Trucking Life: The Downside of Being an Owner Operator
With your CDL in hand, you now have a choice to make. You can either join a trucking company or you could become an owner operator. Once you learn about the downside of being an owner operator, don’t be too surprised if you’re looking for a secured trucking job with a company like us.
Are you considering a career as a commercial truck driver?
According to All Trucking, there are approximately 3.5 million commercial truck drivers in the United States.
If you have earned your commercial driver’s license (CDL), you have a very important decision to make. You can join a trucking company or opt to purchase your own rig and become an owner-operator.
While being self-employed may seem appealing, there are many reasons why you should choose to work for a trucking company.
Read on to learn about the downside of being an owner-operator.
Leave Your Job at Work
One of the perks of being a company driver is that you can leave your job at work when you clock out for the day.
When you are an owner operator, it is hard to find a disconnect between being behind the wheel or not. That’s because as an owner-operator, driving is just part of your job. You must also seek out new business opportunities so that you have routes to drive.
When you work for a trucking company, it secures new business and allows you to focus on driving and relaxing in your life outside of work.
Keep Your Earnings
As a company truck driver, you are able to keep all of your earnings for yourself.
This is a sharp contrast to where your earnings go as an owner-operator. When you operate your own truck, you are on the hook for any truck payment, insurance or maintenance charges.
If you are driving regularly, this means your truck will need maintenance more often and those costs will impact the money left over in your pocket.
Job Security and Steady Income
When you work for an established trucking company, you will benefit from having peace of mind about your job security.
Ask yourself, “Is being an owner operator worth it?”
Life as an owner-operator means that your earnings are based on the business you are able to generate through marketing your services. But joining an experienced truck company allows you to enjoy the benefit of receiving steady income because of the customer base it has already established.
No Start-Up Costs
A career with a trucking company allows you to avoid the expensive start-up costs of being an owner-operator.
When you start your own business as a truck driver, you must buy your own truck and may have to spend money to market your business to get your name out.
These start-up costs are initial outlay that you can avoid when you join a trucking company.
Wrapping Up: Avoid Being an Owner Operator
Being an owner-operator might be tempting at first.
But if you take a closer look at the job, it is a risky opportunity for someone that is looking to be successful as a truck driver.
At B.C. Freight, we are an experienced trucking company that is dedicated to providing premier customer service and the safety of our drivers.
Contact us today to learn more about opportunities to drive with us!