Lease Operator/owner Operator

Brett and Guy hit it right. Especially Guy on the learning to run a trucking business. One of the biggest hurdles you will have to jump is the booking of your freight. If you go with a company they will do it for you, (THEIR WAY). And doing it yourself with no experience is a train wreck waiting to happen.

Years ago, late 80's to mid 90's it was easier to make a good profit with your own truck, but even then you found that you needed more than one truck on the road to make real good money. You needed another truck to pay for the truck you were running. It started to become a very ugly cycle.

If you need to mortgage your house to but a truck then you DO NOT need to buy a truck. Just being serious here. Brett said it nicely.

If I hit the lottery then I will buy another one just to drive to church in. And maybe to Walmart. But to put one on the road again. No way. I love a truck. Always have, always will. But I have learned my lesson.

When you lease with or without a company sponsor you are asking for trouble. Hidden policy from drivers in all trucking companies is to run the driver good, UNTIL he gets that truck paid off. After that, it's a nightmare. A company will be at you too when you get close to having it paid off to invest in a newer truck. Another cycle.

I was a Sr. Fleet Manager for a very large trucking company that owned 100% of their equipment. O/O's were nothing to them but pure profit. The O/O foot the bills. I was third man in the chain of command at the terminal so I learned a great deal because I was on the inside. But, I was a truck driver and that eventually did me in. I have had the fortunate blessing of living on both sides of the truck. I working in the logging business now. I'm a crew chief but still drive a load here and there during the week. Part of my accepting the job.

Go company for a few years. Get the knowledge I know you will. Then come back to the idea of owning a truck. Get your house paid off first. Save some money over those years and then look at it again.

Sorry we put a damper on those dreams, but we have to tell the truth!

Let some one else worry about the bills on that truck. You just drive it. Have fun. Keep us posted on your journey.

Good Luck,

Brett, Dan, Dave, Guy, and Tracy:

You're rockstars. I appreciate the fact you are not sugar coating any of this. The wife and I will definitely be working toward the company driver team. While I am very familiar with managing multi-million dollar operating budgets, running lean and mean, finding ways to save/make more $$, this definitely sounds like it would be more stress free.

Any recommendations on running as a hubby/wifey team? Company recommendations?

Brett, Dan, Dave, Guy, and Tracy:

You're rockstars. I appreciate the fact you are not sugar coating any of this. The wife and I will definitely be working toward the company driver team. While I am very familiar with managing multi-million dollar operating budgets, running lean and mean, finding ways to save/make more $$, this definitely sounds like it would be more stress free.

Any recommendations on running as a hubby/wifey team? Company recommendations?

Get through school. Both of you. As long as your healthy and can past a DOT Physical and a decent crimal background check as a team there are not many company you cant work for. Most will depend on the area you live in.

Wow, doing a bit of research and I can see where a married company team can make a pretty darn comfortable living. Thank you for pointing me in that direction.

Wow, doing a bit of research and I can see where a married company team can make a pretty darn comfortable living. Thank you for pointing me in that direction.

The great thing about teaming with your spouse is that there's no financial risk. You will make money. If the truck breaks down, you pop a tire, you need a new windshield, if anything breaks - its not on you. There's no risk and much less stress. Imagine driving down the road and thinking to yourself how awesome your paycheck will be and the next second one of your super single drive tires pop. That's 1,000$. So in a matter of a few seconds you went from being happy and under the impression that you'll have a nice paycheck to now being -1000 on your paycheck and being insecure on your income for the week. If a tire pops for me, I just call Over the Road Maintenance and they send out a mechanic. I don't pay for anything and don't have to stress myself out wondering if I can afford it.

It's such a great peace of mind driving how I want to drive without worrying about fuel. I've gone 160 miles out of route in the complete opposite direction to see my wife once. I didn't care, not my fuel. If I was paying for fuel that 160 miles would be a pure loss for me.

If anything it's just to enjoy yourself more out there. It's so much less things to worry about. You'll be going places with your wife knowing that you can afford to take a day or two off wherever you want without the stress of having to pay a lease payment on the back of your mind.

Life will just be so much easier and more fulfilling. Enjoy it!