I've been owner operator 1 1/2 yr now after being a company driver 9 yrs, doing very well but i do run specialized freight in an end dump.i don't think i would ever run general freight..rates are way too low , saved my money and paid 15.000 for an 06 international put another 9000 into it and have no regrets, what you are taking about doing would scare me.. do yourself a favor and listen to Kevin Rutherford on road dog radio about wether or not you're in a good position to buy a truck

RICH ARSTRONG..... I WOULD Say Go And See What CHRIS WILLAMS Has To Say About Trucking Its SO SO True What He Says And You Best Head To It The Ten Commandments Of trucking

RICH ARSTRONG If You Doing Ok Now And Making Money And Your Happy And If You got A family That There Happy and Well Taken care Of Also If You Got A Girl Friend And She Is With You On What Your Doing And She Is Happy You Best Just Stay With What You Have Now And Keep Your Eyes Open And Your ears Open Always Ask Question On Any OWNER OPERATOR And See What There Thoughts On OWNING A BIG RIG Keep Looking And Asking Every Question That You Can Think Of About Owning A Big Rig Its Not Cheap And You Do Not Have Enough Money For A MAJOR BREAK DOWN That Would End Your Driving For Ever At Least Your Making Good Money know And Your And Your Family If You Have One Is Covered With health insurance And Your Covered Also And Your Not Wondering How Am I Going To Be Able To Cover All That And Pay For All The Majors repairs On YOUR Truck Two If There Is Any And Pay For The Payments On Your truck Also Beside Every Thing Else That You Did Not think Of I Would Say Stay Where You Are Now And Be Happy In What Your doing Now Your Getting Paid And You Also Can Go Home With Out Any Worries About Your truck Its Some Else,s Headache They own It So It There,s Problems And Every Thing That Goes With It If There,s Break down You just Get Into Another One Of There Trucks Of There,s And Your On The Road Again Making money It Would Not Be the Same If You Owned One your self You Could Be Down For Weeks Waiting For Your Truck To Be Repaired And You Could Get So Far Behind On Every Thing Else And End Up Losing every Thing That You Have Now And There Would Be No MONEY Coming In And If It Was To Long Waiting For Your Truck To be repaired The Company That Your Working For Would Not Keep You And replace You With Some One Else So I WOULD SAY FORGET IT ITS NOT WORTH IT STAY WITH WHAT YOU HAVE NOW AND BE HAPPY

You just got to check out a good solid truck and know your bottom line know how much per mile you're going to spend and if you know that you can make a profit

Hi Rich! I was a company driver for 10 months before buying my 2008 Peterbilt 387. She had 600,000 miles on her and sold for $32,900. I was fortunate in that I had a very knowledgeable "mentor" that I could go to with trucking questions/problems/etc. They kept me going in the right direction. You don't need $50K in the bank and if you're paying $8K for a set of tires, you're not shopping wisely!! The $72K Freightliner sounds like a good way to go. Low miles, repairs should be at a minimum, plus you have a warranty. I spent the better part of 2 years improving my 387 thru maintenance and replacing parts that just wear out. My goal was having a low truck payment. I probably ended up spending the same amount (truck plus repairs) as I would have if had purchased a more expensive truck. On the flip side, I was able to pay my truck off in 2 years AND foot the bills for her repairs and virgin rubber tires along the way. I am into my 5th year, now an independent owner/operator. If you need a lot of home time with the family, probably not a good idea. If you have young children, probably not a good idea. Being a successful o/o takes a LOT of work and a lot of wisdom. The benefits are that it is YOUR EQUIPMENT and YOUR TIME and the monitary rewards are much greater. You will need to keep a log book of "cheap fuel" stops. You will need to shop for quality repairs that are reasonably priced. Schedule maintenance, or repairs, with shops that do great work with hourly rates $125 per hour or less. I live in WA but go to Sioux Falls SD for ALL my repairs. Hoffman Diesel Service...they can't be beat! I can't say enough good things about the pros of being an o/o. Just remember, shop wisely and work hard. You will be a success!

My uncle bought his 18 wheeler. He retired from his job and started using his truck to work for himself. So, I think it will be a great idea. And, I have a friend buying his own truck too.

If you dont mind and you know how to do maintenance and small repairs, and your ready to work 7 days a week. Even when your not under a load. Go for. You can make bank while your getting your truck paid for.then you can take some time off from time to time. If you have to have a shop do every little think for you, better stay a company driver.

Just joined the group. If you haven't done it yet, then run your company truck like and owner would and see what you come up with. You'll have to pay attention to the fuel and service needs and keep the cost in mind when you do the figuring. But for the most part take what your making a mile jump it up about 5 to 10 cents and add a shit load of stress and long months on the road. Been an owner for almost 8 years and am looking at going home for good the rates suck and contract freight isn't steady enough.

don't do it unless you have at least 50.000 in the bank to fall back on I own a trucking company and just a set of tires is about 8000

being an owner/operator is always a risk,you save enough money to buy a truck but you don't have enough money to cover a major repair,& if you have a major break down-you loose everything you own,However major break downs don't happen to often.So if you can get by for at least 1 year -you will be looking at success