Profile For Dan F.

The biggest thing will probably be watch your tail swing when you’ve got your tandems up until you’re used to it

I was going to say I bet he’s running a cat on heavy haul 😉

Well let’s put it this way. I own a truck and trailer Less than a week ago I replaced all 10 tires on my tractor I added centramatics to all axles. I had all of the trailer tires dismounted and re-mounted at the same time and had an 18 tire TPMS installed. With that I replaced all airbags and all shocks on the tractor and all brake chambers on both tractor and trailer All suspension parts like bushings torque rods king pins and everything else. I also have digital scales that depend on the air system to get their data And finally the alignment.

All of that is influenced by heat and cold, vibration and impact, weight and age.

Trucks take abuse no matter how nicely you treat them.

Six months ago I also put another $5000 in brand new tires on the trailer

So if you want a grand total for what keeping properly inflated tires will help you save money on it is roughly in my case $18,000. Now when I figure how much in cents per mile of rubber I burn off that means roughly$.04 cents a mile in maintenance if nothing happens and no tires blow Every time a tire blows you have to make a decision on whether it’s safe enough to make it to a truckstop or does it need to be repaired on the side of the road.

At this time of year you will pay your premium to get a road call out ( much more of an issue for super singles that are not limp it in to a truckstop).

I had other work done on the truck to that I don’t count in those lists by the way.

Oh and i do have auto inflate/ air balance on the trailer too.

Thanks :)

The box lets me move everything out from my under bunk storage so that I’ll have more room for the wife’s stuff when she comes with me.

It will be a great place to put dirty laundry :D

And of coarse The fabled leaf blower of trailer maximum cleanliness

Dan F. . . . love the belly box~!!!! Other O/P's don't reply to your 'advice' because the REALITY of it, scares them away! I love your posts, good sir!

In the last two days I’ve spent $16,000+. Complete suspension overhaul, all shocks ,brake chambers ,airbags ,torque rod and bushings, a laser alignment, A TPMS system, 10 tires for tractor, and 3 axles centrimatics.

I have years of experience and this is not my first truck where I have owned

This also includes some quality of life things like a belly box for my trailer.

Two months ago I spent $11000 on wiring harnesses and a davco unit and some other work. $3000 on e track and vents for the trailer

Six months ago I put all new tires on my trailer that was another $4100 after a 40% discount because of the tire program I have. $1800 on digital scales.

As an owner operator I go home less and pay myself less then I did as a company driver.

Whether you drive or not you still have your insurance and truck payments and the taxes for paying your self.

If you do not have three years of driving experience without accidents as a company driver your insurance can cost over $30,000 a year for your first year as an owner operator. That does not include the additional insurance that may be required because you have a lien from the bank on your tractor which requires gap as well.

I replied to somebody else recently just asking them questions about a list of things they need to know and have ready before they even tried to become an owner operator and I never got a response and my list was only 75% of the basics.

You can look for that post if you want.

Three different teams that told me they had no experience and that CR England train them and forced them into lease purchase program said they were not interested in. Then after a short time being as CR England controlled all the loads they would not make enough miles to make payments. All three teams forfeited their trucks. All three teams over the course of the last seven years ended up working at the company I used to work for before I became an owner operator. At least one of those teams was still there when I left three years ago, said they were much happier and make a lot more as company team drivers.

Stay away from CR England if you know what’s good for you.

And what do you base this opinion of yours on, Dan?

According to legal scholars, it depends on whether you were on public or private property.

Stay away from CR England if you know what’s good for you.

Roehl doesnt really run teams ( at least they didnt when i left them 7 years ago ) but they did have 2 that i know of so you can ask them.

Were you on private property or a city road?

Make them pay you your final paycheck before you turn in the truck and if they refuse tell them you’re going to drop the truck off at a waystation and tell DOT to inspect it. Make a video of all the problems and tell them if they put anything on your dac you’ll show the video to DOT. Tell them you also have been thinking about talking to the IRS.

I don’t know what they pay now or where you live or how it would work, You can check “national carriers “ out of the dfw area ( they are owned by national beef which is in Dodge city Kansas and Liberal Kansas)

Roehl does a typological profile and questionnaire

I can guarantee you that some of his answers put him in a group that the insurance company list as high risk.

It probably has to do with no work history. If I am reading you correctly you have not worked in almost a deacde?

This is one of the two changes that was long overdue and as you can see we are all enjoying it now

When I originally got mine at the company I used to work for they paid for it.

It does make going in and out of ports so much easier so definitely worth having if it’s something you can afford which some people becoming drivers don’t have the means to get it by themselves for their first couple of weeks in the industry.

For me I didn’t have to pay for mine but even if I did have to it would’ve paid for itself after the first two uses because when you go into ports if you don’t have one you have to pay an escort fee and those fees range anywhere from $35-$175

When I went to a company school many many many many many moons ago, We only had one person wash out and it had nothing to do with the driving and everything to do with breaking rules.

