Independant vs. Leasing onto a Carrier as an O/O
 

I was listening to Kevin Rutherford this weekend and I heard him say that the average of last year for a person that was leased onto a company earned $1.18/mile while the independant only make $.05/mile more than one who was leased to a company. With such a small difference in pay why would anyone want to be an independant? For all the extra hassel it seems for only $.05/mile more.

What do you guys think about that? Do you think these numbers are accurate and to what degree.

If there was only a nickel difference between the two, then from a financial point of view, it probably would not be worth it. I don't know of any people whom I know who are running their authority and only making $1.23/mile. In fact, most owner operators I know who lease to a carrier are doing better than $1.18/mile. Most with with whom I talk are doing considerably better. I would be interested to see how these numbers were compiled. It would also be good to see a breakdown as to where these people are running, type of freight hauled, etc., The problem with statistics is that you can usually manipulate them to say what you want.

most people running their own authority are averaging $1.50+cpm, i have never heard of a guy running his own authority making 1.18cpm, only people leased on make that little.

I have my own authority and can tell you first hand the above is true.

Oh how I want to reply to this thread........but I will hold my comments.

Why don't you comment, I want to hear what you have to say? What's your take on all of this? I'm just going by what I heard on Trucking Business and Beyond. I was just amazed that someone would do all that extra work for only 5 cents more per mile than someone leased onto a company. If, however, that is not the case then it would make more sense to have your own authority. It seems that Kevin Rutherford actually is against people having their own authority and feels that people are much better off leased to a company.

Kevin also thinks the turbo 3000D adds horsepower/fuel mileage.

Is he talking about gross rate? That's pretty low for gross rate.

After doing the research and probing this board for answers, I came to the conclusion that an OO running on their own authority makes at least an average of $1.50+ per mile.
I would not have invested $45,000 of my savings (if I would only make 5 cents more than a lease OO) to make $1.18 per mile.

go to any load board, more then 90% of all the loads pay over $1.50pm, and getting $2pm is very common. a smart owner/operator running his own authority will clear $100K+ NET, a year.

I also own my own authority and avg between $1.85 & 2.00 per mile for loads with miles starting at 300. Anything below 300 miles goes up to the $5.00 mark. The other neat thing about having your own authority is that you run how you want. I've been business for 1.5 years and I never sat a day waiting for freight. Freedom to run is a beautiful thing. :P