becoming an owner operator

[TonyB82]

hi, i have been driving for two years now and have always wanted to own my own business and the idea of owning my own truck has always been of interest. i'm just wondering if there is a website or message board that can offer me advice with getting into either leasing or just flat out financing my own truck. i see people talking about having their own authority. i currently drive for usxpress but have also had experience wth schneider national as well.


is it better to start as a lease operator or become a contractor with a major company? all advice is welcome

[matcat]

I would start off by doing a search on this forum for 'lease op' that will give you plenty of education on leasing!

[matcat]

If you have the means to finance a truck yourself, then that is the much better bet. I don't want to get too deep into leasing, because there is so much on this forum on the topic already, but basically if you lease from a carrier you will be in an uphill battle, plus you are stuck with that carrier for the term. If you can finance it yourself, you are free to take that truck to any carrier you want.

[GMAN]

It is usually not a good idea to lease a truck from your carrier. There are legitimate leasing companies who lease you a truck and at the end you own it. If you lease from a carrier you will usually not be allowed to take the truck should you decide to leave prior to completion of the lease. In addition most of these trucks are way over priced for the market. Payments are normally higher than if you financed one on your own. Some are only leases and must be turned in at the end of the lease for a new truck. If you have the means then it would be much better to either purchase outright or lease from an outside leasing company.

[Fredog]

If you have the means to finance a truck yourself, then that is the much better bet. I don't want to get too deep into leasing, because there is so much on this forum on the topic already, but basically if you lease from a carrier you will be in an uphill battle, plus you are stuck with that carrier for the term. If you can finance it yourself, you are free to take that truck to any carrier you want.

let me just add, it's better to go ahead and get your own tag and bobtail and comp insurance, if you lease to a company that pays for your tag and insurance, the minute you leave, they take the tag back and cancel your insurance, then you are stuck. getting liability through the company is fine, you can still drive after quitting as long as you have bobtail insurance

[Heavy Duty]

let me just add, it's better to go ahead and get your own tag and bobtail and comp insurance, if you lease to a company that pays for your tag and insurance, the minute you leave, they take the tag back and cancel your insurance, then you are stuck. getting liability through the company is fine, you can still drive after quitting as long as you have bobtail insurance

Small problem is than you can only get bobtail while you are leased to a company. They cancel your lease your insurance is no good, even though you are buying it on the open market.

Rule #1 is don't get mad and quit until you have the truck where you want to park it.

[Fredog]

Small problem is than you can only get bobtail while you are leased to a company. They cancel your lease your insurance is no good, even though you are buying it on the open market.

Rule #1 is don't get mad and quit until you have the truck where you want to park it.

I got my bobtail and comp through ooida before I ever leased on to anybody, but that's good advice, dont quit until you have somewhere to go. also, when you lease on, see if they have a penalty for leaving without a certain amount of notice. my company requires 15 days notice

[everytruckjob.com]

If you end up looking to finance a truck you should check out a company at www.wholesaletruckandfinance.com they can get almost anyone finance, as low as 450 on a credit score and they're pretty good trucks...

Watch out on lease purchase programs... I know of drivers that put almost every dollar they make back into the truck because they got conned and ended up with a breakdown waiting to happen truck...

[TonyB82]

the feedback is appreciated. i'm going to be doing a bit of research and do take the advice here seriously as it seems most of the people on here are quite knowledgeable

[Heavy Duty]

I got my bobtail and comp through ooida before I ever leased on to anybody, but that's good advice, dont quit until you have somewhere to go. also, when you lease on, see if they have a penalty for leaving without a certain amount of notice. my company requires 15 days notice

But your bobtail is only effective while leased to a carrier.

From OOIDA:

1. What is the difference between primary liability and secondary liability (i.e. bobtail, unladen, non-trucking)?

Primary liability coverage is protection for the public and is required by FMCSA to obtain your own authority. Secondary liability coverage is required by your motor carrier and only covers you while under a permanent signed lease with them. Please see our list of coverages for differences between the secondary liability coverages.