After having a CDL for a year or two and switching companies I went to a company that had 21 people in their orientation(all have cdls)

None of them on testing of the actual driving failed, it again came down to rule breaking or lying about criminal history.

My trucking career only included two companies before I became an owner operator so I haven’t been all over the place in that regard but it does tell me that chances are you’re not going to have to worry

Im going to be an owner operator in a couple of weeks. I am looking forward to hearing from people with more experiences the good advice and suggestions they can give on -How to find freight -Load boards -Best fuel cards -How to minimize expenses

Thank you

Before you can do any of that let’s take a look at your operation.

Do you own truck? Trailer? Do you have an LLC or an S Corp. yet ?(ein?< i9?) Do you have your insurance for your tractor, trailer? Is your DOT and authority active? Annual inspections on truck and trailer(sometimes they give you one when they sell you them) Are you registered with clearinghouse? DRUG TESTING CONSORTIUM? 2290 ? UCR? IFTA? IRP? BOC3? elogs? Your employee driver file?(you will have to hire your self, this has about 20 things) KYU, NY HUT, NM ACCOUNTS ( I LEFT OUT OREGON ON PURPOSE) YOUR MEDICAL?(NEW ONE FILED WITH STATE)

Before the end of your first year you will have to do a new entrant audit.

For your maintenance program how often do you plan on changing your oil,fuel filters(2 of them possibly 3) coolant filter, air dryer cartridge and engine air filter?

Do you know enough about egr and src ?

If you’re going in the California, are you carb compliant?

Your accounting software?

I could keep going but you need to know all of this and it’s my pre bedtime Reading and praying time ( you will pray every day that something doesn’t break on your truck)

You do not make more money unless you are extremely experienced as an owner operator and decided to put the work in for the first five years making less money than a company driver. More money into a bank account does not mean more money into your pocket. I don’t think you understand the costs. You have payments to make as an owner operator regardless of whether you drive or not. My monthly overhead just for the truck to sit without fuel for my wife and self is about $9000 ( before taxes we only pay ourselves a total of $2650, after taxes you are responsible for both portions so you have to add $900 a month that just goes away never to be seen again) If you don’t pay your insurance just one Month, you lose your operating authority. .

Hello Laura,

I must inform you that I do have some experience. I do not have OTR experience but I have been a company, local driver for 16yrs. I am aware of the cost of being an OO but in the long run I thought they make more money and you have a lot more say so over what you will and will not do.

A neck measurement is not indicative of sleep apnea, opening your mouth wide and looking near the tonsil area to see if it is a wide opening or a narrow opening is the best method and almost nobody seems to notice because they are not specialists and therefore not qualified qualified. . A neck measurement is not indicative of sleep apnea, opening your mouth wide and looking near the tonsil area to see if it is a wide opening or a narrow opening is the best method. . I had a conversation with the doctor about this.

PJ, Thanks for your reply and I thought that I was the responsible for getting info to my State. Yes I’m new to driving but I’m not young and naive. Yes quite sure about being able to be insured due to we already checked on that. As far as the two differences with physicals...well the second Dr basically based his decision off of my neck measurement!! I know he was a Chiropractor but I think he’s very ODD to say the least. Later I was told by many other same company drivers that 80% of employees that are seen by him have to go for sleep studies.

Yeah I figured if you had time yesterday I could’ve shown you a bunch of things on the truck for quality of life or just general knowledge.

I am at the Dyersburg loves until Monday morning.

Something told me to get back on this forum sooner, you were literally an hours and some minutes from me!! I could have stopped by🙁.

Thanks PJ!!! I'm definitely gonna be doing alot of meditation before my exam starts. Funny how it starts as soon as school opens (7AM). Wish me luck!!

I don’t want to be negative but from the questions you have asked, you don’t know nearly enough to become an owner operator.

You make less money, you work harder and longer. You don’t get to go home on the weekends as a regional or local driver, unless the day cab you bought you paid for cash And you have the ability to survive on less money because your insurance is going to destroy you.

I won’t even get into the fuel costs, maintenance and repairs, or all of the taxes you will have to pay.

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen of the roadways, I am looking to become an O/O but don't exactly know what to look for in a truck. I don't want to get taken or buy a lemon I spend most of my money and time fixing know what I mean? Anyway I had a conversation with a fellow co-worker about Road trucks (with sleepers) and Day cabs. Which is cheaper? What's the going rate between Road truck and Day cab? What is a good mileage that says the truck still has some life in it? Or better yet how many miles is too many or the hours? Oh I guess I should include this I am more so looking at Day cabs, running locally or regional as to be home most nights. I want something that will run and pull really well. What's a good powerful engine? Cat, Detroit, Cummings, etc.? Can you guys give me some suggestions that will put me on the road to a rewarding O/O career? Thanks and Stay Safe out there on the roads and masking up in public, Dtrain