Ok out here for a few weeks now. Rather be alone, but loving it so far and learning a lot. I have a million questions but I'll limit it to a couple.

I see signs O/O wanted everwhere which has me a bit curious. It seems at first blush that it is more profitible for these companies to broker out work, then it is to own the trucks and worry about maintenance and finding drivers etc.

which leads me wonder, as one starting out, not necessarily me, but some young idealistic kid, is the goal to work hard and build up a fleet or to find the work for others to do?

One possibility I thought of as to why these companies seek O/O is that they have so much work, but not enough capital to buy enough trucks so they bring in the O/O as sort of stakeholders.

I say this last one, possibly ignorantly (I am new and trying to figure this all out) because it seems like the huge companies with tons of money like Swift, Werner, etc are mostly company drivers.

Any help in clearing this up would be appreciated.


Also, I see these Idle Aire things (futuristic looking I must say) does it really make sense? How much fuel does a truck use up idling all night?


Thank you very much to all.

 

I have spoken to a couple of carriers who have told me the reason they are moving more toward owner operators is that it is more profitable than having company drivers. These are carriers who pay low mileage. At the time one was paying around $0.82/mile. The owner operator has the responsibility of making the payments, paying the maintenance and buying fuel. If a carrier utilizes owner operators, all he is basically doing is acting like a bank and broker. They do the fuel taxes, but the owner operator basically does most of that when they turn in their paperwork.

 

been doing this every since deregulation

 

Thanks GMAN. From reading your posts it seems like you have been in this business a long time. From what I gather you have several trucks, if you were to expand would you buy more trucks or just broker out the work to O/O?

The thing is I want to buy a truck, but am in learning stage right now. What should be my goal, buy a truck and become an owner operator for someone like Landstar, or get my own authority and get out there and hustle for customers? I assume I'll make more in the later choice but the work won't be as steady.

Also, why don't more owner operators get work from brokers themselves instead of working as an O/O for some company?

Thanks Gman for you help and all others who wish to chime in

 

Can't speak for everybody, but personaly, i'm staying leased, cause it's about the same gross, as an average "independant"(dry box), and a lot less headache, and less overhead too.

Actually, i tend to partialy blame those recent spike of new "independant", for latest rate drop.
People get in the business, w/o knowlege, customers, and ability to separate gross from net....and here we go! :sad:

And if you are asking;-What's more profitable, to sell the freight, or actually move it, it's abviosly sales(brokering)! :x

 

You are welcome, quito12. I have been around this business for some years. I got in when trucking was still regulated. I have thought about leasing on owner operators rather than buying more trucks and hiring more drivers. It has been difficult to find qualified drivers. I won't hire a driver just to fill a seat. There are problems with having both owner operators and company drivers.

I don't know about your level of experience, but it is usually easier to start out leasing to a carrier. There are some decent ones out there. Most will require at least 1 year of driving experience. An agent based carrier, such as Landstar, is close to seeing how it is to run your own authority. The difference is that you don't have some of the expense, such as cargo and liability insurance. But, you also don't have all the profit. They also take care of the paperwork to keep you legal. When you run your own authority that responsibility falls on you.

Ideally, you get your own authority and have your own customers. For the single truck operation, that can be difficult. It is very time consuming to go out and solicit customers and then do all the other work it takes to run your authority. I think that sometimes you can do as well or better leasing to a carrier, even though you usually give up about 25% of the line haul. It depends on the individual and your comfort level for risk. When you lease to a carrier you essentially have someone to back you up and be the bank, broker, accountant, etc., When you run your authority, you do it all and assume all of the risk. You succeed or fail on your own merit. Some people are comfortable with that scenario, others are not.

 

Idle Air is good, IMO. will it last? Thats another opinion. With high speed internet, temp controls, phone jack, and more neat features its a no-brainer. It saves you idling, which can get expensive.

If your truck idles at .5 gal/hr then for 9 hours it will be almost 5 gallons. At about $2.75, thats $13.75. I think the costs of idle air is VERY comparable, ranging from 2-3 bucks per hour.( I think ). I'm sure they have a website... edit when i find it...

You do have to buy a $10 window adapter.

You WILL save on engine wear and tear 8)

 

Come up to Michigan and do that,I shut my truck off until it gets down to 32 then I idle.

I use idle aire when available it cost $1.85@ hour,worth it in my opinion.

 

Quito the goal is to always work hard and smart. I'm guessing you are out with a trainer. You should start a notebook with name, address, ph# and shipping contact to every shipper/ receiver that you go to. Then when you decide to build your customer base you start there and expand out to other shippers with similar product. When you start to run your own truck(s) get common and broker authority and think BIG! You could be the next CHR, Lund, Matson, Trinity, Intransit, etc. Freight is not hard to get. Finding dependable trucks whether you broker or buy can be a challenge. Everyone is in this business to make money and trucks take bucks. Learn all that you can learn and when you feel its time, take that leap. You will be swimming with the sharks, but you can still survive.