Thinking of becoming an Owner Operator?
For many professional truck drivers, the idea of being a successful owner operator is the ultimate goal for their commercial driver career. But how can you be sure that you’ll be successful owning your own trucking company as a truck driver? Afterall, being the owner can be much more challenging than working for an employer. Likewise, being an owner operator can often be much harder than being a traditional company driver. Running your own small truck fleet can be very rewarding but being an owner operator certainly brings a lot more responsibility, hassle, and stress. Any commercial truck driver who is thinking of self-employment as a trucking owner operator should first consider a few critical factors.
One important detail for a CDL truck driver to keep in mind is the amount of your time required to run your new trucking business. You’ll need to wear many hats: boss, truck driver, secretary, bookkeeper, etc. Most importantly you be responsible for finding enough good-paying loads to support your trucking business. For some CDL drivers, it might prove to be too overwhelming, but for others the independence of building your own trucking operation is refreshing.
As an professional owner operator, you’ll also be responsible for maintaining your tractor(s) and any trailer equipment that you utilize. That is a typical requirement for most CDL drivers, but as a fleet manager, keeping your commercial truck on the road is truly your responsibility alone. Which leads us to another important point that must be considered: finances. To start a trucking company operation as an owner-operator, you will certainly need to have a good financial plan. Will you have the resources needed to purchase needed truck equipment, maintain that equipment, and also keep a minimum amount of emergency funds for things like breakdowns? You may find that a truck lease is more viable for your new trucking company. Another question is can you afford to purchase truck insurance?
Before becoming an owner operator, consider your current trucking industry network. Have you established industry relationships with good trucking companies which could offer trucking loads for local truck driving jobs or OTR truck driving jobs? Do you have a reliable list of trucking industry leads and contacts that you can offer your trucking services to as a new owner operator? When you finally decide to hire truck driver you can use suck tools as driverjoblist.com to broadcast your open driver job to a large number of commercial drivers seeking driver jobs.
Before becoming a new owner operator, truck drivers should also have a good business plan that maps out the direction of the trucking operation. Consider choosing a niche such as regional trucking routes or OTR trucking, by examining the truck transport industry overall. First determine which lanes are hot and which are not, as well as where most your competition is. For example, determine which lanes needs more trucks to haul such commodities as produce or transport hazmat chemicals, and then consider how well those lanes pay and how much competition from other transport companies are servicing those truck routes.
In short, becoming an owner operator is a challenging, yet rewarding goal. Even the most driven professional truck drivers should prepare for inevitable obstacles that their new trucking company will face. In the end, with patience and perseverance, becoming a new owner operator could be the best decision a company truck driver can make.