Does owner operators have rules and regulations to go by too

I am a wife of an OTR truck driver & my husband has been doing it for little over a year. He has had his ups & downs with this job & he is an employee of a trucking company, not a o/o.

Well he has a friend that he used to work with at his former company b4 trucking. His friend is in the process of awaiting a long overdue arbitration & his friend has BIG dreams of winning millions & millions of dollars & right away his friend has high hopes of buying his own tractor, being a o/o, having my husband as his team driver & the both of them think it is going to be a bed of roses.

They both are under the impression that when you are a o/o, you have no boss or federal regulations to abide by & I told my husband that his friend is delusional & they both think they have a job forever & don't have to worry about getting suspended or terminated from employment.

My husband does not want to listen to my advice. Even if you are an owner/operator, don't you still have to abide by the rules like everyone else?

Comments for Does owner operators have rules and regulations to go by too

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Oct 05, 2014
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O/O NEW
by: Momma Tator

Owner operators with their own authority have more rules to go by even if they are leased on to a company. Have him talk to different owner operators it's not as easy as he think my hubby has been an owner operator leased to a company since February 2014 we have our ups and downs paying for more than just our truck payment. But I wouldn't trade it for the world. O/O have to follow the same rules if not more than company drivers research be fore he goes and make sure you can afford to pay taxes on what he makes.

Jun 09, 2014
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Talk to other O/Os NEW
by: TruckerTherapy

It is definitely not a bed of roses. Many have tried and have failed. When becoming an owner op you have to take care of your license now more than ever. Maybe what he means by no rules, is the fact that he has more power in deciding his own appointment times, not having to drop at a yard, or beg anyone for fuel, are all things they get tired of. Make sure he talks to other owner ops to get some "real" numbers, keep in mind that as owner ops you swallow all your breakdowns with your own cash. There is costs involved that company otr drivers don't even realize exist. Be careful what you wish for. That's not to say it's not possible, but that friend better be savvy and more importantly make sure that your hubby knows that friendship can end up damaged if they don't agree on something.

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