New owner operator guidance?

What quite a bit of money means.

 

Honestly, it's a difficult time right now oppose to the economy before 2022. I actually left a alright paying job to become a Owner Operator during that time however the timing was off. Yes, I completely understand what you're saying by working and driving someone else truck and want to go on your own and purchase a truck. However, the industry is over saturated with Trucks because of capacity. Everyone and their mother bought trucks during the hey days of 2000 to 2022 all time highest in history. Now the double impact of to much trucks available and a fallen truck market is upon us. Freight shipments are lesser because most companies are not storing inventory like they use to pre Pandemic. Multiple companies are going bankrupty because of the cut throat freight market. Load boards use to average $4 to $5 cpm and now $1.40 to $1.80 cpm if you're lucky. I leased onto a company when I bought my truck immediately which saved me more than I anticipated including $100k emergency funds that's been cut in half now. Watch the load boards and market to see when it's better in 2024 and guage it from there.

 

Put your money to good use and just wire transfer it all to me.
Might as well because becoming an owner operator in Phoenix and wanting to home often you'll just go bankrupt anyway, I'll save you the hassle and heartbreak.


Phoenix is a terrible freight market even in good times.
Don't do it.

 

I usually don’t chime in on these posts. You’ve saved a nice amount of money, keep saving and investing your money. Keep working for someone else as of now.

I’m a die hard trucker, have been since I realized it’s what my dad did. I eat,sleep and breathe trucks. Thankfully my wife supports that, and she’s only known me as an owner operator since we met. Never a schedule, never a steady income or wok, besides a couple good years when I had a good gig a while back. Im not telling you this to be rude at all in anyway or discourage you from being an independent. In my opinion if you don’t eat sleep and breathe trucks and trucking stay an employee. Because the money isn’t the deciding factor at all times why I choose to be an independent. Now if you enjoy trucks and trucking, you have a supporting wife, you have your eye on a nice old truck, and you can turn a wrench a little. By all means try it out. Plenty of people told me not to do it, including my dad. Trucking isn’t just a financial roller coaster it’s a mental roller coaster as well, you will never see people stab you in the back faster than people will in trucking. Good runs can be here today gone tommmorw. Again I hope this didn’t come off in a ####### way, I’m sure others have there opinions as well. Heck there’s guys that are owner operators and never even wash there truck and laugh at guys like me that polish and go to truck shows. Business is full of all walks of life, everyone’s story and situation is different.

 

If you're willing to accept the possibility of ending up with zero dollars and a broke down truck then that's the first step to being an owner operator. It's not a certainty that you'll fail but it's an ever present danger.

I feel like in the current freight market you aren't likely to sleep in your own bed very often if you expect to turn much of a profit. Leasing on with someone is probably the least risky in terms of steady miles but there's little meat on the bone for you when it's all said and done. Currently there's a whole bunch of people running on fumes waiting for the next guy to go belly up or the economy to take a turn. If you can get your foot in the door now and survive until a boom you'll be in high cotton but it won't be easy.

 

I get it. I’m 37 been doing this since I was 19, owner operator since I was 26. I often wonder what I am doing, since it’s always been trucks trucks trucks always in my brain. trust me other stuff you can invest in or figure out to do your own business. I guess I can say I’m in to deep now, I think of restructuring my life sometimes and getting out of trucking, my wife laughs at me, sometimes what you do makes you who you are. And unfortunately I’m a trucker, and I hope to be 1 until I can’t anymore. If you do try it though good luck, if you have common sense, you are light years ahead of most these so called owner operators out here.