Finding success as an owner-operator

When it comes to being an owner-operator, the little things can make or break your business. Knowing the hurdles, as well as the potential pitfalls, is an important part of obtaining and operating under your own authority. And for OOIDA member Shelley VandenBerg, those lessons came at just the right time.

In the fall of 2018, VandenBerg and her husband, Chris, set out on a journey of obtaining their own authority. It was not long before the two found themselves in an all-too-familiar situation, locked into a lease-purchase agreement with a carrier.

VandenBerg said around five months into the agreement, she and her husband started to realize “things were bad” and started to look for ways to improve their situation. That’s when she found OOIDA’s Truck To Success course and decided it was time “to learn about what we got ourselves into.”

The three-day course offers step-by-step instruction on everything it takes to become, and succeed, as an owner-operator. VandenBerg said she was “blown away” by the course and the depth of topics covered.

“We were just kind of sitting there on the first day going, ‘Wow, we didn’t have any idea,’” VandenBerg said. “And by the end of the class, we were just like, ‘This is incredible!’ We had no idea there was so much to this.”

Some of the topics covered during the Truck To Success course include:

Developing a business plan that works for you
Equipment financing
Insurance
New-entrant safety audit and compliance review
Drug and alcohol consortium and requirements
Permits and licensing
Taxes and business structures
Brokers and factoring

On top of the wealth of information she received, VandenBerg said she appreciated the direct “tough love” approach taken by OOIDA when it came to showing the realities of what being an owner-operator is all about. In her opinion, it is an approach that simply “makes sense to truck drivers.”

“Just putting it on the table like that, I think that’s what truck drivers need … and that’s how you have to be, just point blank, here’s what it is,” she said.

VandenBerg added that the knowledge gained from the course helped her avoid the worst possible outcome when it came to the lease-purchase agreement and gave her the skills to navigate out of a bad situation.

“Trucking is like a shark tank, and if somebody is going to take a penny, they’re going to take 5 cents from you and then they’re going to take 10 cents from you,” she said. “You’ve got to be hard-nosed and run your business like a business … I feel like it gave me the knowledge to run my business in a tank of sharks.”

For some, like OOIDA life member Richard Herman, the course is a means of continued education. Herman, who took the course in 2022, said Truck To Success is a valuable tool for all drivers regardless of how long they’ve been in the industry.

“If someone’s really serious about it and they have limited experience – even if you have a lot of experience – there’s so much information you can profit from in there and learn from,” he said.

Andrew King, assistant director of operations for the OOIDA Foundation, said that given the current economic climate of the industry, the information provided in the course has become even more valuable.

“The market right now is extremely rough and will be for the foreseeable future. We hate to see anyone fail. That’s why we designed this seminar to start with,” King said. “Owner-operators need this information more than ever. Even though the market is down, it’s still possible to succeed.”

The next Truck To Success will be held Oct. 22-24 at the Courtyard by Marriott in Blue Springs, Mo. Truckers can register online on the Association’s website. The deadline to sign up is Oct. 1, and the cost for the in-person class is $495 per person.

For those who are interested but cannot attend in person, an online version of Truck To Success will be available via Zoom. The deadline to register for the $250 virtual course is Oct. 21.

And there are benefits for the early birds: Drivers who register for Truck To Success before Sept. 1 will receive $50 off the price of the course, plus a free one-year membership to OOIDA.

“That class is invaluable,” Herman said. “For the money, it was worth every penny.” LL

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In the know

On top of the wealth of information she received, VandenBerg said she appreciated the direct “tough love” approach taken by OOIDA when it came to showing the realities of what being an owner-operator is all about. In her opinion, it is an approach that simply “makes sense to truck drivers.”

For some, like OOIDA life member Richard Herman, the course is a means of continued education. Herman, who took the course in 2022, said Truck To Success is a valuable tool for all drivers regardless of how long they’ve been in the industry.