How It All Started

Never in my life did I think I would become an Owner-Operator. I didn’t even know what an Owner-Operator was. The only reason I came to be one was out of necessity. 

My trucking career started in 2015 in the Oilfield hauling water, thanks to a buddy of mine that helped me get that job. The first Oilfield company I worked for helped me get my CDL. They trained me and let me take the CDL test in one of their trucks. A few years later, that company went under and was forced to find a new job. But that’s a story for another day.

Back then, you could basically take the test anywhere as long as the DMV had a certified person that issued CDL. Nowadays, the only place you can test for your CDL is in major cities. So much has drastically changed from back then. From the tests and requirements, all the way to the FMCSA rules and regulations. They were basically handing out CDL licenses like candy when I got mine.

Now, I know I’m the brightest bulb in the room but when I tell you there were some incompetent people that were able to acquire their CDL, it would make me question the legitimacy of the rules that were set in place by the government as far as who was able to get a CDL. Some of the guys I worked with were as smart as a sack of potatoes. Nowadays, it seems like it just keeps getting harder and harder to obtain your CDL, but the funny thing about that is the people getting their CDL don’t seem to be getting any smarter. Common sense is near to non-existence out here in the trucking world, especially with the younger guys.

The Pandemic Hits

In 2019, the oilfield started to slow down. Hauling water in the oilfield is an entry level position. I would compare it to being a Dry Van driver. You have the most basic duties and that’s why it’s the lowest paying job in trucking in their perspective fields. In late 2019, I finally decided to get my Hazmat endorsement. Mind you, I already had my tanker endorsement, so I had a better chance of finding a good paying job with those 2 endorsements.

I applied to every single company that was available locally. Had some interviews but never a call back from any of them. I’m from a small town close to Lubbock, TX. So job availability was very scarce, especially when you want a higher paying job with no experience in that field.

Finally, in February 2020, a company called me back asking when I could start. I said as soon as possible. My job duties at this company would include hauling Hydrochloric Acid to rig sites in a tank trailer. The job was very similar to hauling water, but now instead of water, it’s Hydrochloric Acid.

My income literally doubled from getting this new job. Everything was going amazing. The guys I worked with were always so helpful. Any question I had, they always answered without remorse. My trainer was the best. He always had a great attitude. Didn’t mind lending a hand to me whenever possible.

But this new dream job that was so difficult to find would soon come to an end. Even though the company was staying busy with work, budget cuts started happening at a corporate level due to the pandemic starting to creep in into the nation. The first place companies go to when there are budget cuts, is the employees. Not even 2 months after getting hired, I got laid off. There had been rumors going on about layoffs coming a few weeks before they actually started to let go of people. So it was pretty much expected that all the new hires would be the first ones to go, which included me.

I showed up to work one morning, and the process of laying off people had begun. The manager at the time was calling in employees to his office one at a time. There were about 30 of us in the break room waiting for our names to be called. The room was silent for the most part. Nobody really knew who was safe or was going to get cut. Even the guys that had been there a long time weren’t sure what was in store for them. As you could imagine, it was extremely excruciating having to wait for your name to be called. Layoffs in the oilfield are more common than you would think. But just because you have been through it once, doesn’t mean the second time will be easier. For me, this was my first time.

My name is finally called at last. I start walking towards the office beyond nervousness. My mind was racing. One thing I hate more than heights is uncertainty. When I’m uncertain of things, it makes me want to start having anxiety, especially when my job is on the line.

As I got closer to the door, my heart just kept beating faster and faster. The manager tells me to take a seat. I could tell this was also not easy for him. He looked like he almost wanted to cry. His face was red with glassy eyes. He was the same person that took a chance on me and I always did my best to show him that I was worthy of hiring. I never showed up late, asked tons of questions, showed interest in my new job and showed respect to every single person in the company. I just want you to imagine yourself having to practically fire 15 employees. For reasons that are out of your control. It must take a toll on you after just the first few of letting go. They will have to go home to their family with the heart breaking news. Wondering what’s next for them.

For about 20 minutes, he explained to me the reason why they were letting me go. Basically they were getting ready for what’s to come due to the pandemic. He kept apologizing constantly and that he was really sorry. I just sat there nodding, in shock of what was happening, without saying a word. In the end, he told me to keep an eye out for his phone call. That I would be one of the first ones he would call back as soon as the company started to rehire employees again. He assured me that sooner or later, work would pick up again and the process of rehiring people would begin. But God had other plans for me.

My OTR Career Begins

While struggling to make ends meet after getting laid off, one of my friends called me and asked me if I wanted to go work with him over the road. We would be team driving together. I told him that I would get back at him, that I had to talk it over with my wife. At this time, we are at the height of the pandemic, so no one was currently hiring locally. Before the pandemic, I always told my wife that I would never do OTR and don’t know how people are able to do it. I guess I felt like I didn’t have the need to since I was surrounded by oilfield jobs. But I was running out of options and no income coming in.

