[choperbob]

can anyone give me the pros and cons about driving for a o/o who leases his 3 trucks to a trucking company, as opposed to being a company driver? just trying to decide why one might be better than the other. am sure there must be some good and bad in each case.

[Uturn2001]

The main head ache can be getting paid. If you are paid directly from the O/O and he has a cash flow problem then you may find your paycheck delayed. If possible talk to his/hers other drivers to see if there have been any problems in this area.

Some companies though who lease to fleet owners will or can pay driver's directly if the fleet owner has it set up that way.

One big thing to be on the look out for though when working for an O/O is how they handle your income tax situation. If they are paying you on a 1099 then I suggest you run away and look for something else.

For those who do not know, if you are paid on a 1099 there are no taxes withheld and the entire tax burden rests on your shoulders. It is also an illegal practice in this case since you are an employee and not an independent contractor according to the tax code.

Another thing to be on the look out for is how the equipment is taken care of and repairs are made. Some fleet owners will only want "luxury" repairs done when the truck is down for home time or at one specific shop. It can be bad enough when you A/C goes out when driving for a big company and they tell you to wait until you get it to a terminal, but that can be worse with a fleet owner who tells you that you have to wait until you get to Bubba's garage or until you get home in 2 weeks.

The only real advantages to driving for a fleet owner, that I can see are:

You may be treated more like an O/O with the company
You may have another layer between you and the company if you have problems with them.
The truck may be more up spec'd than a company truck
You may be governed by the O/O speed policy at the company.

These are all maybes and in the end there may be no differences at all between driving for an fleet owner over being a company driver.

The bottom line is you need to ask a lot of questions about how things work with this particular fleet owner as well as how you fit in with the company and go from there.

[GMAN]

I thought you were leasing a truck from your carrier, choperbob?

There can be as much difference between companies as there are owner operators. Some owner operators have nicer equipment than the large companies. They are often more flexible in how they handle drivers. You are not just a number with them. A company will usually offer some sort of benefits package, whereas a small fleet owner may not have the resources. Some owner operators pay drivers more than many companies. It is a trade off. Some drivers are more comfortable with a small company. I think there would be two things that would be of concern to me. First, would be whether the owner operator took care of his equipment. Second, is whether he managed his money well enough to pay his drivers in a timely manner. That has been a problem with some owner operators. Some larger companies have a reputation for not treating their drivers well. An owner operator may deal with drivers on a more personal level.


Some owner operators will pay their drivers more than a company driver. Companies will often offer some sort of benefits where as the small owner operator may not be able to offer the same level of benefits. An owner operator may offer greater flexibility than a big company. Some owner operators may not take as much care of their equipment than the big companies, but most seem to do a better job than the large carriers in keeping their equipment up.

[Karnajj]

No company paid health insurance.

[johnny99]

I worked for a guy who had 15 trucks. Some were leased to Rush Trucking, some were leased to Tango. I always got paid on time, no problem. I had one of Rush's fuel cards for fueling, had to qualcom load info just like reg. company. We had insurance. The owner pad 50%, we paid 50%. Not all will do that though. We turned paperwork in after every trip. Just like a regular co. This guy had his trucked leased on at Rush for 15 years and never had any trouble getting paid that I heard of. Check the guy out good if you are considering working for him. If he only has 3 trucks he could have a cash flow problem.

[choperbob]

gman i was leasing from john christner, but, well, we figured out that i have only taken home $3500 total cash in the past 6 months, yeah i know i am kinda slow. also i managed to get a small tear in rotator cuff. company insurance says no coverage because i cannot prove when it happened, they also claim that workers comp will not cover it same reason, my private disability co. says no coverage because it is most likly a previous preexisting injury. i notified company that my doctor says i should not be driving unril a specialist looks at it. 1 hour after that call there was a tow truck at my house to repo the truck. jct says when i am able to come back to work they will let me have whatever truck is available. specialist says ok to drive as long as i can tolerate the discomfort(spelled pain). said i will need surgery eventually. have to wait until i can afford it tho. just spent $1400 for mri and xrays. gonna have to drive for o/o who will pay decent for as long as i can and save enuff cash for operation. i might have to go back onto ssd again to get medical prob taken care of. oh well, last 2 companies were just bad choices on my part. we live and learn.

[GMAN]

I am sorry to hear things didn't work out at John Christner. That is too bad about your injury. Hopefully, you can get it taken care of before too long.

[choperbob]

just another thing. probably will wait until late this summer before i can afford surgery. just gonna keep in truckin' until then. ain't gonna blast jct because i didn't make it as a lease purchase drived. some folks do, most don't just the way it is, i didn't get enuf loads that paid fair, and had too many layovers at shippers which is not paid for, very high maintaince costs, made only $600 since the first of dec. 1 week i owed $300 and next i owed $875 following week i took home $36. if i had better loads and less maint costs i woulda had a better chance. i now know better. am gonna run for o/o leasing to carrol fulmer.

[GMAN]

Good luck, choperbob.