Getting started in trucking as an owner operator or start up fleet can be very difficult to break into. In fact most stay company drivers for decades without ever becoming an owner operator.

There are 2 primary reasons drivers never get to the next step:

1. Large fleets want you right where you are: Company drivers
2. You don't put yourself in a position to become an owner operator

Let's face it. Large fleets don't want you to leave. They make their money by keeping you as a company driver. They know you can go make more money working for yourself but that doesn't benefit them does it?

So, what do they do? They do everything they can to make sure you stay while making you think you are an owner operator. They may make it seem like your an owner operator by setting you up with a "lease" for one of their trucks. They deduct the payment right from your pay and let you put your company name on the door.

The problem with this is they don't report this to the credit bureaus. This does nothing to build your commercial credit. What's worse is they make it difficult to even prove you are an owner operator by not providing any documentation that the lenders would need to be able to give you a real loan on a commercial truck to actually become an owner operator. They hold the information hostage keeping you right where you are: Working for them as a company driver.