Get a preview of OOIDA’s Truck to Success course on becoming an owner-op

Are you on the fence about signing up for OOIDA’s Truck to Success course for drivers thinking about becoming an owner-operator?

Maybe a free preview will help you decide.

OOIDA is again offering its Truck to Success course this fall. It is a three-day deep dive into the ins and outs of becoming an owner-operator. The course is scheduled for Oct. 26-28 at the Courtyard Marriot in Blue Springs, Mo. For those unable to attend in person, there will be an option to attend the classes via Zoom web conferencing.

The free preview is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Tuesday, July 20. The preview will address one of the components of the three-day course, cost of operations.

The preview is open to OOIDA members and nonmembers alike. It will last about an hour via Zoom web conferencing, and a question-and-answer period is planned at the end.

Click here to register for the free preview on cost of operations.

More information can be found on the OOIDA Foundation webpage. Follow this link.

A course for anyone seriously considering the jump

“If you are thinking about taking the next big step in your career to become an owner-operator, it is important that you put yourself on the path to success,” OOIDA wrote on its website. “We offer you OOIDA’s Truck to Success, a three-day in-depth training curriculum that offers step-by-step guidance from the industry’s leading experts since 1973.”

The cost of the course for those attending in person will be $495. Guests of attendees will be charged $125 to cover the cost of food. Attending the course online will cost $250.

As an added bonus, truckers who register for the course before Oct. 1 will receive a free year’s membership to OOIDA.

Truck to Success features trainers, both from OOIDA and other trusted experts, who are in contact with owner-operators on a daily basis to provide course participants the most up-to-date information possible.

“If you are serious about your choice to become an owner-operator, then allow OOIDA’s expert staff, as well as their partners, to guide you from a company driver to a leased-on owner-operator, and/or to an owner-operator under their own authority.”

OOIDA’s most recent Truck to Success course was in October 2020 but was offered online only because of coronavirus restrictions. For this October, OOIDA plans to offer the course in person and online to give truckers the opportunity to participate even if they can’t make it to the Kansas City area for three days this fall.

The course is presented by the OOIDA Foundation, the research and education arm of the Association. The OOIDA Foundation’s mission statement is to fight for the rights of all truckers through education and research.

“Let us assist you on the road to success,” the OOIDA Foundation said. “Whether you are a company driver or an owner-operator who is struggling to make ends meet and looking for a refresher program, come join us.”

The extensive Truck to Success training curriculum will include:

• Developing a business plan that works for you.
• Equipment. You’re going to need a truck. New vs. used?
• Equipment financing.
• Insurance.
• The big decision to be an owner-operator under your own authority or lease on to a carrier.
• New entrant safety audit and a compliance review.
• Drug and alcohol consortium and requirements.
• Permits and licensing.
• Taxes and business structures.
• Brokers and factoring.
• Current issues affecting the industry and how to respond to them.

Lewie Pugh, executive vice president of OOIDA, said the Association’s goal in this and all of its endeavors is to help professional commercial truck drivers be successful. The stakes are higher when a driver becomes an owner-operator.

“Trucking is a tough thing, as all of you out there that drive now know. It’s even tougher when you own the truck,” Pugh said at the outset of last year’s course. LL