Can An OTR Owner/Operator Take Time Off Between Runs?

I'm a new driver, I just got my CDL a few months ago. I drove for a small company for 2 months but it didn't work out. It was LTL and a refrigerated trailer. I'm switching to a company that delivers full TL's in a dry van. Yeah I'll have to be gone longer, but at least I can get on the interstate for longer periods, rather than spending all my hours waiting at walmrt, kroger, etc distribution centers.

Overall I like driving a semi though. I'm 40 so I got kind of a late start. I know alot of drivers strive to get a local delivery route, but I think I'd prefer OTR. All those local jobs you're going to have to get up in middle of the night to start your shift at some crazy hour like 4AM. I like to wake up in my sleeper when I want, and my commute to work is about 2 feet!

The company I got hired at has O/O positions that I might consider down the road in the future. The two primary reason's O/O sounds good to me are the flexibility of working when I want, and getting to keep my truck. Alot of companies are slip-seat, and the ones that aren't you only get a few days off a month. They want their trucks on the road all the time.

So my question is if you own your own truck and are paying all your own fixed overhead, can you take time off when you want, and for the duration that you want? I wound't think the company would lose money if I wanted to park my truck for a week.

I'm thinking I'll work hard for a year, get a couple credit cards payed and have some money put aside for a down payment on a truck. And I'm wondering if I can get by with an older truck. My company says it needs to be 5 years or less. If I got a 2009 say, surely they wouldn't make me get rid of it after one year. If I got an older truck for say $30K 'ish, I wouldn't have the huge payments and I could take that time off. I've owned older cars all my life. My Grand Marquis is 19 years old and still smells like a new car. I take care of my vehicles.

So to recap, I like truck driving, and I think I'll like OTR. But I also like my time off, and I've got to figure a way to do this, if it means buying a truck that's fine. I don't meant to come across as lazy. I might want to stay on the road a month banking$$, but I might want to take a couple weeks off to rest and recover. Please tell me how I can do this! If I could figure a way to do this, my life would be perfect.

Thanks for reading and in advance for suggestions.

Matt

Without getting into the particulars (and ongoing debate) about going O/O or leasing - if you DO - you can take whatever time you want off.

But keep in mind - you only make $$ when the wheels are turning. Truck payments, insurance, tags, maintenance and so on - cost BIG $$ for a BIG TRUCK.

So unless you go "all in" for cash, are independently wealthy and are doing this for a hobby - owning/leasing you will work as hard (or harder) as a company driver - in order to stay afloat and be profitable.

Rick

That answers my question, thanks. I'd have to figure out my "break even point", basically how many miles I need to roll to cover my fixed overhead. That's why I need a cheap old truck, I'd sure love to learn how to work on my own truck. With my truck expenses low, I wouldn't have to work much to cover that.

Matt

Without getting into the particulars (and ongoing debate) about going O/O or leasing - if you DO - you can take whatever time you want off.

But keep in mind - you only make $$ when the wheels are turning. Truck payments, insurance, tags, maintenance and so on - cost BIG $$ for a BIG TRUCK.

So unless you go "all in" for cash, are independently wealthy and are doing this for a hobby - owning/leasing you will work as hard (or harder) as a company driver - in order to stay afloat and be profitable.

Rick

Heavy P., as a business person myself, I see a lot of holes in your plan. Let me just start with this: every owner operator I have known works much more and much harder than the average company driver. You referred to your fixed costs and your break even point which is good, and that shows that you are thinking about all this, but those are not even the things that are going to trip you up. It is the unexpected expenses that make the trucking business so unpredictable, and anyone who thinks that an "older" truck will reduce their expenses doesn't really "get it". Their are really very few if any fixed costs in a trucking venture. The whole reason that so many trucking companies want to have owner operators on board is because that transfers those wildly unpredictable costs away from them and onto the operator. The result of that is that it takes those things out of the equation so that they can know what their fixed costs are, and therefore they can make money even though the owner operator maybe barely hanging on. An older truck is not even going to be allowed to run in some areas of the country because it won't meet the state requirements for emissions, and there are plenty of operations who require their owner operator's trucks to be in a certain age category because they need to have dependable reliable trucks that can always be depended on.

I just think you need to spend a good five years in the industry before you try experimenting with this. You will have a much better understanding of how all this works at that point, and you will also have had the chance to see how a lot of the owner operators out there are struggling with their older trucks, and wish they could figure out a way to get out of the rut they have gotten themselves into.

This is clearly my opinion, but I have owned as many as six big trucks at one time, and I think I have a handle on what it takes to survive in today's business climate. We are usually not big advocates of truck ownership, and the simple reason is that it is way too much risk and not near enough reward.

Hey guys, sorry for the late response. I'm out on the road with a trainer, about one more week left of training.

I enjoy driving a semi and I'm good at it. My trainer's truck is dirty and needs work. When I do go solo I should be driving a newer truck, but it will be slip seating.

Swift leases kenworth t660's that are just stunningly handsome. It's something I'm considering, maybe in a year or so. The truck would last forever with the care and love I'd give it.

However I don't want to give up all my home time to pay for the truck. I like to work 2 to 3 weeks hard, then take a week off to relax and clean the truck up.

I usually go out 3 weeks and home the days I want 3-4. Then back out. After the holidays I will go 2 weeks and 3 home as a routine. The weeks I go home I make enough to pay my fixed costs and overhead with a few hundred in my pocket. The full weeks I work I make the real money.

I usually go out 3 weeks and home the days I want 3-4. Then back out. After the holidays I will go 2 weeks and 3 home as a routine. The weeks I go home I make enough to pay my fixed costs and overhead with a few hundred in my pocket. The full weeks I work I make the real money.

That sounds like a good, workable schedule. On a separate note, did you feel that your OTR training time before going solo was long enough?

Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1iN-a0cvsQ

Dan Rather Reports, "Haul or High Water" Full Episode

Watch this before you go OTR. I'd love to do it someday, but apparently there's no money in it anymore. It'd have to be sometime later in life when I got some money and don't have to depend on it to make ends meet.

You know, like if I came in to some money, and didn't have to stress over making ends meet.

Otherwise, 28 more years to retire from a company.

I meant Owner Operator , not OTR...

Dave hell no it didn't but I made it work. I was with 2 otr trainers after school. Both a total of 13 days and 3300 miles. Then I tested out and went solo. I learned the basics, that was all we had time for. I am retired and my retirement pays my bills. I am very blessed and have a solid financial future. Most people dont, irregardless what business they are in. I do this because I want to at this point in my life. I have mainly learned things on my own by research, talking with folks on here, and other tenured drivers I meet. Always take things from others with a grain of salt and find a way to verify it. I have learned so very much in the past 10 months it makes my head hurt when I look back at it. Time has flown by.