in the truck on mental level. Sometimes, 4-5 days out seems to be too much for me already. I wonder how many failed due to mental issues...depression and such...