Owner ops who GOT OUT

Posted by bobbyjones832@reddit | Truckers | View on Reddit | 6 comments

Just wanna hear how things are working out after hanging up the keys. Are you happier? Do you miss the freedom? Any regrets? I've been in business 6 years and I think about hanging it up quite often. Can't find anything local that pays well to be worth it and I'm tired of hustling OTR. Rates are good leaving home but coming back is always a struggle. I just wanna plant some roots at this point. Thinking about finding a local company gig. What say you?

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WSLowmax@reddit

I got out once for about 4 years after about 6 years as an O/O, then decided to go back as a company driver at a Teamster company. I lasted 2 months and bought myself another truck. Pulled the same company’s trailers as a “dependent contractor” for about 10 months before eventually drifting back to flatdeck. Im going to stick with it till I’m done working.

As a side note, you shouldn’t get hung up on rates being low in one direction and better in the other direction. You need to look at your averages and at your costs.

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STR2@reddit

Been doing LTL P&D for over a year now and I'm going back to being an owner-op later this month. I'm paid well, day shift with weekends off, and the job is easy but I can't stomach dragging my feet everyday, managing my time as an hourly employee where the only way to make more money is sacrificing more time - it doesnt matter how good I am or how much freight I move, I'm paid the same as the next guy so long as I'm 'just' good enough to not be fired. Guys brag about how much OT they put in (time and a half after 8 hrs) while I'm like...I used to be paid based how well I negotiated rates or managed my margins...

I looked at my watch a couple months back and thought to myself, "please let it be Thursday!" only to find it was Wednesday and was like...I can't spend the next 20 years feeling this way.

🤞

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