I have heard a few complaints from drivers and friends of theirs that were owner opperators going out of business. This one particular guy would not drive for me because I was contracted with Panther. He said Panther screwed his friends and caused them to go out of business. I asked him why he thought that? He said it took his buddy almost 30 days to get paid and he sat in places for days. Sounds like inexperience and poor capitalization with no business plan to me. It's only logical that you are not going to get more then the 55% up front for at least the first 15 to 20 days. Once you get that first check they will come in weekly while your rolling. If you don't have enough cash to cover the first 30 days you are in major trouble. You should have at least 20K in cash and another 20K of credit available to even think about becoming a owner opperator.