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OTR to home: Making local trucking work with Mike 'The Boston Trucker' Gaffin, Terry Shelton
Gaffin, with a growing profile as a videographer, details his long history in, and huge love for, OTR trucking, running back to childhood with a trucking father, a Teamster turned OTR post-deregulation. Gaffin's run the reverse path back to local work.
June 24, 2022
Youtube
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'What do I do now to stay in business?' 5 tips toward reining in costs
W. Joel Baker answers the question in the title, one he's been getting increasingly from struggling small fleet owners. The answer? Part of it is to avoid the self-inflicted wounds common to trucking business owners who've grown too quickly.
June 20, 2022
Truck in traffic on the lower east side in NYC
Overdrive Extra
Have the 'good old days' arrived? A case for the value of automation
Despite record fuel prices, continuing dock delays and other inefficiencies, Verlen Larsen makes a case for what he sees as a series of positive business-process developments that help this trucking generation "earn a living and be happier doing it."
June 14, 2022
Semi-trucks delivering groceries to a store
Overdrive Extra
Faces of the Road: Dave Nemo on history at 50 years in trucking radio
Long Haul Paul's interview with Nemo speaks to the historical importance of all-night radio formats, birthed in part with Nemo's initial mentor Charlie Douglas at New Orleans 870 WWL AM, for overnight truckers, including himself in the 1980s and '90s.
June 7, 2022
Dave Nemo
Overdrive Extra
If we're going to limit vehicles' ability to speed, start with the real problem: Cars
Clifford Petersen's take on the FMCSA's recent moves toward mandating speed-limiting technology in heavy trucks: "If regulation is required, then perhaps you should look at regulating those more likely to be at fault" in a crash.
May 27, 2022
trucks on highway
Overdrive Extra
This could be the year: Recollections of Great Recession trucking side gigs, successes and failures
With recessionary fears rising, "Long Haul Paul" Marhoefer looks back to his early-'08 brush with a small farming operation -- with mixed results. Here, read the tale of his wife's bottle-calf-rearing success, and his own side gig's ultimate failure.
May 23, 2022
weeds where a garden once stood
Overdrive Extra
Increasing insurance requirements for trucking increases costs, not safety
Transportation defense attorney Bill Chamblee: "As advocates for the industry, we must be prepared to push back against any attempts by plaintiffs’ attorneys or others to simplistically position the road to improved safety as paved with more money."
May 17, 2022
Semi truck tire blowout
Overdrive Extra
How William 'Porkchop' Honey and his dump truck saved dozens
The latest in "Long Haul Paul" Marhoefer's "Faces of the Road" series chronicles what's now the stuff of blue-collar lore around Indianapolis -- operator Honey's act of heroism to cut off a high-speed chase headed straight for a late-night paving crew.
May 10, 2022
William Honey
Overdrive Extra
Safeguard your trucking business’ certificate of insurance to avoid becoming an ID theft victim
And more ... COIs can provide a gateway not only to identity theft but insurance fraud and other scams for would-be thieves. Truck owner and insurance agent W. Joel Baker outlines steps to take to protect your certificate from thieves' access.
May 5, 2022
semi-trucks going uphill on a highway 78
Overdrive Extra
Ask 'why': On taking control of your trucking business' future
As a trucking business owner, if "you do not ask 'why' when the question arises, I guarantee you will be taken advantage of, charged something outrageous, or pressured to take unsafe risks. ... Step out of the herd and blaze your own path."
May 3, 2022
car hauler on highway
Overdrive Extra
How would overtime pay affect trucking safety?
Eliminating the FLSA exemption to deliver overtime pay to drivers would impact safety, but would the impact be positive or negative? Researchers have identified several factors that could shape the outcome.
April 25, 2022
employment law reg books
Overdrive Extra
A hard year on heroes: Remembering longtime specialized owner-operator Randy Cunha
"So long, faithful friend. You were a good hand" -- words for a true friend from Long Haul Paul, who offers a tribute to the longtime heavy-specialized independent in the wake of his passing last week. Cunha had retired from the road in 2020.
April 26, 2022
randy cunha
Overdrive Extra
Overtime pay for employee drivers: Market benefits and drawbacks
Part 1 in this two-part series by three supply chain researchers features a review of how requiring motor carriers to pay overtime to over-the-road employee drivers could impact the trucking business. Part 2 follows with safety effects analysis.
April 25, 2022
trucking overtime accumulated
Overdrive Radio
The COVID-survival tale of a hauler for some of the biggest acts in music
In this Overdrive Radio podcast, concert-tour-trucking veteran Chip Warterfield tells the story of what happened to Upstaging, Inc., when COVID in 2020 essentially brought every single one of its touring clients to an abrupt and complete halt.
April 22, 2022
Chip Warterfield Upstaging
Overdrive Extra
Giving back: Dakota McDaniel is one among myriad operators blending grassroots events with philanthropy
McDaniel's Shine in the Pines truck show in Dublin, Georgia, May 20-21 will benefit the family of a young girl in treatment for neuroblastoma, one among many shows that have cropped up around the nation as benefits for a variety of worthy causes.
April 18, 2022
Dakota McDaniel standing beside his Kenworth truck
Overdrive Extra
Long before 'influencers' were a thing: A trucking tribute to an invaluable mentor
“Son, the trailer won’t go where it's not pointed!" Chip Warterfield, in safety with Upstaging, Inc., tells the early-1980s story of his driving start with the colloquial wisdom of professional Kenny Jones' decades of experience as guiding hand.
April 12, 2022
Chip Waterfield
Overdrive Extra
Was truck ownership supposed to be this hard?
Getting back to business brass tacks, Gary Buchs notes this common theme emerging from many MATS conversations with owner-operators both brand-new to the business and well-seasoned. Take control, plan, act, analyze the results to maintain success.
April 7, 2022
pib table of contents
Overdrive Extra
Plan and prepare before moving beyond just one truck to grow the business
W. Joel Baker makes the case for careful preparation and costs considerations for an independent owner-operator thinking of growing beyond a single truck. For him in his early trucking history, remaining just one truck was the best decision. Here's why.
April 4, 2022
Dry bulk truck on highway
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Love the smell of hay in the morning? Scenes from the A.J. Soza Memorial Truck Show
The show's second edition got under way at the fairgrounds in Merced, California. The Central Valley location stood in high relief at the early point in the day as these hay-hauling doubles you see rolled in, split by a livestock hauler.
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The Business Manual for Owner-Operators
Overdrive editors and ATBS present the industry’s best manual for prospective and committed owner-operators. You’ll find exceptional depth on many issues in the 2022 edition of Partners in Business.
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