Getting My CDL On A Budget.
Topic 26294 | Page 7
Insurance seems like it would be the biggest obstacle.
There's a lot more obstacles. First off he doesn't have a clue about what he's doing. This ain't life on the farm out here!
Not only will the insurers not want to work with him, neither will the brokers. There's no shortcuts into this business and once you get started you'll understand why. Starting this career is not a cakewalk.
Many times the companies looking for Owner Operators want to see OTR experience. There's always a few outlaw outfits willing to do anything, but who wants to start like that?
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
Owner Operator:
An owner-operator is a driver who either owns or leases the truck they are driving. A self-employed driver.
Insurance seems like it would be the biggest obstacle.
There's a lot more obstacles. First off he doesn't have a clue about what he's doing. This ain't life on the farm out here!
Not only will the insurers not want to work with him, neither will the brokers. There's no shortcuts into this business and once you get started you'll understand why. Starting this career is not a cakewalk.
Many times the companies looking for Owner Operators want to see OTR experience. There's always a few outlaw outfits willing to do anything, but who wants to start like that?
Thank you Old School! Again, pure curiosity, what if (sorry about the hypotheticals) a new owner operater pays the absolutey insane insurance rate of 10k (So I've heard) would you still not be qualified to hit the load boards? If you had all of the proper everything done right as an own authority driver, couldn't you hook up and go through a load board? Again, I'm not trying to skirt the proper way into trucking, I have my first interview Monday. I'm just curious if anyone has bought thier way in through this way.
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
Owner Operator:
An owner-operator is a driver who either owns or leases the truck they are driving. A self-employed driver.
John, having a CDL and the ability to pay ridiculous insurance rates still doesn't make someone an accomplished business man. That's what you're suggesting. A farm boy who knows how to drive a truck would probably be bankrupt in less than a year. There's a lot more to this than being able to drive a truck and locate loads.
New drivers in CDL training are all focused on developing the driving skills needed to pass their driving tests, and they always wrongly assume this is what will make them a successful truck driver. Very few people realize the things that cause people to fail at trucking usually have nothing to do with their commercial vehicle driving skills.
To be honest with you, anybody can learn to drive a truck. That's the easiest part about this career. Very few people can learn all the other stuff that it takes to succeed at this career.
Take the time to read these two articles and see if they give you any new insights into this career.
The Hardest Part About Starting A Trucking Career
The Toughest Obstacles Rookie Drivers Face
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
John the short answer to your question is no.
Insurance for an experienced driver with a clean record runs between 10-15k a year right now. And that is for a minimum policy.
Hitting the load boards. First off those are broker loads. Brokers require a contract with the carrier. Most of the reputable brokers want 1 year O/O experience before they will give someone a contract. Then it depends how well you negoiate, how good that contract is.
There is alot of ins and outs to getting started as an O/O far beyond just getting a truck and your own authority to operate.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.EPU:
Electric Auxiliary Power Units
Electric APUs have started gaining acceptance. These electric APUs use battery packs instead of the diesel engine on traditional APUs as a source of power. The APU's battery pack is charged when the truck is in motion. When the truck is idle, the stored energy in the battery pack is then used to power an air conditioner, heater, and other devices
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Many brokers wont deal with a new entity and that new O/O is going to find their insurance quite unaffordable. Besides that, if they leased to a company, they'd still have to meet that company's requirements.
Are there sketchy little mom and pops? You bet there is, so its extremely risky for these and many other reasons.
I hope that makes sense and answers your curiosity about a farm boy buying a truck.