Bringing Owner Operators

Hi All. I just got a soft promotion in the company, and they have allowed me to bring owner operators to work with me. Since I have never done hiring, what are do's and don'ts in such field?

What kind of work are you doing? How long have you been doing this kind of work?

That is not much info for sure!!

What are you hauling?? What tractor requirements do you have??

Is it power only or do the O/O’s need their own trailer??

How do you pay?? Mileage or percentage??

Are they running under your company’s authority or their own??

You can find O/O’s however finding good ones is harder. Depends how you are structuring which ones you will attract.

No matter how you run your program you need to make sure they have good clean background’s in all areas espically if they run under your authority.

These are just questions off the top of my head.

This is my 7th year in business. Did everything from dispatch, carrier and customer sales, even accounting. I got this option 2 weeks ago, but I am officially starting on 1st of December. I didn't have a single touch with hiring so far.

That is not much info for sure!!

What are you hauling?? What tractor requirements do you have??

Is it power only or do the O/O’s need their own trailer??

How do you pay?? Mileage or percentage??

Are they running under your company’s authority or their own??

You can find O/O’s however finding good ones is harder. Depends how you are structuring which ones you will attract.

No matter how you run your program you need to make sure they have good clean background’s in all areas espically if they run under your authority.

These are just questions off the top of my head.

What are you hauling?? A: Company has over 150 employees, so pretty much everything. From partials to heavy haul.

What tractor requirements do you have?? A: Company doesn't specify what kind of equipment O/O's need to have. As long as they are in good condition.

Is it power only or do the O/O’s need their own trailer?? A: We do not provide trailers. But we assist O/O's in buying trailer after they have been with us for a while.

How do you pay?? Mileage or percentage?? A: Percentage strictly. Starting at 15%, but everything is negotiable.

Are they running under your company’s authority or their own?? A: Our authority

You can find O/O’s however finding good ones is harder. Depends how you are structuring which ones you will attract.

Now this is something that I cannot put my hands on. Where can I find O/O except cold calling and Facebook groups?

By the way, thank you for you time. It means a lot.

Advertising works wonders to attract drivers. No cold calling is necessary.

I hope you intended to say you pay an O/O with their own trailer 85% vs 15%.

Your first mission should be to meet your insurance agent and have them give you a rundown of what they require in a possible hire. They all have similiar, but different boundries. such as DUI’s, SAP drivers, tickets, etc. You need to know that before you can interview possible new hires.

To get good O/O’s you have to sell your company to them. Why should they lease onto ya’ll instead of someone else. Have that pitch figured out and polished. The biggest thing I would look for is solvency of the company and consistent freight that is mostly your own contract freight, not mostly broker loads. I know of several small companies that do not have any customers, they pull broker freight. That model will kill you. Backhauls are the only time brokers should be that necessary evil we all hate.

I wish you the best in your new position.

I'm with PJ...

Yesterday I saw that 15% and my jaw dropped. I thought, "No wonder this guy is scrounging around the internet trying to find drivers."

Hopefully that's a typo.