Editors to talk owner-operator history, new efforts

The owner-operator business model emerged from the 1930s Motor Carrier Act’s exclusion of agricultural commodities from rate and lane regulation. Leaving this unregulated transportation submarket wide open created ideal conditions for small business owners to invest in early trucks.

By the 1960s, when Overdrive Magazine was founded, opportunities for owner-operators, however, had become somewhat limited. Through the next 50 years, the magazine played a key part in advocating for enhanced hauling freedom in its early days, after deregulation becoming more focused on operator business management.

After celebrating the magazine’s 50th anniversary with its September issue, Overdrive editors Todd Dills and Lucinda Coulter join Allen and Donna Smith for a long-overdue run through owner-operator history on their Truth About Trucking Live online radio program Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. EST. Listen via Blog Talk Radio on the Truth About Trucking show or call in to (347) 826-9170.

Listen also to find out more about Coulter’s ongoing work in chronicling trucking history and engaging readers in that effort at our special historical website, Overdrive Retro.