Being an owner-operator has many advantages. It puts you in charge of your truck-driving career. Your truck, your choices of where to go, when to go and what to haul. But it is also more difficult: you have to keep your truck running, find jobs, pay for gas, cover all of your expenses yourself, there is no carrier to do it for you.
Being an Owner-Operator
You long for the life of the open road, sitting behind the wheel of your truck, driving across the country hauling loads far and wide. But you want more than to be just a driver for a carrier, you want to be your own boss, and make your own decisions.
Being an owner-operator can have many advantages over driving for a carrier. Owner-operators can make quite a bit more money than they would driving for a company. Many successful owner-operators even go on to buy more trucks and hire their own drivers as well, creating their own fleets.
But being an owner-operator is much more difficult that simply being a truck driver. When you own your own truck, you are in charge of all upkeep of your truck. You are in charge of buying gas. You are in charge of all payments to keep you on the road. This can prove to be quite expensive.
Because you don’t just have a job, you have your own business, you also have to pay for many things that normally a carrier would pay for: health coverage, dental coverage, truck insurance, life insurance, workman’s compensation, etc.
Being an owner-operator is a very involved business, far more so than driving a truck. If you want to become an owner-operator, the most important thing is: be prepared. Before you make the step into the world of owning and operating your own truck, make sure that you know what you’re doing. You might be a great driver, but in order to succeed you also have to be a good businessman.
Don’t Jump in Too Fast
A sad fact in the owner-operator world is that many owner-operators can fail or go bankrupt within the first year of running. One of the major reasons for this is truck breakdowns. When you own your own truck, there is no carrier to pay for major repairs, you have to pay for it yourself.
What happens if the truck you have bought has a major breakdown and you don’t have the money to pay for the repairs? You can’t make any more money because your truck is out of commission. What are you going to do?
Before deciding to become an owner-operator, it is best to make sure that you have a large amount of monetary resources to fall back on should something go wrong. Something doesn’t always go wrong, obviously that is the exception to the rule. But if something happens, you need to be prepared or you could see everything you’ve worked for be lost. There is no safety-net for the owner-operator besides the one you make yourself.
Buying a Truck
One of the most important parts of being an owner-operator is of course buying and owning your own truck. Trucks can be very expensive, and you can find that a large part of your profits in your first years on the road as an owner-operator are being eaten up simply paying off your truck.
The first concern when buying a truck is: do I want used or new? Used trucks are significantly cheaper than purchasing a new truck, but they are also of course used. They’ve already been on the road, and thus have a higher chance of running into mechanical problems. But there are many solid used trucks out there that could work perfectly for you.
Take your time in purchasing your new truck. When you buy your truck, you are putting your future into the hands of that truck. This is no minor decision, your business and your life are being dedicated to this truck. Get the best truck that you can afford, without overstepping yourself and putting yourself in a hole of debt so deep that you can’t climb out of it.
The Lease-Purchase Option
One option that some new owner-operators take is a lease-purchase from a carrier. This is essentially a lease to own program, where the operator leases the truck for a certain period of time, usually about 3 years. You must still make a down-payment, but this is generally much smaller than when buying a new truck on your own.
At the end of the 3 years, the operator can either purchase the truck for what is left over between the price of the truck and what he has paid off in the lease, he can switch the truck for another lease truck or he can sell the truck and keep the difference between the selling price and what he still owes on the truck.
One major problem with the lease-purchase option is that they will often control what loads you take, and besides the basic lease payments made every week, they can often take off money for every mile you drive to pay for maintenance and other costs on the truck.
The advantage of the lease-purchase option is that it allows you to purchase your truck with much less money up-front. But you can find yourself out of control of your own truck and your own business for the first years of being an owner-operator, being controlled by the carrier from which you lease the truck. While the lease-purchase option might seem like the fast track to success, it is usually better to wait until you have the money for your own down-payment and actually purchase the truck for yourself.
Finding Jobs as an Owner-Operator
Once you have your own truck, the most important part of being an owner-operator is of course finding jobs.
There are many companies out there who hire owner-operators, and it can take time and patience to find the best one. While generally companies who hire owner-operators will not pay for things such as breakdowns, or gas, or provide other benefits, this is not always the case. Some provide quite good benefits, although these can be very difficult to find.
Like everything with becoming an owner-operator, it is important to do your research. The internet can be a great tool to helping you find the best jobs in your new career as an owner-operator.
The internet is a powerful resource in the hunt for jobs. Use it. The internet allows you to get information on hundreds of companies from around the country all at your fingertips with the click of a button
In Summary
Owning and operating your own truck can be a very successful career, making you hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.
Before making the decision to purchase a truck, save up your money. You don’t just need the money for the down-payment on a truck, but also to cover your early expenses and an emergency fund.
Do your research before purchasing a truck. Make sure it is a good one.
It is usually best to stay away from lease-purchase options. If you are going to go for one, make sure you know what you’re signing before you sign it.
Look for the best companies to work for as an owner-operator. The internet can be an excellent resource for finding jobs as an owner-operator.