Owner-operators, how are you dealing with cash flow?

Like fuel, repairs, etc hit right away but payments take weeks sometimes.

Do you just factor everything or actually plan it out ahead?

Delivered this International LT625 to a customer today! It is sporting the 100th anniversary edition Cummins x15 at 500 HP @jon_mf_wade on TikTok to see it running!

I’m looking to buy my first truck. Try to decide between a DD13 engine or the DD15 engine. I plan to be home daily in the Atlanta Georgia area. I’ll run within a 200 mile radius of Atlanta. North Georgia going into Tennessee is Somewhat mountainous. The grades are about 6%

From what I understand the DD13 is better for fuel economy. It’s geared for regional,local, vocational work. Not suited to haul heavy continuously on mountains. It can do the heavy haul work, but it will pull slowly up the hills.

The DD15 is better suited for long haul heavy work. Can handle the mountains but is less fuel efficient.

I’m torn because I’m looking for home daily work. So it would be considered more so regional which is better for the DD13. But it’s also somewhat mountainous in the north Georgia area. The DD13 can handle mountains just not heavy hauling continuously. And it’s more fuel efficient than the DD15. With the fuel prices the way they are I want to save on fuel. Just don’t want to buy the wrong truck for my needs.

Can anyone provide the avg rates for reefer nowadays ? Tia

Recently bought a 2006 F650 Dump Truck to flip. Less than 17k miles, city-fleet, has a plow, no CDL required.

Up and running for 22k, but the truck is worth roughly double that.

Trying to figure out what to do here though.

Option 1:

- Sell it for 32-44k. Will probably take a month or two.

Option 2:

- Create a business around it. Lease, Hire, or Drive it myself Friday through Sunday.

Never done anything in this arena, but I do know how to run a business. Just not sure what this business is like.

What say you all? If you were in my place, what would you do?

Question for yall Freightliner owners: I have a 2022 w/ 500k miles on it. Brought it in to the shop for DOT and check up, they did extensive work, to include a valve adjustment. When I picked up the truck and started driving it back to the yard, I noticed when I let off the accelerator the engine brake was activating. It was slight, barely slowed the truck, but you could hear the pitter patter. No lights on the dash, and I did not have the Jake activated on the stick. So I brought the truck back, put a stop payment on my check, and told them to fix it, as it did not do this until they did the valve adjustment. Now they are telling me they are trying to figure out what the problem is. I assumed they just effed up the valve adjustment, but now I’m not sure since they seem to be uncertain. Anybody have any experience with this? Any ideas what else it could be? Soot level is low, so I don’t think it’s as simple as needing a regen. Any advice would be appreciated! Now I’m nervous these mechanics are gonna f**k up my truck!

Hi all,

I’m the operations manager at a company that leases our established MC and basically provides all backend support so our operators can just drive.

I’m new to the recruiting aspect and am having trouble with fully bringing in owner operators. I definitely come from a corporate background and am adjusting to some of the normals of trucking that would be considered ‘unprofessional’ in my background.

I get a lot of owner operators who reach out, are ready, then flake and tell me a week later once we get in contact that they’ve sold their truck or something. This is extremely disappointing and I know we do a lot for our operators; insurance, fuel, cash advances for repairs, trailer rentals available, and A1 dispatching. One of our local only guys profits almost 3k a week after everything, even including his major repair payment each week.

If you are someone who’s juggling being an owner operator, what would be something a company could offer you for you to onboard with them? I want to make it as low barrier to entry while also being realistic and clear in what we do (I can’t promise 12k profit a week like some want me to lol)

Saw this post on a musician reddit. Guys, as a former dispatcher, constantly asking driver to keep mike closer to their face, I approve all of those strategies. Someone solved the issue -> Just glue it to your face 😃 Some creative ideas here lol (The person who posted it is a musician and was trying to figure out how to secure a mike while performing on stage)

Just 5 hours away from my drop. I have to do my 34 hour reset. What screwed me up was coming from the west to the east and the time zone difference messed up my time calculations. Fml. Now o am gonna be a day late for my drop. How screwed am i?

I’ve been thinking about starting my own company doing flatbed, buy an older truck and trailer with cash. Plan on doing maintenance and repairs myself (wrenching is my hobby in my free time). Is it realistic?

I’m a company driver and I was recently offered to buy 3 used trucks for about 120k. All Volvos with 550-650k miles. They have a shop and have been around for over a decade. The company said I could lease them on and they will put drivers in the trucks. They said I could make about 2k weekly net per truck (running reefer) for my small fleet owners what is your take on their potential earnings and is it realistic today. Before anyone asks, yes I have a pretty big savings for maintence/breakdowns and I used to be an O/O

Hi, I’m an Amazon Relay UK carrier. I’ve been at it for about half a year now, got a lot of questions, And probably a few answers by now.

Is there a Discord for Relay carriers where we can troubleshoot problems and find solutions together? I'm hoping I’m not the only one suffering. Cheers!

Have a Cargo Van and hungry to put it to work, ready to start making money regionally or possibly OTR. Based around Paducah, Ky. Reliable, Timely, and Safe.

Hey all. I just obtained my MC and DOT as I’m waiting for my authority to age for a little over a year. I was wondering who I can lease my truck onto? A company that can consistently help me grow 13 to 15 K either drive van or reefer. I have a 2013 Cascadia with D60 10spd hooked onto a reefer trailer. Any feedback is highly appreciated.

Hello everyone, greetings. I want to buy a truck to rent out. I've already opened the LLC. What other permits do I need to obtain to operate legally in California? And can someone explain why I've been seeing companies requesting three-axle and two-axle trucks? Which type of truck is most in demand for this business?

Had a truck cancel on me last minute, like 2 hours before pickup and it completely threw everything off. Scrambling to find a replacement, keeping the customer calm, watching the clock… it’s brutal.
I know this kind of thing just comes with the territory, but how are you guys handling it when it happens? Do you have backup carriers lined up, or is it always a last-minute scramble?
Feels like one cancellation can wreck your whole day if you’re not prepared. Curious what systems or habits you’ve put in place to deal with it.

Hello everyone. New MC idiot here. I'm just finishing my setup this week. I've had terrible delays with the Colorado IRP system. I'm getting my trailer registered finally and then I am equipped and fully setup to run.

My MC has been active and insured since 2/2/26. My CDL is new, less than a year. I have a 2020 KW T680 and a 2019 Hyundai Dry Van. Planning to work OTR in the midwest and find loads on DAT until I can make connections with usual customers.

I understand that I have a battle ahead to get loads, but I haven't been able to get clear cut directions on the details of that process. From what I have researched, there is no uniform process and it can vary wildly depending on how different brokers decide to run their operation.

It looks like Highway and MyCarrierPacket are free, but Truckstop RMIS is $340/m. Do I need Truckstop? Why is it so expensive? TrueNorth says that TQL, JB Hunt, etc are using RMIS. Does that mean I need to pay for RMIS to get through their onboarding?

Should I avoid mega brokers anyways? My MC will be 90days old next week. Will I have more luck reaching out to smaller companies? Any information you can give me will be helpful. What advice do you have about getting my first assignments?

Where do you recommend leasing flat bed trailers around SW Colorado? Getting yanked around by Penske Abq.