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.

Test the waters before you jump in: Work as a company driver for a while before buying the first truck, but operate it as though it were your own. Track miles, loads, pickups, drops, and repair costs to the truck (even though it was a company unit) and crunche the numbers to see if it was viable to run your own truck.

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. “As a beginning driver, you have to look at the used market first, 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”. “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 London, 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: Time spent waiting to be loaded or unloaded is not downtime. It’s when you do your business planning or perform simple maintenance on your truck. “Do a lot of your business planning when you are sitting at a customer’s dock,”. “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: Even an old truck with proper maintenance still runs well. It will not give you many problems, thanks to your vigilant approach to maintenance. “We’re meticulous on oil changes and grease jobs” . “I don’t go over 30,000 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.