I ended up telling my friend that I would accept the job. The company flew me out from Lubbock, TX to Chicago, IL. The owner of the truck picked me up at the airport and drove me to the office. On the way there, as we were getting to know each other, he told me that if I wanted I could potentially buy the truck. That they had a lease purchase program. At the time, I paid no attention to it, since purchasing a truck had never even crossed my mind. I just needed a job. I needed to make some money, not buy a semi truck. So I just left it at that, until 6 months later that I revisited what he had told me.

They started me at 70 cpm doing team driving. To be honest, I didn’t even quite understand what exactly that meant at the time. I didn’t know if that was good or bad. All my previous jobs, I had always been paid hourly. Looking back at it, it’s pretty decent pay if you put in the miles.

Within 2 weeks of doing OTR, my co-driver got fired. That’s a story for another day. As you could imagine, I was extremely nervous doing OTR for the first time, even more doing solo. While doing teams, I was doing the night shift, since there was less traffic and wanted to get familiarized with the job. Again, all I had ever done was local work in a day cab truck, in a small town at that. So you could imagine my anxiety levels the very first time I had to drive through a major city, which was Chicago. Right off the back, I was thrown into a truck, with a sleeper cab, a few feet longer trailer than I’m used to, traffic like no other, and I was supposed to act like normal? Till this day, I can’t believe my boss didn’t even take me on a test drive.

Unfortunately, that’s one of the problems we currently have. These owners of trucking companies will put anybody behind the wheel. That’s why you have so many rookie mistakes and accidents. To be quite frank, I was part of those statistics, which I will get to another day.

As a solo company driver, I was getting paid 55 cpm. 3 weeks on 1 week off. After 6 months, I felt like I was ready to become an Owner-Operator, but the harsh reality was that I was far from ready. I didn’t come to that realization until a few years later, when the whole market started to crash in real time.

I contacted my boss and asked for more information about the lease purchase program they had. After he gave me the info, I had to figure out how to come up with some money, since my bank account was looking a bit malnourished.

How I Became An Owner-Operator

The truck that I had been driving for 6 months as a company driver was the truck that I was planning to lease purchase from the company I’m with. It is a 2016 Freightliner Cascadia. The price tag on it at the time, February 2021, was roughly $62,000. It had appx. 550,000 miles on it. They wanted a $10,000 down payment with $1,529 monthly payments for 34 months. Since they saw I was serious about it and always proved to be a trustworthy person, they gave me a better deal. $5,000 initial down payment, and another $5,000 6 months later. With that information given to me, I had to figure out how to come up with at least $10,000 to be able to purchase the truck.

With no savings, credit cards nearly maxed out, credit score pretty low, my options were very limited. I became good friends with someone I met at a previous job. I knew he was loaded with money but never really knew how much he had. He’s my age, doesn’t come from a rich family, and was always very particular about how he spent his money. So I had to propose to him an offer that he couldn’t pass up. Even though we had become really good friends, asking for thousands of dollars hits different than asking for a few hundred bucks. I was practically asking him to take a risk on me with his money, not knowing if he would see the money again. I hardly knew what I was getting myself into. If you were to say you were ready to become an Owner-Operator with only 6 months of OTR experience, I would say you’re crazy.

The offer I proposed to him goes as follows. He would lend me $15,000, in return, he would get $20,000 back in a 12 month term. So he would be making $5,000 in one year for letting me borrow the money. I told him to see it as an investment, but a high risk investment, since I was still relatively new to the whole trucking business. By the sound of his voice, I could tell he was really iffy about the situation. I don’t blame him, I mean who wouldn’t be. He told me he would think about it and talk it over with his wife.

A few days later, he called me back. He would go on to say ‘ after careful consideration, I agree to your offer and terms’. I was so excited to hear those words. Till this day, I still remember exactly where I was at the time. I was driving north on I-25 by the NM and CO state line.

A new chapter in my life would begin. My goals and dreams would soon come to reality. The start of my trucking company.

My Hidden Entrepreneurial Mindset

I have always had a ‘go big or go home’ mindset aka entrepreneurial mindset, and it was no different when it came to trucking. To be honest, I have no idea where it even came from. I never knew that I had that mindset until I started doing some personal development while OTR.

I have had several side hustles since my early 20’s, and no matter what I was doing, I was always trying to figure out how I could scale it and make more money. Having a business had never come into thought, it was always how can I make a little bit of extra cash.

I never knew anyone with a business, much less looked into having one myself. I had always thought that I would be an employee until I retired. One of my goals in life was to retire early from having a job, never how can I create a business so I could retire early.