A little about myself, iv been an OTR company driver for 2 years now, i'm in my mid 20's, no wife no kids. I'm getting to the point where i feel i need to make a move. I want to make more money and i want to be in control of my career/earning potential and personnel time/life! I enjoy what i'm doing but like i said i want more $$. At the company i work for i'm paid a percentage of the load also there is a quarterly bonus program which to me is a joke, also no benefits and no raises, so i'm basically tapped out on the earning potential! I look at the BOL for the loads i'm on and i see big numbers $$$, my truck grosses about $5k - $6k per week sometimes more. If i run hard ill make decent money, but with the amount of time i spend on the road its just not enough, you sacrifice a lot doing this job, so wheres the $$? Its not going to come to you by driving someone else's truck, your just making your boss rich! I see things for what they really are, don't get me wrong i'm thankful for my job that i was given and the opportunity to earn and gain experience, but all i see is a dead end job. I see a chew em up spit em out industry from the workers point of view "my point of view". I run hard for this company as do all the other drivers but i don't feel the respect, once i get home for down time the day i get home i'm receiving a phone call from my dispatch asking me to go right back out like i'm a robot or something, like i don't have family/ friends/ a life back home, and if i say " hey, i'm just getting home give me a few days to relax and ill get back to you" then ill get a not so pleasant response and with a wise tone of voice! And that's the part that i don't appreciate, ya i chose this career and i know now what comes with it (working for a company that is). If people like me the hard working Truck drivers didn't put in the hours hauling all this freight then where would there (office Personnel) pay checks come from??? ??? Because i know there not going to jump behind the wheel of an 80,000 lb truck and get the job done! I know i can do there job talking on the telephone looking for loads and messing around on the computer but can they do mine?!! You all get where i'm going with this? I feel as if i'm a puppet being dangled by the strings. They make it seem like i need them when it should be the other way around!
So now i'm thinking of becoming and O/O Independent Contractor, BUT, i'm not going to jump into this without knowing the in's and out's.. That's why iv started this Threat.. Hoping to get some help/ guidance.
I'm going to have to continue this tomorrow with the START-UP process/ discussion
it is getting late and i need to get a few hours of sleep.