Becoming An O/o???

I was just curious of y'all opinions on purchasing and operating your own rig. Recommended, not recommended? Pro's, cons??? I'm just getting started and I will not be leasing or purchasing anything, I was just kinda thinking way down the road.

The more seasoned vets on this forum will tell you to RUN, don't walk, RUN away from being an O/O..and they are right, as far as I'm concerned..but, if you're set on seeing how it goes, most of them will tell you to drive for at least 5 years before you even think about trying it...

Today I don't have the energy to scare some poor rookie with my horror stories of being an O/O....And thats a good thing for him !!! I will say...that with a 3% PROFIT MARGIN...you'd be better served to take the money, buy an apartment building and lease it out as a government section 8 housing unit....At the end of 10 years, it would be so tore up you'd have to tear it down....but atleast you'd still own the DIRT...

Today I don't have the energy to scare some poor rookie with my horror stories of being an O/O....And thats a good thing for him !!! I will say...that with a 3% PROFIT MARGIN...you'd be better served to take the money, buy an apartment building and lease it out as a government section 8 housing unit....At the end of 10 years, it would be so tore up you'd have to tear it down....but atleast you'd still own the DIRT...

Starcar, you shouldn't candy-coat it. Tell it like it really is!

Today I don't have the energy to scare some poor rookie with my horror stories of being an O/O....And thats a good thing for him !!! I will say...that with a 3% PROFIT MARGIN...you'd be better served to take the money, buy an apartment building and lease it out as a government section 8 housing unit....At the end of 10 years, it would be so tore up you'd have to tear it down....but atleast you'd still own the DIRT...

Lol!!! That's hilarious. Yea, I haven't heard much good about owning your own rig rig these days. So glad our country has gotten to the point that it's almost impossible to start and grow your own business from the ground up, unless you start out rich. My father started with one truck and trailer and built a very successful company before retiring (He retired while I was in the military). But, that was 50 yrs ago when he started.

If one has high business acumen and a large amount of capital, what is to keep one from generating a respectable cash flow as an O/O? Call me Beelzebub, but there must be a reason that some people succeed at it. Is there a basic template to follow? I am curious about becoming an O/O as well.

People never EXCEL at being an O/O's unless they went into it with alot of money, or have another source of money, as in their spouse working a 9-5 something...You can't possibly survive, keep your rig kept up, and show a livable profit in a market that only offers you a 3% profit margin. It doesn't pencil out, plain and simple...

In my research, I found many O/O's that were willing to disclose their profit and loss statements for the preceding year with candid announcements. Everyone has different home life bills and everyone must file taxes, but I cannot get a barometer of financial health from statements intended for the IRS that do not include GAAP and internal accounting language (which I know I cannot find online). Example: An O/O might claim $60,000.00 in fuel expenses when reporting to the IRS, but may have received a fuel surcharge from the company he was contracted to, with no IRS requirement to report that. If his bottom line, net income was only $20K for the year, but the company he was contracted to paid for 50% of his fuel, then his true net was $50K for the year...According to his wife (who spent it all anyway). I am wading through the reports and stories to see what the managerial accounting looks like. How much will the wife REALLY get to spend, if any?

People never EXCEL at being an O/O's unless they went into it with alot of money, or have another source of money, as in their spouse working a 9-5 something...You can't possibly survive, keep your rig kept up, and show a livable profit in a market that only offers you a 3% profit margin. It doesn't pencil out, plain and simple...

Amen to that right there. There's no way around it - the average profit margin in the trucking industry is 3%, which of course means half the trucking companies in America don't even make that much. You never want to become the owner of a business where your potential income is only 3% higher than it would be if you were simply an employee and that's exactly what you'd be facing.

Stay away from owning or leasing trucks. The economics of that business are awful. Stick with being a company driver.

Somehow I believe the reason for the 3% profit margin is because of the heavy taxes the government puts on trucking.