[GMAN]

If you end up looking to finance a truck you should check out a company at www.wholesaletruckandfinance.com they can get almost anyone finance, as low as 450 on a credit score and they're pretty good trucks...

Watch out on lease purchase programs... I know of drivers that put almost every dollar they make back into the truck because they got conned and ended up with a breakdown waiting to happen truck...

Their prices don't seem all that cheap to me. If you need $5,500 down on a $39,000 truck and have a $1,200 payment then they must have a short payout time or very high interest rate. Of course, when you have dings on your credit you wind up paying through the nose for credit.

[klleetrucking]

Check out Ripoff Report: By Consumers, For Consumers, type in whatever co. you're thinking about and you'll get an earfull.

[lowrange]

I'll just insert this because I didn't see it yet.

At the current time, one of the best gigs in trucking I've heard of is a company driver pulling dedicated for JB in the Iowa/Minnesota area. His pay is the same as it's always been and he's getting 2700 miles a week.

I didn't like JB, but there aren't a lot of us who can say their pay is as much as it ever was. I'm doing ok, I spend a lot of time on the internet, but I probably did 700 miles last week. Did I say I spend a lot of time on the internet?

Ok, it was only 700 miles, but the good part is that it was $2.15/mi to the truck.

[GMAN]

At least you got a good rate to the truck, lowrange.

JB Hunt has (or had) a program for those with their own authority to contract with them. Basically, you have your own truck, authority, insurance and they pay you 70% of the rate. In addition, you must carry insurance to cover any of their trailers that you pull and also general liability, which you really should not need. It is a sweet deal for JB Hunt. They approached me with this program last year. The recruiter who called initially told me that they paid 80%. After reading the contract I called him on it. He denied that he told me about the 80%. He conveniently left off the extra costs of general liability and trailer insurance in our initial conversation. The compensation was at the end of the contract in small type. I told him that I could make as much leasing to Landstar or any of the percentage carriers and not have the extra expense of my own authority or extra insurance. Apparently, there are some who are doing this program. It is comparable to a broker taking 30% of the line haul. Thanks, but no thanks. A company driver would probably do well with them. I don't see how anyone with their own authority could make it, at least with the terms they sent me. You need to look at the fine print very carefully with any of these companies.

[lowrange]

At least you got a good rate to the truck, lowrange.

JB Hunt has (or had) a program for those with their own authority to contract with them. Basically, you have your own truck, authority, insurance and they pay you 70% of the rate. In addition, you must carry insurance to cover any of their trailers that you pull and also general liability, which you really should not need. It is a sweet deal for JB Hunt. They approached me with this program last year. The recruiter who called initially told me that they paid 80%. After reading the contract I called him on it. He denied that he told me about the 80%. He conveniently left off the extra costs of general liability and trailer insurance in our initial conversation. The compensation was at the end of the contract in small type. I told him that I could make as much leasing to Landstar or any of the percentage carriers and not have the extra expense of my own authority or extra insurance. Apparently, there are some who are doing this program. It is comparable to a broker taking 30% of the line haul. Thanks, but no thanks. A company driver would probably do well with them. I don't see how anyone with their own authority could make it, at least with the terms they sent me. You need to look at the fine print very carefully with any of these companies.

JB seemed to have a sleazy corporate culture when I was there a short time. But, I had one friend who was there for years, and he was happy. Mostly, I was thinking about the company drivers who haven't been taking pay cuts and are still getting the miles. It'll be interesting to see if company drivers wages go down, or at least what they are offering new hires. Usually something like this will get mentioned when somebody talks about buying a truck in today's environment.

Come to think about it, I'm not in a bad niche. I probably cleared as much on that 700 miles as some company drivers will make in 2500 miles. But, with an old truck long since paid for, I have low fixed costs, too.

[GMAN]

I have met drivers who have been with JB Hunt for a number of years and are happy. I don't recall talking with many of their owner operators who are happy. Those with whom I have spoken over the years seem to be pretty mixed with their level of satisfaction. I don't see how an owner operator could be successful with them for the rate they want to pay. You would make more as a company driver.