Earlier this week I met an o/o from Louisiana while waiting to unload lumber. I'm looking to purchase my first truck after next winter and it's always good to get opinions from as many people as possible.

From reading the boards here, I get the feeling that now isn't really a very good time to get into the business... and the more I talk to people out on the road, the more that suspicion is confirmed, usually.

The main difference that stood out with this guy, was that he was leased to a very small operation of about 30 trucks. His company took 16% from the gross load revenue, and the rest was his. The company also owned and maintained the trailers.

I wish I could've picked his brain a little more, but I had to be on my way.

What I'm getting at is this...

Nearly every other o/o i've talked to is leased to a big company, or they claim to be completely independant... and about 4/5 of those guys talk like they would rather be a company driver.

It seems this smaller company is more of a freight broker, that doesn't run interference with company trucks, and also maintains a trailer fleet.

Are there alot of operations like this out there?

 

Check out this directory of fleets looking for owner-operators.... I'd personally be loath to lease to a fleet with less than 200 trucks. The less trucks the carrier owns, the higher is your chance to get screwed.

 

[quote="tracer"]Check out this directory of fleets looking for owner-operators.... I'd personally be loath to lease to a fleet with less than 200 trucks. The less trucks the carrier owns, the higher is your chance to get screwed.[/quote


The size of a fleet has little to do with whether you will get screwed. I have heard of a number who say that they have been screwed by the bigger carriers. If an owner operator is honest and does his job he is not likely to have problems with any carrier. I think the reason some feel that a carrier has screwed them is more due to the owner operator than the carrier. It is easier for them to blame the carrier for something that they actually did to themselves. When an owner operator or driver says that they have been screwed by their company, I listen with a grain of salt. When you dig under the surface, it is more than likely the driver or owner operator who is at fault. Being an owner operator means you are a businessman. Not everyone is cut out to run a successful business. Sometimes it is easier to blame someone else for their shortcomings.

 

[quote="GMAN"]

While the O/O may be at fault in some cases,there are small crooked carriers out there that shouldn't be in business. A few years ago I was leased to a horrible company with a fleet of 27 trucks that went by the name CHerry City Express out of Salem,Or. This company would willingly book cheap loads by the volume to their O/Os when there was high-dollar freight available because they were so afraid of losing their customer which kept their fleet moving. All they did was collect 15% of the gross and cared less about what was left for their I/Cs. When their O/Os refused some of these loads their lease would get terminated without warning on-the spot and their fuel card would get shut off 500-1000 miles away from home. Their last check would be held beyond 45 days along with their escrow and some of them had to take legal action to collect. To this day Im not sure if they ever collected what they were owed. I routed the truck home ASAP and when I saw my last check deposited while I was at home I quit my lease right away and they only ended up owing me 320.00 for an escrow balance which to this day I haven;t been paid and didn;t see it worth the time to pursue it further. After that I got my own authority and than wondered what kind of business these idiots at CCH were running. I wonder if they are still around. There are more of these small crooked carriers out there that any sensible O/O should steer far away from.

 

So really what your saying is that size, does not matter?

 

Like I always say, Its not the quanity but the quailty that counts! :wink:

 

I am currently leased to a co that has two co trucks and four leased. Unfortunitly medical conditions are going to make me change the type of work I do BUT I don't think I could have ever been with a better company and they don't come much smaller. ( we do flatbed )