Being an owner operator brings a whole new meaning to the word mistake! When you are a driver or employee you can make mistakes and usually the company will take care of the problem. You may get a little flack, but in the long run it will be more like a slap on the hand. Employees usually think to themselves, "The Company has lots of money, it's no big deal." The truth is every amount spent is a big deal, you just don't see it. Now I'm not talking about large incidents like accidents, property damage, and so forth, I'm talking about things like picking up the wrong trailer at a customer site, or forgetting to count the freight on your load and having to pay for the shortage of a box or two. These are the little things in the scope of life that go unnoticed most of the time, unless of course you have to tell your boss about it. 

When you're an owner operator however that becomes a whole new ball game. Most companies won't just suck it up. If it is a large amount it may go to the insurance to be covered but realize that most deductibles on policies are quite high for most companies so the bill gets paid directly. If the company decides to charge you back for the incident then that directly affects your bottom line. Now the way most owner operators run it won't take much for their bottom line to be thrown into to oblivion. So how much is that mistake worth? How much can your bottom line suck up before you go out of business, miss a truck payment, or just plain give up? I'll give you an example of what I mean. A team took a load down to Miami, delivered it and got their instructions for picking up the return load. They hooked up to the trailer in Miami and started on their way back. The trailer they hooked onto was an older unit and the numbers had started to wear off. What looked like a one was actually a worn seven. Arriving at their destination they found there was someone else's freight on the trailer. The team had to return the trailer to Miami, was not paid for the load, but still used fuel driving there, and had to wait two days for another load. How much did that impact their bottom line? How much did that impact the customer?

Now a couple things went wrong that could easily have been corrected. The first thing is that the trailer should have been reported as having worn numbers so that it could have been fixed. The team should have checked their original instructions from dispatch against the load they picked up and also have double checked the number if the trailer was so worn out. The shipping paper number would also have given them a cue to the fact that they had the wrong trailer. Double check your paperwork and equipment, because it saves all kinds of problems later on. It may seem like a pain at the time, but can save you a lot of money down the road. As an Owner Operator it is your job to make sure you are running profitable and the minor mistakes may be costing you your business. Remember you are the one in control of your business; own it as if it is your lifeline.