Truck To Success navigates becoming an owner-operator
Bill Garner gets emotional when he thinks of what trucking has given him.
At the top of that list: a unique familiarity with a wide swath of the nation he calls home.
“I get to see things,” he said, tearing up a bit. “Not a lot of Americans get to see what I see. We have a very beautiful, beautiful country.”
People from all over the country – including Garner – came together in October at Truck To Success. This annual three-day course offered in the Kansas City area by the Owner-Operator Independent Driver’s Association provides instruction for running a successful trucking business.
An attendee from Florida was looking to reinstate his authority after retiring from work at a fire department. One from New England was in the market for a new career that would let him travel the country. A woman was looking to continue her family business, while a few company drivers expressed wanting more control in their careers – with one saying he was there to gauge if he was ready “to step up and do the next thing in trucking.”
The approximately 20 people attending in person (plus more accessing the course via Zoom) were in the right place to gain an understanding of the ins and outs of becoming an owner-operator. Topics covered at Truck To Success are wide-ranging, from equipment financing and lease purchases to trucking regulations and tips on choosing a carrier – to name just a few of many.
The first session of 2024’s course was on building a business plan, with presenter Andrew King of the OOIDA Foundation sharing that more than 70% of trucking businesses fail within a decade.
“That’s a big reason we do Truck To Success, is that we do not want people to fail,” he added.
Just hours into the course, the complexities of being an owner-operator had become increasingly clear to Garner. And with this better understanding had come an appreciation he thought would benefit him even if he opts not to go into business for himself.
“I’ve learned the reasons why all the companies I’ve worked for … did what they did,” he said. “These companies do take a big risk. And so … even if I don’t do this owner-operator thing, at least I’ll have a little more patience with the employer.”
Knowledge is power
Although the massive scope of information shared at Truck To Success can be intimidating, Corey Artman was adamant about not shying away.
“Knowledge is power,” said Artman, a third-generation trucker from Texas who entered the profession 27 years ago and has plans to begin his own trucking business. “My whole thing is don’t be scared or afraid to learn stuff, because with this industry, it’s constantly changing. If you’re not keeping up with the regs, especially with insurance … that’s going to have a big effect on you as an owner-operator.”
Insurance was a Truck To Success topic a number of other attendees also noted was especially important to their education as business-owners-to-be – and with some of the words of warning shared by presenters, it’s easy to see why.
“Nobody thinks they’re going to have an accident … Then that little four-wheeler jumps out in front of you,” said Josie Feltrop, a sales agent in OOIDA’s Truck Department.
Margo Fries, a claims adjuster at OOIDA, added an exclamation point of sorts to that sentiment later in the session.
“The scariest thing I see in the Claims Department is having a loss and not having the coverage you need,” she said.
Most Truck To Success presentations end with a question-and-answer period, and one at this point in the course was particularly lively – with conversation eventually turning to predatory towing and OOIDA staff members chiming in with an impromptu lesson on the topic.
But the educators weren’t the only ones with something to say. Artman offered advice from his experience working for a tow company, suggesting other attendees “definitely don’t go light” when it comes to insurance that covers towing.
“It can easily get five figures, maybe six figures … Towing is not cheap,” he added.
It’s this kind of educational interaction and opportunity to talk face-to-face with others in the industry that Artman said he valued about attending Truck To Success in person.
“To actually have in-person experience – especially when you’ve got a group this big and the diverse background of people … It’s a benefit,” he told Land Line.
Look before leaping
While many Truck To Success attendees were considering the possibility of a professional change, Grover Nelson came simply to see what the course was all about – and found that it had things to teach even a longtime trucker like himself.
“I’ve been doing this for 40 years, and I learned things today,” said Nelson, an alternate on the OOIDA Board of Directors who lives in Arkansas.
Some “tidbits” he noted as particularly informative for him were on the topics of insurance, the transportation of food products and retirement planning.
“I don’t want to retire; I like what I do,” Nelson said. “But I need to make sure all my finances are in order.”
That advice to be aware of all the places retirement funds are tucked away came from a presentation by Jeff Nordt, an investment advisor with OneDigital.
“Do your future self a favor and get simplified and organized today,” Nordt said, also telling attendees, “Your future self will never regret how much you save for them.”
Of course, owner-operators have many other things to mange before reaching retirement – and Truck To Success touched on a number of those, such as driver qualification files, daily logs, bookkeeping and taxes.
With the magnitude of all that’s required to operate a trucking business, it’s no surprise some in the course decide not to make that leap. Nelson, a leased-on owner-operator, noted that even before taking the course, he knew securing his own authority wasn’t his preference. And during Truck To Success, he talked to a couple other attendees who’d also made that determination.
“Either way, they graduated,” Nelson said. “They learned. I haven’t met anyone who was disappointed to come here; they all thought it was very informative.”
The road forward
Despite Truck To Success deterring some from pursuing business ownership, it gave others a push down that path with much more information than they’d had previously.
In this camp was Russell Peterson of Springfield, Mo., a leased-on owner-operator who attended with his sister and her husband, Tammy and Larry Halliday. The three came to the course to gain insight into getting their own authority and growing their company from two trucks to four.
“This is a lot of information in three days,” noted Larry Halliday, with Tammy Halliday adding, “I wish we would have done this before we started the company, because now I have to backtrack on a couple of things.”
A topic Peterson found especially vital was the International Fuel Tax Agreement, which was covered in a presentation on permits and licensing by Caleb Sears, a representative in OOIDA’s Business Services Department. Peterson sought out additional information after the session, recognizing how much of a difference handling fuel purchases strategically could make to his bottom line.
“We’re talking about saving that money and putting more money in your pocket, with fuel being a big part of the operation,” he said.
For those like Peterson and the Hallidays ready to hit the ground running, Tom Weakley had no shortage of practical pointers. Weakley – who’s spent 60 years in various aspects of trucking and retired from his position as director of operations for the OOIDA Foundation after Truck To Success – offered advice on the final day of the course on how drivers should go about getting loads with their own authority.
One of his opening statements served as a good summary of the spirit driving the entire educational effort:
“It’s a tremendous opportunity,” Weakley said about becoming an owner-operator. “But it’s one we want you to enter with your eyes wide open and your ears wide open.”
And for Peterson and others who benefited from Truck To Success, that heightened awareness seemed to have taken hold.
“I would encourage anybody, everybody to go through this,” Peterson said. LL