"1989 Freightliner Conventional Truck" © 2010 Alden Jewell, used under a Creative Commons Attribution license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

Hello, my dears!

As you probably know, I quite like to learn new things – and I have found over the years that working behind the counter of a cafe is surprisingly good for that! Take today, for instance. These two gentlemen came into my cafe talking a mile a minute about something to do with business. I am completely hopeless when it comes to economic jargon, but one term the best-dressed of the two kept repeating was 'owner driver'. Now, I know what a driver is, of course; I know what an owner is, too. But I had never heard those two terms used together like that. Did owner driver refer to someone whose job it was to drive a business owner around? That is what I thought initially, but I immediately said to myself: “don't be silly, Gertie! Of course that's not what it means!”

The doubt, however, remained, and I had to find out just what the term meant. So, when the gentleman broke off for a second to order his bacon buttie, I, pardon the pun, 'butted' in (very politely, of course) and asked him what an owner driver was. As it turns out, it refers to someone who is a driver for a certain company, whilst remaining self-employed.

Confused? I was, too, at first. But it's really not that hard. Think of it as freelancing. You have your own little man-and-van operation, and you can choose to subcontract to a larger company. They gain your services, you gain their sponsorship, but at the same time you are still allowed to follow your own schedule. A bit similar to what I do with the part-time darlings who come here for a summer job, where I let them pick their hours. The difference is, when you're an owner driver, you can actually tell the taxman you are self-employed – something my little college-age employees can't quite do. In theory, it's like opening your own Starbucks franchise – you're under the umbrella of this parent company, but you're still in charge!

There you go, then, dears – my day was not completely wasted. I may not have had much business, but I learned something new – and sometimes, that's just as good as making loads of money.

Toodles!

Gertie xxx