A stolen truck, a freight scam and a big re-evaluation on the road to small fleet success

When Florida-based small fleet owner Chris Porricelli started his CAP Trucking company as a one-truck business, he was still in his 20s, and struggled for the first six months. But 11 years into it today, the five-truck fleet has excelled in North-South LTL reefer lanes with mostly direct customers for produce headed north from Floirda and South Georgia, and a bevy of commodities headed south.

In this edition of Overdrive Radio, hear Porricelli's story in his own words, with part of my conversation with the owner attendant to his company’s semi-finalist recognition in Overdrive’s 2022 Small Fleet Championship. CAP Trucking is one of five semi-finalists in the 3-10-truck category for the program this year, with five more contenders also in the 11-30-truck category.

Last week, we started running stories about all 10 of the fleets (with four live so far) and will continue that through the end of the month. Finalists will be announced in early October, with the winner named in a ceremony at the annual conference of the National Association of Small Trucking Companies October 20-22 in Nashville, Tennessee. (NASTC is the Small Fleet Champ award's principal sponsor). 

[Related: CAP Trucking refocuses on asset business, growing success in North-South LTL reefer lanes]

Whether or not you missed the story earlier this week about CAP Trucking, I know you'll hear in this week's podcast a man in clear control of his business. He's got a real acumen for all the planning and thinking that goes into consolidation of LTL loads, with his family’s lineage extending back four generations in the wholesale produce business at Hunts Point Market in New York City. There, Porricelli cut his teeth as a night receiving foreman before venturing into over-the-road trucking on his own in the early part of the last decade.