new authority

you can get hooked up with all the shippers directly then you will find out what this stuff really pays you will be amazed

How do you get by running without it now? I actually started out trucking 12+ years ago when i was in my early 20's, leased to a carrier. I had found a small company near the town where I attended college in central KS that would take me on and they allowed me to run when and where I wanted to, I was perfectly content doing that. I then recieved a call from our hometown elevator in NW KS. They knew we had a truck and asked if I'd come "home" and haul for them a couple weeks. The company I was leased with had no problems with it as I still gave them their percentage. That was in March of 2005. Then wheat harvest came, and that carried us into the fall harvest. The more I was at "home", the more work I found to keep myself busy. We then obtained our own authority in Nov 2005. I gave my 2 weeks notice to the carrier at that time, but run under them untill the end of the year anyways. In my case, I feel it was a good move for us. I would probably still be leased to the carrier living in central KS if this opportunity hadn't came along. We now run 3 company trucks and have another 2 leased on to us. Once you get everything set up, it really isn't that big of a deal to maintain it. I feel the increased reveune of being an independent outweighs the extra paperwork/liability of being leased with another carrier. I use weekly trip envelopes that contain load tickets/fuel reciepts/log sheets. I've made spreadsheets to track the miles, fuel used, states run , revenue, etc. This makes it a 2 min job to report IFTA. The key to making it work, is to maintain accurate records, file them in a logical manner where they are easy to access, and don't get behind. I do billing and record keeping weekly. It seems overwhelming at first, and I had some doubts when I first started, but if you stay small, work with established customers and make it a point to keep up on things, it's not that big of a hassle. It was a good move for us.

do you have a # for ooida

I don't have their number but it would be online. I first applied for my KCC authority myself and ran under it for the first few years as grain was ICC exempt. I later decided to obtain ICC authority just incase I needed to haul any other loads requiring it. It sounds to me like you are kind of a "hobby trucker" now? (please don't take offense to my terminology) You run when there is something good to haul that fits your schedule, and the rest of the time the truck sits? I would still get your own authority. The main reason is you will keep 100% of the revenue in your pocket. You can call the shots and run where and when you want to. I'm very flexible with my contractors and let them run as much or little as they want to, as long as they communicate to me before we book loads. I'm sure I'm one of the few that treats lease operators that way. When loads come up, I ask the contractors if it's something they are interested in, then I commit to it. From my standpoint as a company that uses lease operators, I would not even consider taking one on for 30 days at a time. The insurance requirements, driver qualification files, drug testing, truck maint history reports and above all the liability would not be worth messing with to me. We do a year long lease agreement, with either party being required to give 30 days to terminate. I've never terminated a contractor, and I'm very leinient with that clause, if it just isn't working for a guy, I'll let them get out whenever they want as long as they finish the loads I had booked for them. As far as the insurance, you will most likely pay for liability when leased to a carrier anyways. Having your own apportioned plate is a good idea regardless. I used to provide base plates and charge the lease operator. I got took once on the deal, so now I require lease operators to furnish their own. It's better for each of us, because if it just isn't working for them, they can take their truck and lease to another company and not be out any money. I'm not taking the gamble of being out money on a plate with no truck to put it on. As for completing paperwork, there are companies that for a monthly fee will make sure you are compliant, schedule drug tests, etc. My DOT auditor didn't recommend I use an outside source as they had seen too many times where people did, and the companies were not doing a good job. They recommended I do it myself so I know things get done. So I still say get your own authority....it's not a big deal as long as you keep up on it.

There's hundreds of companies that will help with your filings, but I just went through OOIDA. You'll need a membership, but that's only like $45/year and totally worth it. Just google OOIDA. Call them and set up your membership, then ask for someone in Authority. As I said, there's many other companies that will do all the filings for you as well. Seeing as you've got your own truck, I suspect you've also got buddies with their own authority--probably some who have only had it a short time. Ask them who they went through, and you may want to do that as well. As far as if it's worth it or not, I have had my authority for about 6 months and have never been happier in trucking (15 years in all). Yes, there's more stress and headaches, but you've already had some of that just owning a truck. There's certainly alot more responsibility, and you don't get to just rely on a carrier to dispatch you all the time, so you'll need to be extremely self-motivated. I'm not what you call a real go-getter, but knowing that I'm completely on my own and I alone determine whether I fail or succeed is more rewarding than I would have imagined.
Good luck!