TRUCKING & OWNER OPERATOR COACHING
The Owner Operator Course: five weeks to a business that survives its first year
Live training, working numbers and honest costs for drivers going from company seat to owning the operation — whether you lease on or run your own authority.
COURSE PACKAGE
Everything included when you enrol
One package. No upsell ladder, no locked bonus tier. Pricing is confirmed on your enrolment call.
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Five weeks of live group training with T and Jae, held online and recorded.
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Five structured modules covering setup, compliance, freight, money and growth.
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The Owner Operator Resource Guide: forms, checklists, vendor lists and calculators.
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Cost-per-mile and load profitability calculators you keep and reuse.
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Private community access for questions between sessions.
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Session recordings and materials for twelve months.
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One private business direction call to decide your lane, authority and equipment path.
FIVE-WEEK LIVE TRAINING
Taught live, so you can ask about your situation
Sessions run weekly with T and Jae on the call. Every week ends with an assignment you complete on your own business, not a hypothetical one.
WEEK 1
Foundation and business setup
Entity choice, EIN, business banking, bookkeeping from day one, and the difference between a job with a truck and a business that owns trucks.
WEEK 2
Authority, compliance and insurance
MC and DOT numbers, BOC-3, UCR, IFTA and IRP, drug and alcohol consortium enrolment, and getting real insurance quotes for a new authority.
WEEK 3
Freight, rates and negotiation
Load boards, brokers, direct shippers, reading a rate confirmation, checking broker credit, and negotiating from a cost-per-mile number instead of a feeling.
WEEK 4
Money: cost per mile, fuel and reserves
Building your true cost per mile, fuel strategy and discount programmes, maintenance reserves, quarterly taxes and factoring versus waiting on payment terms.
WEEK 5
Growth and staying in business
Deciding when to add a truck or a driver, dispatch options, safety scores, downtime planning, and the decisions that keep you running through a soft market.
RESOURCE GUIDE
The Owner Operator Resource Guide
A written guide you keep and work from after the course finishes.
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Step-by-step authority and compliance checklist with filing order
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Cost-per-mile and load profitability calculators
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Pre-purchase truck inspection checklist
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Rate negotiation scripts and broker credit-check process
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Insurance question sheet to compare quotes fairly
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Monthly bookkeeping and quarterly tax calendar
COMMUNITY
Access to the operator group
Training ends; the questions do not. Community access continues after week five.
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Private group for course members only
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Ask-anything threads answered by T and Jae
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Lane, broker and vendor experiences shared between members
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Monthly open call for current problems and wins
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Alerts on regulation and filing deadline changes
LEARNING OUTCOMES
What you will be able to do by week five
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Register and operate a compliant trucking business, filing by filing.
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Calculate your true cost per mile and refuse loads that lose money.
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Choose between leasing on and running your own authority with reasons you can defend.
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Read and negotiate a rate confirmation, and check a broker before you haul.
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Build a startup budget, a maintenance reserve and a quarterly tax plan.
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Buy or lease equipment with an inspection and financing checklist.
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Compare insurance quotes on equal terms instead of on headline price.
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Plan the point at which adding a truck or a driver makes financial sense.
MODULE OVERVIEW
Five modules, in the order the work actually happens
MODULE 1
Business foundation
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Entity formation and business banking
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Bookkeeping setup and record retention
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Startup budget and personal runway
MODULE 4
Freight and revenue
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Load boards, brokers and direct shipper outreach
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Rate negotiation and deadhead maths
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Broker credit checks and getting paid
MODULE 2
Authority and compliance
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MC/DOT registration walkthrough
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BOC-3, UCR, IFTA, IRP explained
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Drug and alcohol programme, ELD, hours of service
MODULE 5
Operating profitably
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Cost per mile, fixed versus variable costs
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Maintenance reserve and downtime planning
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Quarterly taxes, deductions and year-end preparation
MODULE 3
Equipment and insurance
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Buying, leasing and lease-purchase compared
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Pre-purchase inspection checklist
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Primary liability, cargo, physical damage and occupational coverage
THE BIG DECISION
Owner operator or your own authority?
Both are legitimate businesses. They differ in who holds the operating authority, who carries the insurance and compliance burden, and how much of the rate you keep.
Leased-on owner operator
You own or finance the truck and sign a lease agreement with a motor carrier. You run under their MC number, on their insurance, hauling freight they source. They take a percentage of the rate or pay you a set amount per mile, and deduct items such as escrow, plates, trailer rental and fuel advances.
Your own authority
You apply for your own MC and DOT numbers and become the motor carrier. You buy your own primary liability and cargo insurance, handle your own filings and audits, find your own freight, invoice your own customers and keep the whole linehaul rate — along with every responsibility attached to it.
Leased-on owner operator
You own the truck and run under a carrier's authority.
PROS
+ Faster to start — no authority approval wait
+ Carrier handles insurance, permits and much of the compliance
+ Freight is provided; less time spent finding loads
+ Fuel discounts and maintenance accounts through the carrier
+ Lower upfront cash requirement
CONS
– Lower revenue per mile after the carrier's percentage
– Limited control over lanes, freight and home time
– Forced dispatch on some agreements
– Escrow deductions and contract terms you did not write
– You are not building your own safety record or shipper relationships
Own authority
You hold the MC/DOT authority and run your own carrier.
PROS
+ You keep the full linehaul rate
+ You choose lanes, brokers and shippers
+ You build your own safety record and business asset
+ Freedom to add trucks and scale
+ Direct shipper contracts become possible
CONS
– Much higher insurance cost in the first year
– You carry all compliance, filings and audits
– Cash flow gap while invoices are paid
– Time spent on dispatch, billing and admin
– One mistake in compliance stops the whole operation
STARTUP COSTS
What it realistically takes to begin
These are planning ranges used in the course to build your budget. Actual figures depend on your credit, driving history, equipment, state and insurer.
Leased-on owner operator — typical startup
Assumes a used truck financed with a down payment. Figures are planning estimates, not quotes.
Plan for roughly $22,000 – $50,000 to start comfortably.
Own authority — typical startup
Insurance is the biggest first-year variable and depends on experience, location and equipment.
Plan for roughly $35,000 – $80,000 in the first year.
BUSINESS DIRECTION
Choosing the lane before you spend the money
Your private direction call covers the decisions that shape everything else.
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Freight type: dry van, reefer, flatbed, hotshot or specialised — and what each demands of your equipment and schedule.
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Regional versus over-the-road, and what that means for home time and revenue.
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Buy, finance or lease-purchase, judged against your capital and credit position.
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Lease on first to build capital, or go straight to your own authority.
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The revenue and reserve level you need before adding a second truck.
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An exit or transition plan: what this business becomes in five years.