I want to become a Ower Operator...help!
 

i have been a driver for more then 5 years and want to become an o/o but have no clue where to start! can someone help me i know i have to get a truck and my usdot number and insurance and a company name etc etc but i don't know what order to do it?

I would first buy a truck and lease on to a company that pays percentage. I wouldn't go head first until you fully understand what all is involved with having your own authority. We have 10 trucks leased to two different companies now and we still don't want our own authority in this economy. Unless you have customers lined up you will still get brokered loads that pay around the same and have twice as much headache. Just my two cents. With the 5 years experience you are not even close to knowing all the things that come along with owning your own trucking company. We started with one truck and now have 10 and still don't feel like its cost efficient to have our own authority. Start small and work your way up.

Besides this board, there are plenty of resources. Call OOIDA too. If you lease on to a company you will have less headaches but less profit I would say. You learn by doing. I have 5 years experience and am running close to 30 trucks. Yes there are a thousand things that you never in a million years would have thought goes on behind the scenes, but it's a business and you'll learn. You'll make mistakes and hopefully they won't be costly or too much to overcome. Only you can tell how much you want or where you are good at. You can outsource a lot of your compliance but don't rely on anyone 100%. I have a sales tax exemption in my state and I was paying someone to fill it out for me every month and they were always doing it late. I called the department of revenue and they walked me through it and it was so simple I can't believe how these people kept getting me in trouble for failing to timely file.

This is a brutal business and the doors never shut. It is not for the faint of heart. That's for sure. If I were ever to run one truck I would just be a company driver, I can't imagine making much more as an O/O. However, as they say, where there is a will there is a way. If you want it bad enough, you'll find a way to get it done.

WEll I see it this way. Why would anyone in there right frame of mind ever want to become an owner operator in this economy? Think about this long and hard before jumping in head first. The cost of fuel is raping everyone out there, sometimes you will run a truck and just make enough to pay for fuel and sometimes not. then there is the cost of insurance, you need a million dollar umbrella policy in most states and it will cost you dearly as insurance companies are crooks, my guess would be about 7 to 9 thousand per year. Then there is your truck payment, road use taxes, fuel tax, tolls etc. When you sit down and figure out what it costs to be an owner operator versus a driver you may not like what you see.

Ill make this simple, cost of fuel at $4.00 per gallon with a fuel mileage of 5 mpg would cost you .80 cents per mile driven. Plus taxes, wear and tear on truck, tires etc. If the load is paying you 1.40 per mile what are you really making? Not much. If you haul dry van expect very low rates, >95 per mile to 1.30, refer you will get a little more, flat bed and drop decks seam to pay the most, 1.75 to 2.20 per mile. Heavy haul and wide loads pay well but they have there own set of rules to follow and breaking one of them can cost you thousands of dollars.

Still want to be an owner operator? If you search around there are still some jobs out there that will pay you very well, I know I have one of them and I am very happy working as a driver making more money then the average OO. Plus I dont have to pay for repairs! The last repair bill (yesturday ) was over 1600 for minor stuff. My advise is to get all of the facts first before you jump, and also know that the new rules are difficult to follow and the DOT will be a royal pain in your ass from the get go. Good luck!

I agree instigator, I took some contaminated product to Birmingham this past week and one of my wiper blades stripped out in a rain storm... $255 at Kenworth to put a new one on.. Seriously??? I could have done it myself for 1/4 of the cost.

So, why didn't you...?

Be very aware of what your prospects are for finding prospects. We have had many start up owner operators come to us for financing where they have ONE source of business; the contract of a life time. However they had no back ups for if/when the contract goes null and void. One of the most important characteristics I see for start ups is their ability to get work from a variety of sources. Establishing a lucrative relationship with one company is the preferred way to go but if that relationship goes bad you have to be able to put that truck to work else where.

Because my company told me not to... I' m a company man and do what I am told..

Timberwolf

I've worked for companies that we (the driver) was not allowed to do ANY maintenance on the trucks. Period. Even if it was low on fluids (other than fuel), we had to go to a shop. Nothing like signing a bill for 2 wiper blades that cost over $150 to have installed when I could've done the exact same job for just the cost of the blades and 5 minutes work.

So far all my maintenance but the one CHEAP thing has been out of pocket. Ugh

Carlos im going to share 2 secrets of the internet.
1. No matter what u want to do or plan 2000 guys on message boards (whove never done it/failed/heard stories) are going to tell you that you cant.
2. Everyone on the internet thinks they can do X with no experience, no knowledge and no money.

Do what these guys said and lease on to a company. Im learning by the second as a lease driver who runs my own truck 100% (i literally only call to give them my hours or get a loadboard load put on me).
Theres a reason even companies use brokers. Ours has brokers (agents) who work for it/through it/ etc. Brokering is a big financial risk. You sign a contract to have 4 loads a week delivered A to B at a NICE profit.
Your truck breaks down... in that contract are fees for being late.. big ones. OR .. the company cancels your contract on the spot and you're saddled with 700 a week in truck expenses + repair costs and no contracts, no money coming in. Etc. That's on top of the risks of being a trucker-o/o.

I signed on to crst Malone to learn. Dont want their pos truck. Im learning by the second! I'm not talking trucking stuff im talking o/o stuff. Picking loads alone is a magical art. Ive had a cracked windshield, a worn wire, and a delivery where the recievers were idiots all cost me huge and i just started. (im in the black but would have been WAY more in the black!). Id bet 20% of my time (flatbed) is spent loading/unloading. A good 10% is spent doing paperwork. A good 5-10 is spent finding/planning loads. Yes i probably drive less than i do the other bull****. And for an independant o/o i bet they add another 20% to the paperwork and finding loads.
And the only real advantages are a: sometimes you can get a better rate.. no company % taken. But you have to wait for payment, deal with all the paperwork etc etc. b: there is no b that i can think of.

I think you should give it a shot. But not as an o/o. Sign on to malone or one of the others that provides support (load board, fuel advances, payment comes from the company etc) and learn just like you learned to be a trucker. Spend 6 months or a year THEN try the crazyness. Good luck
Also: percentage!!! not per mile. And specialised.. at least flatbed. The permile companies rape their drivers. (seriously.. 90-95c per mile + PART of the fsc? SERIOUSLY?)