My husband and I were looking into buying a used bob truck and contract through a company, but would the expenses out weigh what you make over time or would it be better to just get a regular CDL and drive with a company and what company do you think would be the best to go for?
2007-03-06 05:54:08 · 6 answers · asked by Vivianna 4 in Business & Finance ➔ Careers & Employment
Be a driver.
1. Benefits: health and retirement. Fedex, UPS, Swift etc have very good benefits.
2. Maintenance headaches on a used truck are astronomical. Do not buy anything more than 3 years old. Werner usually sells their trucks at around 3 years. Do not buy anything with more than 80,000 miles or so.
3. Finding good loads is a headache.
4. Security: good drivers are hard to find. There is a glut of trucks on the road and a shortage of experienced drivers (1+ years commercial driving experience) so you will be able to hold the job for a long time if you are a good driver.
5. Contracting thru a company like Landstar, Schnieder, Werner etc is safe but you do not net out as much as you would as a driver for a fleet owner who contracts with one of these companies.
6. Unless the company you contract through also bills a fuel surcharge on their loads and passes that thru to you, fuel charges is a killer for owner/operators these days.
7. If you drive for a company they generally give you a food allowance and some of them a room allowance. If you drive for yourself or thru a contract that may not be the case.
8. If you drive for yourself, be prepared to drive 14-18 hours per day. If you drive for a company then OSHA mandates shorter hours. You have a better life.
Good luck whichever way you choose to go.
2007-03-06 06:30:31 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is no easy answer. You have flexibility being independent, but there is more risk.
Yellow is an excellent company, but there are also excellent regional companies.
Suggest that you try a good regional, see how you like it, then see if you want to go independent. Don't forget the health care benefits, very important today. Also, if you don't mind long haul, some of the specialized trucking, ie fancy cars, high value art, etc. are good, but you probably need some experience before you can get those.
Good luck!
2007-03-06 06:03:24 · answer #2 · answered by PeaceNow 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends on your situation but it is usually better to just be a driver. If you are a driver you will get benefits and have no maintenance costs. You will also not be responsible for fixing a damaged truck, which can easily cost well over 50k if you get in a wreck. O/O gives you the feeling of freedom but unless you plan on driving alot and for along time it is not worth it.
2007-03-06 06:06:25 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I went broke as an owner operator (thank you Ronald Reagan)
If I had to do it all over I'd opt for a drivers job
less responsibilty and less financial obligations
not to mention all of the maintanence I did myself, where as a company truck is maintained by the company
2007-03-06 05:59:05 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
just a driver --you have no expenses. The company must take care of the truck and all expenses with it.
2007-03-06 05:58:29 · answer #5 · answered by golferwhoworks 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Could go either way, personally think any small business is more
of a headached than it's worth.
2007-03-06 06:32:21 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