Getting Your Name Out There

So, now that your finances are all (hopefully!) sorted out, how do you go about finding your first owner driver jobs? Well the first step is getting yourself listed in local directories – the Yellow Pages and Thomson Local directory are a good start, as is putting an advert in the local newspaper. It’s also worth joining a freight exchange like ours, as this can help you get owner driver jobs and backloads as well as keeping your running costs down. Some freight exchanges also provide a helpful community if you need help or advice.

Print some professional looking business cards, and don’t be shy about handing them out – you never know when you might get an owner driver job from them!

One unusual way of getting business is to contact other couriers in your area. At first this may sound like an unlikely solution, but the truth is that if your rivals can’t complete all their work in one day, then they will be happy to have your help, rather than risk losing their reputation for timely deliveries. If you can get on the sub-contraction books of a few local couriers, you may find this provides a steady stream of ‘one-off’ owner driver jobs to keep things ticking over nicely.

A web presence is useful as well, but in the early days of your operation you may find the costs involved in setting up and maintaining your site are going to cost more than the traffic they bring in, so I would suggest you save this for when your business has picked up a little.

Getting Paid

A tricky one to answer is the question of how much you should be paid. Unfortunately, I’m not able to give a definitive answer as to how much you should charge for each owner driver job, as it very much depends on the region you work in and the size of your vehicle.

Generally, owner drivers charge per mile on the outbound journey, and at a discounted rate on the return, but a good way of picking the right price for you is to check out the cost of hiring your local rivals and working from there.

Becoming an owner driver can seem a little daunting at first, but sticking to this basic framework should ensure that the first few months run smoothly. This should give you the solid foundations you need to begin earning the type of money the profession can offer, and can potentially see you expanding your operation over the following years.

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