Narrative Profile of Owner-Operator Members of OOIDA

 

2008 marks the fifth in a series of member profile surveys that are dated, 2006, 2004, 2001 and 1998.  These five surveys, spanning a ten year period, either confirm the static status of some variables, or supplies enough points to identify change trends in other variables.

 

For organizational purposes, the survey questions are broken down into eight categories:

 

This narrative profile will follow the same outline.

 

Back to top1. General Demographics

Owner-operators are overwhelmingly Caucasian males, and like many others in the workforce they are aging.  Their average age has steadily been climbing from 48.2 years of age to the present 51.9.  A majority of them are high school graduates and 25% have at least two years, or more, of college.  They own their own homes in primarily rural areas and small towns, and have lived in the same vicinity more than 11 years.  More than three-quarters of them are married, but only a third of them have children living at home.  Nearly half of their wives are involved in their trucking business, but at 6.5% a decreasing number of wives are co-drivers.  A third of the owner-operators have made no steps to secure their retirement, while another third have set up IRSs, and another third are depending on their bank savings accounts for retirement.  A decreasing percentage of them both; purchase their own medical insurance, 26.1%; and are covered by their wife’s medical insurance, 21.6%.  This reduction of access to medical care, and increase in owner-operators’ average age is an area for some real concern.

 

Back to top2. Trucking Business Specifics

Though by definition owner-operators own their own truck, they can either lease the truck to a large carrier, or operate under their own DOT authority, acting as a small carrier in their own right.  Those leased to a carrier, share the line haul amount with the carrier for services the carrier provides, i.e. finding loads, dispatching, calculating fuel taxes, etc.  Owner-operators running under their own authority find their own loads and receive 100% of the line haul charges.  They are also responsible for doing all the DOT regulatory reporting required of all carriers.  During the past ten years the number of owner-operators leased to carriers has dropped from 75% to 65%, while those who have their own authority has grown from 20% to 30%.  Very few independents are paid an hourly wage.  The largest percentage of owner-operators are paid a percentage of the line haul, 35.8%, while 28.2% are paid by the mile and 27.8% are paid by the trip.  It is interesting to note that those paid by the trip drive the least and earn the highest amount.  Those who are paid a percentage of the line haul drive an average number of miles and earn an average amount of pay.  Those paid by the mile drive the furthest, wait the longest at docks to be loaded and unloaded, and earn the least money for their effort.  In this last group, many are driving reefers and are hauling groceries or fresh produce.  Most of their unpaid wait time is spent at grocery warehouse docks or the California farm fields.  The average owner-operator drove 107,526 miles during the year and the average length of haul for a load was 611 miles.  Solo drivers account for 92% of the owner-operators and they have been in the trucking business for an average of 22 years.  They were an average age of 35 when they bought their first truck and have been an owner-operator for the past 15 years.  Owner-operators spend a lot of time away from home and 51% of them spent 150 nights or more on the road.  Most owner-operators are sole proprietors (60%) of their small trucking business while the remainder are incorporated.  A growing percentage of them (14% to 35%) carry personal computers in their trucks.  These computers are used to keep records, map out trips, communicate via e-mail, find loads, and to check brokers’ credit ratings.

 

Back to top3. Cost of Operations

Of all the data collected on owner-operators, their cost of operations is the most difficult to collect in significant quantities.  Hoping to get a better response rate, in 2008 we asked only for their gross income, gross expenses, net income and wages.  Though responses improved over some years, the response rate continued to be less than optimum.  Because so many left these items blank, it is difficult to extrapolate the findings to the entire responding population.  One point of view is that the “Averages” we obtain are probably somewhat higher than average, due to the fact the respondent was capable of putting a figure in the blank, and that those who are less financially sophisticated are the respondents who left the item blank.  With those provisos, due primarily to higher fuel prices the average owner-operator gross income grew by nearly $10,000 to be $158,005.  However, gross expenses were also $10,000 larger, at $117,458.  Though more money was passing through their accounts the net profits for their small trucking companies grew by only $3,500 to $49,711.  Though an owner-operator cannot expense-out his own pay, since it is actually a draw against profits, there still are those who report their profits as wages.  With the option to report profits, or wages, very few respondents reported both.  It is interesting to note that those reporting wages ($37,370), averaged $12,000 less than those who reported profits.

 

Back to top4. Truck Details

2008 marks a contraction of owner-operators owning more than one truck.  The average number of trucks owned has fallen to 1.2 trucks from the high of 1.5 trucks in 2004.  With today’s membership totals, that means a change of 48,250 less trucks owned by members.  Most bought their trucks used and nearly half of the trucks are paid off.  For those who are making payments this year marks a high point, with the average mortgage payment being $1,509 for their bank financed truck.  The percentage of trucks with over 500 horsepower continues to steadily climb, while the most common horsepower remains in the 450 to 500 range.  There are also a growing number of trucks that are attaining a fuel mileage figure that is 7 or more miles to the gallon.

 

Back to top5. Trailer Details

A little more than half of the owner-operators own a trailer, with 1.7 being the average number of trailers owned.  More than half the purchased trailers were new.  The of trailers owned remain constant with flatbeds at 19.7% , reefers  at11.5%, and vans at 9.8%. 

 

Back to top6. Tire Details

Use of recap tires continues to decline, and 53% of owner operators purchased 5 to fourteen tires in the year.  Most owner-operators, 60.1%, have $300 or less in roadside tire repair costs per annum.

 

Back to top7. Future Plans

Fewer owner-operators are planning on replacing their trucks in the next year, down to 9.5% from around 15% in the last several surveys.  When they do buy their new truck, however, they overwhelmingly are planning on a higher horsepower engine. 

 

Back to top8. Trucker Trivia

Most of the trucker trivia questions have remained constant, however there are a couple of shifts that are noteworthy.  The number of truckers that used to be construction workers has dropped and the number who used to be factory workers has risen.  Traditionally, trucking has pulled from construction, because trucking offered an 15% premium over construction wages.  Construction traditionally pulled from factory workers and we are seeing the rolls reversed here.  Obviously truck driver earnings have not kept above the construction industry, and we are now pulling more workers from the lower paying factory worker pool.  Another interesting trend is a growing percentage, 25.5% to 32.8%, of owner-operators which had fathers who were truck drivers.  One explanation for this would be that current owner-operators who were introduced to trucking and its lifestyle at an early age are more likely to stay with the profession during the economic down turns, than those who were first generation truckers and lacked the traditional knowledge of the industry.

 

Back to top9. Political Action

Owner-operators continue to be very politically active.  A vast majority of them are registered to vote, 85.4%, and 75.3% of them voted in the last presidential election.  As far as party affiliation, those considering themselves to be Democrats remain steady at 17%, however those considering themselves Republicans fell 10% to 37.8% and those considering themselves Independents rose 10% to 27.9%. 

 

For complete results and information call 816-229-5791 and ask for Ext. 1613.