Mega Carrier Vs Small Company Vs O/O

Hey everyone, Canaan here.

I was wondering if anyone could reinforce with me why Trucking Truth says go mega carrier and company paid training, vs private trucking school, or small company/ owner op.

I've been heavily researching and every where else I have seen has said basically the opposite. They all suggest going private school and going small company and even straight out the gate (as soon as you are able to) become an owner op.

I have read through the forums here and got an understanding. But I was wondering if anyone could reinforce it for me. And maybe even give insight on why I am seeing the opposite advice basically every where else I look.

Thanks! -Canaan

I’m guessing that you haven’t really done much research on here because there are literally hundreds of threads dedicated to exactly the questions you’re asking

I’m guessing that you haven’t really done much research on here because there are literally hundreds of threads dedicated to exactly the questions you’re asking

Yes, I wrote that I have read through the stuff, I was asking for explanation here though. I feel as though I am confusing myself with all the stuff, so I had asked for reinforcement on what's what.

Thanks for the reply! -Canaan

Company paid training provides way more information than school. They teach you how to be a truck driver instead of just teaching you basics to pass a test. Sure, there's a contract involved, but it benefits you as much as it does the company. It also guarantees you a job upon completion. CDL school does not.

I'm not a fan of small companies. At a small company, the insurance company decides if you can work there or not. You also don't want the guy with everything invested in this business sitting an office watching your every move. It sucks. I couldn't care less about an owner knowing my name. I only care about the compensation package and the equipment. Large corporations out do small companies in both categories.

A small company will have a hard time keeping you on board in the event of an accident. I believe it was Moe that went to work for a small company. He forget to set the parking brake and the tractor rolled forward doing some damage to the tractor. The owner was livid and demanded he pay for the damage. Who wants to deal with that? And the guys at the inspection stations love pulling in those trucks with company names they never heard of. I get waved forward every time. They know FedEx maintains its equipment and they're not sending me out illegal.

There was one time I needed to have a tire changed on the side of the road. The guy fixing it didn't have the tire so he had to wait for it. Dispatch told me to leave it on the side of the highway and take the lead to it's destination. The guy changing the tire said "I'll wait here with it for the tire and a tow truck because of the name on the trailer. Otherwise, I'd say tough and leave".

Being an owner operator isn't all it's cracked up to be. You have massive bills to keep your business running. It makes it next to impossible to take time off because the bills don't stop. How much do you think FedEx paid that guy to sit with their trailer and the tow truck to pull it? I have no idea and I don't care, but I bet it was in the thousands. You'll make the make the same amount as an owner operator as you would as a successful company driver.

Actually, you'll probably make less when you consider everything you're giving up. Health insurance, workman's comp insurance, 401k etc.. Did you happen to read up on old schools eye issue? I wonder how much that would've cost him without his medical insurance from Knight.

And the elephant in the room, what happens if your insurance company drops you? You get a ticket for doing 70 in a 60 in your car. Your insurance company is going to want way more money. What happens if you can't drive because of an unforeseen medical condition? Now you're stuck with a depreciating asset you still have to pay for and you didn't really make that much with it. If I can't drive tomorrow, it would suck but it wouldn't be the end of the world.

Okie doke. Short and sweet. A large carrier is not only going to teach you how to pass the CDL exam, they’re going to follow up with real world OJT, touching on the multitude of subjects you’ll deal with everyday and pay you for doing it. Their expectations in return will be to perform the job, do it safely and fulfill a small time commitment. If you can do that, the education and training are free.

A private school is only going to teach you enough to pass the CDL exam. They make no guarantee that you’ll find employment afterwards although many do work work large trucking companies.

Many smaller companies don’t like to hire brand new students whether it’s lack of experience or insurance reasons, they all vary and there’s a lot of small companies that you probably don’t want to work for.

As far as going owner op right out of the gate, I’ll give a simple example. I’m fascinated with rockets and space travel but I know nothing of the science involved to be successful. There’s no way I’m gonna make a huge investment to start my own rocket company, only to watch it fail. Trucking is an absolutely ruthless and cut throat industry with a horrid profit margin. The last figures I saw through OOIDA was 9% on the high end for profit (my body shop of 20 years turned a 35-40% profit margin in comparison)

Company paid training provides way more information than school. They teach you how to be a truck driver instead of just teaching you basics to pass a test. Sure, there's a contract involved, but it benefits you as much as it does the company. It also guarantees you a job upon completion. CDL school does not.

