why is it so hard to get the truth?

Sometimes the lanes you want to run ain't working. What if you try a different lane?

 

No. Local small company.

 

And a lot of people wouldn’t give your company a thought simply based on getting 75%. I’ve never understood why people focus on the percentage so much instead of the actual money to the truck.

 

Yup. I dont want all the paperwork, insurance hassel, own a trailer, etc. Love the work, my dispatch is awesome most days, as always there are days when you hate your dispatch, but that's inevitable in this business. Overall very happy with where I am for sure.

 

It's always hard for me to remember why I'm a company driver where I am during the owner operator bull rushes.

Posts like these make it easier, in the current rate climate.

 

I speak for absolutely no one but myself and my opinion likely would be different if I was in debt and/or relied on the spot market to support myself. I routinely hear well intentioned fellow drivers I cross paths with daily ask how can someone possibly make it with $5 fuel and the current rates. Long term (4 year) well paying contracts hauling freight not everyone is equipped to haul and a fuel surcharge is how I do it. In all of my 35 years of trucking no matter what business or political climate we were/are in there have always been and always will be the sky is falling people. I am not one of them and I always have a back up plan just in case my current deal suddenly goes away. I will admit that it does suck for many of those in trucking currently, it also doesn’t suck for many in trucking currently. For those who it sucks for currently need to figure out what different skills, equipment, customers, carriers or whatever else it takes for it to not suck for them in trucking.
I wouldn’t ever try to talk you or anyone else in to leaving a well paying company job with pension and great benefits to be an owner op. I also won’t be ever attempting to get my former great paying job with pension and benefits back and no longer being an owner op.

 

100%, you always need a back up plan. I’ve know a few that were only dedicated to one carrier, at the end it was to late to recover. Myself being in this industry for 43 year’s( seems like yesterday) I’ve learned this 101 style.

 

Amen to that. YOUR model of owner operating makes PERFECT sense, and believe me it's on my short list of contingency plans. So I'm not worried about YOU, it's the poor broker and spot market owner ops that are taking the hit currently.

Contract and specialty work will ALWAYS be fine, if maybe slightly less in demand depending on the overall economic situation.

 

Everything is subject to an occasional slow down. I set at home for 3 months when the Rona first cranked up. I didn’t like the uncertainty at first but eventually the work came back. It always does eventually! 3 months off work does an over worked,old, tired body good on occasion.

 

I wonder if I’m the only individual working all the time, including weekends. The “infrastructure” industry seems to be non stop. I should count my blessings.

No thank you in the spot market.