To Be or NOT to Be an O/O

My Comments: Please add your comments.

To be or NOT to be, is the question for those who think or know they want to become an independent operator.

Back in the day (many moons ago) I was co-driver with my significant other (Bob) as co-owner/driver for hauling commercial kitchen supplies and appliances and office furniture. We ran mostly E Coast, NE and SW regions of the US. When I met Bob he had rig almost paid off but it was time for a new one which meant we would not enjoy freedom from truck payments for very long. He had already replaced the engine and the transmission had it's issues so rather than sink more money into an old KW, buying new made sense. This is a major decision and should not be made without great contemplation and thought. Business owners that become successful are born, not made. If you're not born to be one you shouldn't be one. OOIDA posted to their site some important facts to consider before making that giant leap from a company driver to an independent operator or as some companies call it these days, power provider.

Source: OOIDA: http://www.ooida.com/OOIDA%20Foundation/RecentResearch/OOfacts.asp

Owner-Operator and Professional Employee Driver Facts

Owner-Operators are those individuals that own and operate their own trucking business.  They may lease on to a carrier or they may operate under their own authority.  If they operate under their own authority they will have a Department of Transportation (DOT) and Motor Carrier (MC) number identifying them as a registered carrier.  There are approximately 350,000 owner-operators registered in the United States, most lease on to larger carriers and operate under that carriers DOT number.

Professional Employee Drivers (PEDs) do not own or operate their own truck and trailer, nor do they have a DOT or MC number.  Instead, PEDs work directly for a carrier as an employee.

The Owner-Operator:

• Are mostly Truck load carriers (TL)
• Regarding trucking experience
• Been the trucking business for 26 years
• Average age of becoming an owner-operator is 37 years old
• Have been an owner-operator for over 18 years
• Average age is 55 years old
• Very stable in their habitat as most have lived in the same area for 11+ years
• Are educated with at least 86% completing high school and approximately 45% going on to receive some level of a college education
• Trucking Business information includes:
• Receives a net income of approximately $50,000+ per year
• Receive pay by percentage of the line haul pay if leased to a carrier
• 95% run solo
• Average over 101,000 miles driving per year
• Majority are away from home a 100+ nights a year with 41% spending over at least 200 nights away from home.
• 69% own either a desktop computer, a laptop computer, or both
• Most own 1.2 trucks and 1.2 trailers
• Regarding the truck:
• 66% have their trucks paid off
• Peterbilt and Freightliner are the trucks most likely owned
• Caterpillar engines are the most popular
• 69% have 450 horsepower engines or greater
• 13 speed transmissions are the most common followed by 18 speed
• Dry Van and Flatbed trailers are the most common trailer owned
• Biggest maintenance problems were tire and engine troubles
• Average maintenance per year is $14,000
• 36% have served in the military
• 90% are registered voters
• 86% plan to vote in the upcoming 2014 election
• Are mostly republicans followed by independents

The Professional Employee Driver:

• Concerning demographics:
• Male (95%), which is consistent with the most current census of drivers in the United States
• 55 years of age
• 5 foot 10 inches tall
• Weighs on average 222 lbs. unfortunately, this will place the average drivers in the obese category devised by the Department of Health in terms of the Body Mass Index.
• Caucasian (91%)
• 89% are high-school graduates, which exceeds the national average for high school graduates for that age group.
• The PED is stable in that he or she is more likely to own his or her own home (80%) in a rural or small town (54%) for over 10+ years.
• Most independent drivers plan on retiring at 67 years of age with the largest majority of them expecting social security to pay for their retirement.
• The majority of the PEDs have some form of medical benefits either through the carrier (48%) or they are covered by their spouse's medical insurance (15%).  While this is better than the owner-operators, it still indicates that 16% have no medical benefits while the national average is around 14-15%.
• 22% are smokers which represents a 33% reduction from 2007
• 40% exercise regularly
• 35% have served in the military
• 75% own a firearm
• Been an OOIDA member for approximately 7 years.
• Regarding Trucking experience:
• The PED is not a novice driver as he or she has been in the trucking industry for 26 years
• Been with the present carrier for the last 7 years. 
• 41% have attended a truck driving school, and most lasted for 3-6 weeks with 65 hours of behind-the-wheel training.
• They get paid by the mile (64%) and average $.36-.40 per mile
• With a yearly gross income of $38,000-40,000.
• They drove an average of 110,000 miles in 2013.
• 54% were away from home 200+ nights a year.
• Regarding the truck:
• The truck will probably be a 2007 Freightliner with a 10 speed transmission and a 400-500+ Cummins engine averaging 5-6.9 miles per gallon.
• Only 37% will have an ELD
• A third will have GPS tracking devices on board. 
• 70% drive for a carrier that has a speed limiter device on the truck with an average speed setting of 66 mph. 
• 20% indicated that their carrier has encouraged the driver to log loading/unloading times as off-duty not driving.  A similar percentage indicated that they have driven for a carrier that has audited and changed their logs.
•  Most independent drivers are pulling a dry van trailer (38%) or a reefer (21%).
• 88% of the independent drivers are registered voters
• 81% voted in the last National election. 
• They remain politically active and 53% have contacted elected officials to share their position
• 50% belong to a political party that reflects a conservative outlook.
• That party is Republican

If you fit this lifestyle and have these stats burned in your mind and know going in what's up, then start by lease purchase or outright buying your first truck. We wish you success!

Blog Author: Marge Bailey

DriverFinder Network