I'm not a fan of small companies. At a small company, the insurance company decides if you can work there or not. You also don't want the guy with everything invested in this business sitting an office watching your every move. It sucks. I couldn't care less about an owner knowing my name. I only care about the compensation package and the equipment. Large corporations out do small companies in both categories.

A small company will have a hard time keeping you on board in the event of an accident. I believe it was Moe that went to work for a small company. He forget to set the parking brake and the tractor rolled forward doing some damage to the tractor. The owner was livid and demanded he pay for the damage. Who wants to deal with that? And the guys at the inspection stations love pulling in those trucks with company names they never heard of. I get waved forward every time. They know FedEx maintains its equipment and they're not sending me out illegal.

There was one time I needed to have a tire changed on the side of the road. The guy fixing it didn't have the tire so he had to wait for it. Dispatch told me to leave it on the side of the highway and take the lead to it's destination. The guy changing the tire said "I'll wait here with it for the tire and a tow truck because of the name on the trailer. Otherwise, I'd say tough and leave".

Being an owner operator isn't all it's cracked up to be. You have massive bills to keep your business running. It makes it next to impossible to take time off because the bills don't stop. How much do you think FedEx paid that guy to sit with their trailer and the tow truck to pull it? I have no idea and I don't care, but I bet it was in the thousands. You'll make the make the same amount as an owner operator as you would as a successful company driver.

Actually, you'll probably make less when you consider everything you're giving up. Health insurance, workman's comp insurance, 401k etc.. Did you happen to read up on old schools eye issue? I wonder how much that would've cost him without his medical insurance from Knight.

And the elephant in the room, what happens if your insurance company drops you? You get a ticket for doing 70 in a 60 in your car. Your insurance company is going to want way more money. What happens if you can't drive because of an unforeseen medical condition? Now you're stuck with a depreciating asset you still have to pay for and you didn't really make that much with it. If I can't drive tomorrow, it would suck but it wouldn't be the end of the world.

Thank you for the answer, I appreciate the detail. And yes I have read about old schools eye troubles, (I actually made my account here roughly around the time his eye problem started, so it was really uplifting to see he recovered and is working again!)

Okie doke. Short and sweet. A large carrier is not only going to teach you how to pass the CDL exam, they’re going to follow up with real world OJT, touching on the multitude of subjects you’ll deal with everyday and pay you for doing it. Their expectations in return will be to perform the job, do it safely and fulfill a small time commitment. If you can do that, the education and training are free.

A private school is only going to teach you enough to pass the CDL exam. They make no guarantee that you’ll find employment afterwards although many do work work large trucking companies.

Many smaller companies don’t like to hire brand new students whether it’s lack of experience or insurance reasons, they all vary and there’s a lot of small companies that you probably don’t want to work for.

As far as going owner op right out of the gate, I’ll give a simple example. I’m fascinated with rockets and space travel but I know nothing of the science involved to be successful. There’s no way I’m gonna make a huge investment to start my own rocket company, only to watch it fail. Trucking is an absolutely ruthless and cut throat industry with a horrid profit margin. The last figures I saw through OOIDA was 9% on the high end for profit (my body shop of 20 years turned a 35-40% profit margin in comparison)

Thank you for the answer, I got confused about some of the things you mentioned, a few of the places I was reading and doing research at, were saying more OJT from private schooling vs at company paid training, and other conflicting statements. It didn't make sense to me and I got myself all confused and stuff trying to make sense of it. I appreciate the clarification

-Canaan

Hey everyone, Canaan here.

I was wondering if anyone could reinforce with me why Trucking Truth says go mega carrier and company paid training, vs private trucking school, or small company/ owner op.

I've been heavily researching and every where else I have seen has said basically the opposite. They all suggest going private school and going small company and even straight out the gate (as soon as you are able to) become an owner op.

I have read through the forums here and got an understanding. But I was wondering if anyone could reinforce it for me. And maybe even give insight on why I am seeing the opposite advice basically every where else I look.

Thanks! -Canaan

Company-paid training with mega carrier provides stability. No worrying about where to work once school is completed.

Private school has no guarantee of employment. A graduate can end up like me: 17 months later and still trying to enter the industry as a driver.

Owning and operating a truck is operating a small business. It requires more than knowing how to drive a truck. It requires understanding all aspects of the trucking industry. There is quite a steep learning curve for new drivers the first year, so it's not wise to add learning the business of operating a truck on top of it.

There are some excellent points here that others have already made, so I won't repeat them, but I have an important one to add:

Larger carriers usually have big contracts with nationwide customers which keep their drivers moving when smaller companies and independent O/O's are sitting waiting on freight.