Truck Leasing Articles

Why do some owner operators succeed while others fail? I have seen quite a few owner operators come to Lone Mountain Truck Leasing to get their truck and start their own business. A large portion of our customers take the truck off the lot, start hauling loads, make their payments, and get the title to the truck at the end of the lease. There are countless success stories, even throughout the last two years which have been some of the most challenging for our industry.

There are also a number of people who have had their business fall apart during this time. Some of these people were first time owner operators and others were seasoned road warriors. The circumstances of these people vary, but there are some common factors that seem to have set this group up to fail. In this four article series I will discuss some of these common factors and the best ways to sidestep financial disaster.

The first thing I want to talk about is MOTIVATION. While going through school many of my teachers thought that I didn’t know what the word motivation meant. Some people get pumped up to do statistics homework. I’m just not one of them. I did well in the classes I liked but did just enough to squeak by in the classes I wasn’t interested in. The first thing you, as an owner operator, need to ask yourself is how motivated are you to run your own business. Many people find the idea of being their own boss appealing. However some don’t think it all the way through. If your reason for becoming an owner operator is to work less, be home every weekend, and only take loads when you feel like it, then the business isn’t for you.

Any successful owner operator can tell you that when you are running a truck, or a small fleet, it isn’t good enough to simply be a driver. When you become an owner operator you have now added the titles of President, CEO, Chief Negotiator, Accountant, and Mechanic to what used to just be “Driver.” Needless to say, you have to be a jack of all trades, and it takes a lot of work to be an owner operator. To keep a truck running and make sure that your business stays profitable you need to be on top of every one of these jobs.

Unlike my school example, you can’t just excel at the jobs you like, and let the others slide. You need to be motivated to constantly do what it takes to become the best you can be in every area. Trying to pick and choose loads based on when and where you like to go is another common mistake. You need to choose loads that are going to be the most profitable for YOUR company. Many times these won’t be the most fun or easiest trips to make. As a driver, you might not enjoy some trips as much as others. However, as the President of your company, you need to do what it takes to make your company successful.

Other articles in this series will include information on budgeting, maintenance, and job retention.

Joe Hoovestol
General Manager
Lone Mountain Truck Leasing

Tags: Owner Operator

This entry was posted on Monday, April 12th, 2010 at 12:21 pm and is filed under Truck Leasing Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.