FIVE TIPS ON BECOMING A SUCCESSFUL OWNER/OPERATOR

It’s not easy, being an owner/operator. Costs have been rising rapidly in recent years: fuel, insurance, tires, repairs – not to mention your most important asset, the truck. Meanwhile, pay rates haven’t kept pace.

Even though many fleets have been increasing driver and O/O pay this year, they’re still in catch-up mode and far from paying drivers are O/Os what they’re worth.

2014 O/O of the Year George Sutherland.
2014 O/O of the Year George Sutherland.

I recently spent some time with George Sutherland, our 2014 Owner/Operator of the Year, a local Toronto-area O/O with Bison Transport and picked his brain for tips on how new owner/ops can succeed. Here’s a sampling, with an in-depth profile set to hit the street next week:

Test the waters before you jump in: George worked as a company driver for five years before buying his first truck, but operated it as though it were his own. He tracked his miles, loads, pickups, drops, and repair costs to the truck (even though it was a company unit) and crunched the numbers to see if it was viable to run his own truck. “I kept a running tab of the cost of the fuel and the repairs on the truck, even though it was a company truck. It was a great experience to learn that way.”

Start with a used truck: Don’t stretch your finances too thin by financing a brand new truck unless you have a substantial down payment, George suggests. For him, his first new truck was his fifth. “As a beginning driver, you have to look at the used market first,” he said. “Then pay off that first truck and then get into your second truck, which is probably a little bit newer, and get it paid off. Then put some money aside, so you’ve got your truck to trade in plus you’ve got some money. I think you can still as an owner/operator get into a new truck but you’re not going to do it on your first or second or third go-round.”

Save money for repairs: Things can go south in a hurry for an owner/operator if money has not been set aside for repairs and other emergencies. “The problem with a lot of guys is that they see that first big paycheque and they end up buying fancy cars, motorbikes, holidays. That money has got to be saved for the truck,” George said. “The truck comes first. You’ve got to be able to maintain it. You blow a tire on the road – we blew a tire outside Dryden, Ont. on a Sunday morning. The guy wanted $1,463 for one drive tire. That’s a lot of money when it should only be $500. So you better have some money behind you.”

Take advantage of downtime: For George, time spent waiting to be loaded or unloaded is not downtime. It’s when he does his business planning or performs simple maintenance on his truck. “I do a lot of my business planning when I’m sitting at a customer’s dock,” he said. “You might as well use valuable time. I’ve been known to throw on a set of coveralls and go underneath the truck and do a grease job at a dock.”

Maintain meticulously: George’s current truck is a 2009 Kenworth. Yes, it’s a little long in the tooth but it still runs well and hasn’t given him many problems, thanks to his vigilant approach to maintenance. “We’re meticulous on oil changes and grease jobs,” he said. “I don’t go over 20,000 kms between oil changes and grease jobs usually once a week now. Anything, even the smallest air leak, you have to be on top of it.”

Avatar photo

James Menzies is editorial director of Today's Trucking and TruckNews.com. He has been covering the Canadian trucking industry for more than 24 years and holds a CDL. Reach him at james@newcom.ca or follow him on Twitter at @JamesMenzies.


Have your say


This is a moderated forum. Comments will no longer be published unless they are accompanied by a first and last name and a verifiable email address. (Today's Trucking will not publish or share the email address.) Profane language and content deemed to be libelous, racist, or threatening in nature will not be published under any circumstances.

*

  • These are sound tips. Being proactive and thinking like a true business person will differentiate yourself from being a successful business owner operator and just a person driving his own truck. Often being mindful of all factors and taking advise from the right people will put you ahead of the pack. At Trademark Capital Finance we encourage owner operators to be successful business people by following advise like this article.

  • Being a owner opp is a ponzie scheme in my opinion,the money you spend to operate and what you keep at the end of the year is no longer worth the time and effort,those days are gone my friends.

  • I appreciated George Sutherlands o/o comments. I did very similar. I drove log trucks for other people for 7 years, then bought a used Western Star log truck, changed oil every 250 hrs with top quality oil, greased 2x/wk with top quality grease, drove with care on rough log roads like I owned it. I put 2.5 million km on it, king pins were still tight, then traded it in on a lovely 3 month old Western Star. This truck the engine oil at 1.5 million km has never been black, and drives like a new truck.