"I guess it's different for everybody." --Sam Kelley, Black Sheep Express, Brandon, Mississippi
Small fleet owner and Overdrive's April Trucker of the Month Sam Kelly ended a note to me this week with the quote you see above. The note hit the inbox just last night, in fact, in response to this report detailing the vacation owner-operator Greg Bazluki Jr. and untold numbers of others have taken this week hoping to spur action on, or simply as refuge from, astronomical diesel fuel prices this month.
For so many, $6-plus national average diesel just doesn't pencil out. Here's how owner-operator Kelly started his note, though: He understands "people complaining about fuel prices," he said, but he's still netting "more per truck than I have in years."
He's had to adjust in very recent times to back off some among long-relied-upon loads when the broker wouldn't come up on the rate to cover this latest dramatic spike. Counting the pennies and dimes, and quarters and dollars, "it just didnt make sense," he said, to keep what had been a dedicated customer relationship given the cost. "I hated to do it."
Tradeoffs are what they are -- benefit here, lose there, live with the consequences.
[Related: Oct. 1 trucker's strike: Trump already taking notice?]
Landstar-leased, likewise Mississippi-headquartered owner-operator Jay Hosty, our 2023 Trucker of the Year honoree, knows all about that. He was coming out of Key West, Florida, with his 2022 Western Star this past Sunday after something of a bucket-list delivery checked off: Freight headed to a big ship docked at a facility there way out in the Gulf.
The scene near delivery
Get in where you fit: Parked up for the night.
Hosty mugging for the camera at the start of U.S. 1
The night spent there was well worth it, likewise a stop in Miami on the way back out to meet a radio DJ at a public appearance, a man who's provided eclectic musical accompaniment to Hosty's long time OTR these many years. The tradeoff?
A bit of a lesser rate loaded outbound from Florida, for certain, but still well above what he needed to be profitable. This will be a record revenue year for Hosty if the freight markets keep up for him, he said, maybe net, too, in the end.
Hosty called to offer up kudos to how ATBS Vice President Mike Hosted put his principal advice to profitable owners in his presentation last week -- to strike while the iron's hot, as the saying goes, not by shutting down but by making as much hay of current in-your-favor-freight-market conditions as possible.
[Related: Owner-op income already near record high, early in upcycle: ATBS]
No talk of self-imposed vacations this week for Hosty, though he worried about long-term ramifications of high fuel as billions in added expense continue to ripple through the entire economy.
It could get ugly, basically, was the sentiment, lending ever more credence to the get-after-it-now message from Hosted.
Hosted had another message for owners in his presentation, too, of course, one I know everyone here understands. Beat the averages for fuel economy, however you can. Hosty keeps to the slow lane to squeeze as much power out of the Western Star with the least amount of fuel possible -- no idling, either.
On the other side of the Hosty's hood is emblazoned: "Life in the slow lane."
So much in fuel economy depends on how you operate, noted Hosty's fellow no-idler and 2025 Trucker of the Year John Penn, who's doing similar right-lane running as a general rule. I heard from Penn, too, last night, putting some numbers to the current market for his independent business, up 41 cents/mile net this year through August compared to 2025.
He sold his near-11-mpg 2019 Freightliner Cascadia to another owner-operator back in the late Spring, he noted, running with a newer Cascadia now as part of Freightliner's Team Run Smart effort and hitting similar mpg numbers.
The owner-operator who bought his last truck is now getting just 7.8 mpg -- "same truck, different driver," Penn said, acknowledging that so much depends on you, and the nature of the operation, when it comes to fuel mileage.
[Related: How much will diesel go up tomorrow?]
For what it's worth, too, Penn was doing better the last six months he owned the 2019 than he is now in the newer truck.
"I think this is a good example that someone doesn't need a new truck to get good fuel economy," Penn said.
He's as shocked as anyone else by the huge pump prices today. Look at that and "it feels like you aren't making any profit," but run the numbers, adjust your rates accordingly, and at least for him and the other owners here, the "extra revenue has more than made up for it. For me it's impossible to run my business off of feelings. That's why I am so passionate about cost-per-mile, because it makes all the financial decisions for you.
"I can't imagine going on strike when things haven't been this good in years."
September Trucker of the Month Robert Forsyth, too, has worked with his longstanding customers to adjust rates to cover fuel's surge and is on track for a profitable 2026. Read more about Forsyth published just today here. It's the final day to enter to compete with Forsyth and 8 other owner-operators for 2026 Trucker of the Year honors via this page. Note that entries received at this late date will also be considered to start the 2027 round of competition.
Find more from owner-operators Penn and Kelly via the the video and podcasts below.
