Owner Operators Survive?

by American Trucker
(Highway)

American Trucker

American Trucker

I've been a O/O for 25yrs. I'm doing well.


The question that always arises after any economic downturn is, will owner-operators survive? Those still standing today may be battered and bruised, but if they survive the next six months, they'll be well positioned to profit from what could be a rather dramatic upturn in our economic fortunes - for a while, at least.

The question we ought to ask is not whether owner-operators have a future, but what does the future hold for owner-operators? Their success will depend on how they can respond to change and adapt to the new operating environment. To quote Nashville songwriter Mickey Newbury, "the future's not what it used to be."

Many analysts are suggesting major change in the supply chain is already under way, and will continue as we move forward. They see more long-haul freight shifting from trucks to trains, leaving trucking with the shorter regional and local hauls. Since the traditional owner-operator business model is mileage-based and presumes that an adequate supply of miles will produce a reasonable amount of revenue, something will need to bend in order to make shorter runs profitable.....

Carl
American Trucker
americantrucker.wordpress.com
americantrkr@yahoo.com

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Sep 09, 2012
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Somebodies gonna haul it... NEW
by: Forrest

I'm definitely not a fan of public traded supposed "trucking companies" more than because they get govt. subsidies.
It's because they can drag a Wino out from under the car he sleeps under and get him a CDL give him a number take his name away and turn him loose on the traveling public. Now He's King of the Road but still a loser for his blindness and ignorance.
The 6 digit truck number; freight-liner milage drivers are Puppets of the .89 cent a mile Pimp Companies that keep their Lobbyists at work buying Officials while using safety as the wheels of their vehicle.
Owner Operators should be exalted for the risks and sacrifices they take. All the while flipping the big companies off and flipping hisself on. God Love'em every one.
Not all will agree with me...but many of those couldn't manage a turd rolling down hill with a stick! Keep on Trucking.


Sep 12, 2010
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Owner Operators Survive?
by: Dennis Shipman

I want to respond at length to this post, but I am working on my book, which has been neglected for several months as I respond to economic shifts in my own life. I think O/Os, which I have been for a much shorter period of time than you, need to negotiate better deals based not on miles driven but, perhaps, a percentage of the rate. Personally, I no longet want to go over the road even though I have not actually done so in years. I prefer to stay close to the roost. The money is not all that much different, moreover. So, if intermodal is going to be the transportation model of the future, we might as well adapt by negotiating settlements, which are based on shorter hauls. 10-4?

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