Tuesday, April 01, 2008

CareersinGear: Getting Started as a Trucker

Are you a company driver or owner-operator looking to make big money in trucking? Let me share with you a little industry secret...

Typically, owner-operators lease on and get their loads from motor carriers. Carriers often get their loads from freight brokers. Brokers, in turn, usually deal with shippers directly but sometimes take their loads from other brokers ("double-brokering"). Therefore, when you haul for a motor carrier, you have at least one-- if not three "middle men" in between you and the shipper.

You could be a company driver and make $0.45/mile. Or you could get your own truck and lease on to a carrier and earn $1.15/mile. Or, you could cut out the middle men and earn the whole rate that shippers pay. Put another way, you could have 75% of the pizza... or the whole pizza pie. The way to make the most money in trucking is to operate as an independent owner-operator with your own operating authority... and work with shippers directly.

As a USDOT Practitioner, I've worked with thousands of truckers just like you through my consulting practice and professional development workshops. I've helped them take the next step in trucking.

Read the rest of this article by James P. Lamb, USDOT/FMC PractitionerPresident, DOTAuthority.com, Inc. at CareersinGear.com

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