Would going O/O even be worth it for me?

Current Situation:
-localish job home everyday 10-12hrs 5 days a week
-easy down and back 550 mile loop only 1 real stop
-good benefits
-looking at about 85k/year

I'm in my second year of driving and this job feels pretty gravy to me one most drivers wanting local would kill for. That being said I do miss the variety that I got while being regional.

My main problem is in my life things tend to fall in place for me in sometimes eerie ways.
For example after a good bit of research I decided if I went O/O I'd want a pre emissions freightliner classic with a series 60 and a 13 speed. The next day one popped up in my town with a recent inframe, rebuilt trans and other updates. Getting hard to not take the hint.

I also feel its too soon to run my own show right now. I dont think I could find a new cake job like this if I failed as an O/O

I feel like I'm a smart capable person and I could make it work. So I'm weighing being moderately happy with good checks every week with no real responsibility beyond the safe operation of the truck vs. Being a bit happier with all the responsibility, MY equipment, and probably less money for a year-ish based on some tables I put together.

 

Well a pre emissions truck is not going to be accepted at a lot of places to lease on. I mean there may be some but a lot of places really want you to have a newer truck so that could be a limiting factor. I don't know if anyone will even lease you on with two years experience.

Getting your own authority with two years experience would most likely be astronomical insurance cost. Also with 2 years experience unless you have cash for a truck and trailer I'm not even sure they will finance you.

Even if you can get over those hurdles, no matter what pre-mission truck that you buy no matter how pretty it looks no matter how much work they tell you they did to it you're going to have to work on it. If you can't work on it yourself especially for all the little things that are going to happen you'll go broke taking it to a shop. A good rule of thumb is any truck that you buy, any truck unless it's brand-new coming off of the lot, irregardless of what they tell you they've done to it or what they show you in record be prepared to spend easily $10,000. There is one guy on the forum here if I remember correctly he bought a really nice beautiful KW and within two months he put $50,000 into it. You have to be prepared if that's what you're going to do. But putting 10 or $20,000 into a truck that you just bought is extremely common. Could definitely be more.

Honestly you have a good job with the chill place that you're making $85,000 a year in your second year. I think you're crazy to leave that but that's my opinion. But if you leave it find a place that you'll make a hundred thousand. Unless having your own truck is the super ultimate dream that you have to have that lifestyle and you can't stand working for anyone else you got to be crazy to not make that kind of money, in my opinion. Having your own truck is really about the lifestyle not the money.

I think if you seriously want to be an owner operator take it seriously save yourself $150,000 and then go do what you want to do.

I'm not saying this is what you want to do, but you can't have $20,000 in the bank and go finance a truck and trailer and think that everything will be okay. I don't know what you have in savings but if that's the amount that's just like going to the casino and rolling the dice.

If you want to do it then do it right. Plan yourself for success and make a success out of yourself with your plan.

 

Sounds like you got a pretty good gig now .
Home every night, weekends off and $85k sounds fantastic .

 

As far as the lease on situation goes there is a car transport company semi local to me that is basically looking for something like a sub contractor where they would be dispatching me for 5% of the gross and I would have access to rent their trailer, use their shop to work on my own truck, and receive 1% of the company each year. There were a few other benefits I can't remember off the top of my head but the numbers were making sense but not sounding over estimated.

I've never been a jump the gun kind of person but things are lining up too nicely.

 

Stay where you are at. You're only 2 years in.

 

Not all owner operators take home 85K every single year with this amount of work and home time. But you may hear quite many sound like take home twice as much...and it is food for thought.
I'll give you my example, from my memory: my 1st year: about 75K, 2nd year 90K, 3rd year 85K, 4th *started own authority* 60K, 5th year 85K, 6th year 50K, 7th 115 k....this one...?
I decided to go o/o mostly because I wanted to call my own shots and yeah...did hope for better money.
IMHO, Very few have better job that yours after only 2 years.

 

Stay put and buy a walleye boat

 

Not being funny but in life the things you do you need to really know what you want and plan for them.

Just because it looks like things are "lining up" is not a sign from the ethers for you to do something you're not prepared for or not ready for. I don't know all the particular details of your situation, but as a general rule that's not the way you make decisions.

The next thing you know you're going to see a woman that gets you excited in the certain way and then you're going to just happen to pass a diamond store, and someone is just going to casually mention they know an incredible catering hall, and then you're going to see a billboard of two young beautiful people in love starting their entire life together, and then you are going to see a scientific study of why you are at the exact perfect age that you should be married right now today, then you are going to turn on the television and you're going to see two people that just have gotten married and their happiness and Bliss is beyond comparison their hearts are completely fulfilled and joyous, then you just happen to see million-dollar new homes being built, and then you happen to see the Ferrari dealership, and then you happen to notice a trip around the world for Two Lovers, and then you're going to see...

Ever have a friend that bought a certain model car? Then you see that car everywhere. Whatever is on your mind you tend to see it.

There are a lot of things that you can see if you look for it. It does not mean that you should make gigantic life-changing decisions because of it.

Actually you make a decision or don't but if you do it based on you thinking that the ether is telling you what to do I think that is the absolute worst choice of all.

I'm not saying you're exactly like this but it's a similar idea to someone that goes to a fortune teller. The fortune teller tells you this is going to happen and all of the sudden do that's what I'm going to do.

No, you make your own decision and you make your own fortune.

 

i do agree with how you said focusing on things make you notice them more.
im the kind of the person that focuses on something until i can make it work im not a person that moves quick at all. Which is why ive made multiple posts asking different questions in the respective forums that lead me to gather info form a solid idea if its possible for me. So far i have gathered enough info to see if things went moderately ok i would be profitable business wise after about a year which is a very tough swing. So its not something id be starting this year atleast to build a stronger nest egg.

 

At least youre questioning your own wisdom, but reality, year 1, you will either go bankrupt or only actually earn about 30k after taxes, EVERYTHING else will go into fixing things, and thats if youre smart, if youre dumb, youll go bankrupt year 1 or suffer horrible breakdowns year 2 or at tax time

But go for it, it is better to miss a target than never shoot at all