An owner-operator is a

small business Small businesses are types of corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships which have fewer employees and/or less annual revenue than a regular-sized business or corporation. Businesses are defined as "small" in terms of being able to ap ...

microbusiness A micro-enterprise (or microenterprise) is generally defined as a small business employing nine people or fewer, and having a balance sheet or turnover less than a certain amount (e.g. €2 million or PhP 3 million). The terms microenterprise and ...

owner who also runs the day-to-day operations of the company. Owner-operators are found in many business models and

franchising Franchising is based on a marketing concept which can be adopted by an organization as a strategy for business expansion. Where implemented, a franchisor licenses some or all of its know-how, procedures, intellectual property, use of its busine ...

companies in many different

industries Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial secto ...

like restaurant chains,

health care Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...

logistics Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...

, maintenance, repair, and operations.

Trucking

In the United States and Canada, the term typically refers to

independent contractors Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any other ...

who hire out and drive their own semi-trailer trucks. In trucking, an owner-operator is a self-employed commercial truck driver or a small business that operates trucks for transporting

goods In economics, goods are items that satisfy human wants and provide utility, for example, to a consumer making a purchase of a satisfying product. A common distinction is made between goods which are transferable, and services, which are not tran ...

over highways for its customers. Most owner-operators become drivers for trucking companies first to gain experience and determine whether the career is for them. The Motor Carrier Act of 1980 deregulated the industry and made it easier for manufacturers to set their own prices on shipping goods, and also allowed owner-operators to be more successful by taking some of the control out of the hands of the larger motor carriers. It was now possible to find a carrier willing to haul goods for what customers wanted to pay rather than what the larger carriers' rates were. * An owner-operator is free to either haul free-lance (non-committal to any one firm or product) or enter into a lease agreement to dedicate their equipment to one customer or product * The owner-operator typically has to pay higher rates on

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

due to smaller size than most larger companies, meaning they have to charge more to balance the cost * There are many things to consider before becoming an owner-operator, including business setup,

accounting Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the "languag ...

, type of vehicle, and licenses

References

External links

Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association
Business models {{Business-stub