Where to Find Work as An Owner Operator Truck Driver?

Introduction

Becoming an owner operator truck driver is a massive undertaking for anyone to attempt. If you do manage to get yourself off the ground and purchase the trucks, and the office space, you are still left with one glaring issue, how do you find work? There are a number of options available to new owner operator truck drivers. You can find your own contracts via online boards, and word of mouth, you can sign on to a larger trucking company as a partner with your own fleet, or you can find a freight broker.

Finding Your Own Work

One way to entirely maintain your independence as your own boss is to find your own work through various sources.The most common way to find your own work in this industry is to use load boards. Load boards are typically virtual nowadays and are essentially online forums where companies can post the details of a hauling job that can be picked up by any owner operator truck driver perusing the boards. This is an efficient way not only to find fast jobs if you’re just starting out in the field, but also to build connections with companies for more work in the future. Though load boards are the most common, there are other ways to find your own work. You can simply reach out to various companies locally that do a ton of shipping. Though the success of this will rely heavily on your own ability to negotiate and sell yourself. It’s also more time consuming to do this than the load board, but it can potentially lead to a long-term arrangement between you and a company you call.

Signing Onto a Truck Company

Another way for a new owner operator truck driver to break into the industry is to sign on with a truck company. I know that most people who begin their own hauling company likely wouldn’t be interested in working with a larger company. However, playing ball with a truck company, while also negotiating to maintain control over your own independence is a really good way to constantly have consistent work. It will also alleviate much of the paperwork behind the scenes for you as you’ll have a larger company looking out for you. If you do end up going this route, try to advocate for yourself. Don’t join up with a company who’s looking to micromanage you, make the rules of your agreement with them clear and don’t let them violate these rules. Again, doing this will force you to sacrifice some independence, but you’ll have to make the decision if it’s worth it to do so to ensure that you always have a job to do.

Signing Onto a Freight Broker

The final way to find work as an owner operator truck driver is to make a connection with a freight broker. Freight brokers act as middlemen in every hauling transaction they are involved in. They will find the job for the driver and will mediate between the company that is shipping and the actual driving company to figure out the full details of a job. Freight brokers provide a number of benefits that are unavailable with the other options that truck drivers can use to find work. The biggest benefit they bring is that most freight brokers have already built connections with every reputable shipper in the area you are operating in. This means the freight broker can supply you with constant work, as they have already built up the connections a truck driver would need to build on their own without them.Not to mention this removes a whole bunch of extra office work from the equation for you. With someone else searching for and fostering shipping deals for you, you don’t need to worry about looking for ashipper, and you can focus on other areas of the business. This benefit will prove to be especially helpful to an owner operator truck driver who is still getting the hang of the business side of the operation. Of course, individual freight broking companies will have their own benefits that they offer their partners, but those will vary.

Conclusion

It certainly takes some time and effort to really get the hang of being an owner operator truck driver. Finding work is the one thing that decided if your business will sink or swim. Everyoption listed here is a fine one to choose, but ultimately it is up to you to decide which one would be the best for you. We hope this article helped you understand the process of finding work as an owner operator truck driver. It can be a scary time to jump into a new job, but with this article in mind, hopefully the process will be somewhat easier.