Having a Well-Rounded Skill Set is Key for Owner Operators

In the first part of the Things to Consider Before Becoming an Owner Operator series, we focused on the financial aspect of starting your own business. Today, we’re going to focus on the skills that you should have in order to be successful.

Ask yourself these questions:

1. Are you a chameleon?
How well do you deal with being alone and in charge? Can you promote yourself and your business when you need to? Are you able to shift from one to the other in the blink of an eye? Owner Operators must be able to adapt to the present situation and see opportunity.

2. How do you feel about planning, preparation, and looking for companies to haul freight for?
To be successful, you need to have a plan in place about how you’re going to run your business. Like a brick and mortar business owner, successful owner operators develop a business plan so they have a guide to follow on what their goals are and what they need to do to accomplish those goals. If you’re not all that fond of planning and preparation, you might want to reconsider being an owner operator or seek professional help in building a plan you can stick to.

3. Do you like or dislike doing paperwork?
Much like planning and preparation, there is a lot of office work that’s required as an owner op. For example, there are bills of lading that you need to submit to companies for payment, receipts to keep in order for tax time, and bank accounts to keep track of.

4. Do you have the skills to be a mechanic?
It costs money to maintain your tractor and one way to save on money is to learn how to do things yourself. If you have some decent skills as a mechanic, you have the opportunity to keep your truck running without having to pay someone else to do it for you.

Here’s a current PTI owner operator’s advice about the skill set you should have:

“Having common mechanical skills will be greatly beneficial as an owner operator … Being prepared with tools and simple parts and having the knowledge to use all of them can save you hundreds and maybe even thousands. Fixing small things early yourself could prevent larger expensive repairs down the road.” – Jay Brockway (shown to the left)

And, a take on the skills needed from another current PTI owner operator:

“I don’t think it’s as important to have mechanic skills than it is to have have an understanding of the mechanics itself. If you understand the make-up of the equipment you can explain your problem to someone more mechanically inclined than yourself and can avoid being ripped off.”
– Jeremiah Carson (shown to the right)

Just having a good understanding of your finances, knowing your skill set (and whether or not it’s developed enough) is something you should think about before becoming an owner operator. PTI’s owner operator program offers access to our maintenance facility at reduced prices, discounts on fuel, and help with trip planning and preparation. If you’re interested in our program, please call our recruiting team at 1-855-784-5627, email them at jobs@papertransport.com, or visit our owner operator page.

Check in next week for part three of this blog series, which will focus on doing your research before becoming an owner op.

Main photo provided by current PTI Owner Operator Bud Weber. 

Owner Operators Need to Stay on Top of Their Finances

In the trucking industry, there are two main ways to earn an income as a Class A CDL Truck Driver. The first is by working for someone else as a company truck driver. This is a solid way to earn a paycheck, but there are some drivers who more control over everything they do, what they drive, and how they operate. This brings us to the second way to earn money as a Class A CDL Driver: Becoming an owner operator. The major benefit of becoming one is that you’re in charge and the decision to go your own way is something that should be taken very, very seriously.

To see if becoming an owner operator is the right decision for you, Paper Transport, Inc. will be sharing a series about things to consider before becoming an owner operator. Today, we’ll be focusing finances.

When it comes to finances, there are two big things to think about before taking the leap to own your own truck and run your own business.

1. Do you have the capital to start? In order to own your own truck, you need to invest in yourself and your business as an owner operator. That means, you need to have enough money to start your business to properly fund the lease or purchase of your truck. Other considerations include insurance (both for yourself and your business), your USDOT, and Motor Carrier Number from the FMCSA, and many other expenses.
2. What about a cash reserve? Even if you have the capital to start, it’s also important to have a cash reserve to pay for unexpected things that come up when you’re on the road. Are you ready for truck maintenance or tows if your truck happens to break down? Without that extra money in the bank, you might be forced to extend your credit and that will put you in a financial hole that could be hard to get out of.

Jeff Clark, 18-year Owner Operator and contributor to the TeamRunSmart blog, shared the following thoughts with us on finances:

“It is important for an owner operator to be on solid personal financial ground when they start. An 800 credit rating is more important than $10,000 in the bank. They should have the capability of obtaining bank financing. Too many owner ops start out with a poor credit score and become subject to predatory lending. They are about 95% likely to fail.”

As you can see, finances are a big thing to consider when becoming an owner operator. At PTI, we have many regional or dedicated opportunities that offer consistent freight and weekly pay. If you own your own truck that’s a 2000 model or newer and you’re interested in our program, please call our recruiting team at 1-855-784-5627, email them at jobs@papertransport.com or visit our owner operator page.

Check back next week where we discuss Knowing Your Skill Set in our series Things to Consider Before Becoming and Owner Operator.