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Last time we took a look at how to figure out what your costs of owning your own truck were going to be. Now that you have some idea of what it is going to cost to own your own business, it is time to take a look at what you can expect to make. There are basically two ways you can go as an owner/operator. You can get your own authority, don't forget to add in the expenses for this if this is your plan, or you can lease you truck on with a company and operate under their authority. The later has proven to be the more profitable in the OOIDA surveys which I have seen over the years. If you're semiâ€`retired and want to go where and when the mood strikes and not too concerned with profits, your own authority is ideal as you can pick the loads you want and run when you want. If on the other hand you need to have a fairly steady diet of freight and to have a regular income you will probably be better off  leasing on with an established company. So let us look at how to find a good company to lease to.

The first step is to make some additions to your spread sheet. Label your rows with all the possibilities. For example, you need to compare pay per mile, loaded and empty,  you need to find out exactly what the company pays, what you are expected to pay and what, if any, the start up expenses with the company will be. Does the company require an escrow account, do you pay for the base plate or does the company? You need to read all the ads you can find and use them to help you draw up a list of all the possible combinations. A spread sheet is ideal for this purpose as it allows you to list pay and benefits down the rows and companies across the columns. Once you have your list made up, put your operating expenses into your list. This will give you a comparison between what you feel it will cost you for various items and what the companies will cover. Now you're ready to sit down at the phone and start calling companies. When you call, tell the recruiter that you have a list of question you would like answered, then go down your list and note his answers. Do this for as many companies as you can, the larger your list the better your comparison.

Next time we'll take a more detailed look at putting the numbers together to find the best company to run for.

Till then be safe,

John Ewing