Partners in Business

The leading business training program for owner-operators.

In partnership with TBS Factoring Service Logo
Partners in Business Issue Cover
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 Partners in Business playbook.

To access the playbook, complete your free registration.

Browse the Playbook
  1. Starting line
  2. Equipment and maintenance
  3. Business management
  4. Safety and compliance
  5. Trucking and other insurance
  6. Taxes
  7. Independence and growth
  8. Finish line
Featured
Owner Op Brand Illustration
How to brand your owner-operator trucking business when you don’t own the trailer
Gary Buchs Thumb
Truck-spec, goal-setting lessons from two decades as an owner
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Roadside assistance networks: The best hedge against predatory towing?
Niche Hauls Collection
Niche hauls: How to find yours, and tradeoffs and triumphs of specialization
Latest Stories
Overdrive Radio
Freight signals encouraging (for now): ATBS' annual owner-operator income update
Rates fell in 2024, and revenues for the average owner-operator continued down, yet income was up, a sure sign that successful owners tightened the belt, increasing efficiency. Compare your performance against the averages here.
April 7, 2025
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Trucker of the Year
Accumulated wisdom of 34 years, 4.1 million miles: Trucker of the Year honored at MATS
In this video, track through owner-op Alan Kitzhaber's career and catch the moment he was presented with the 1/42nd-scale model of his 1995 Kenworth T600, "trophy" for the big win. Here, the full interview with Overnight Drive radio host Steve Sommers.
April 2, 2025
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Trucker of the Year
Trucker of the Year honored at MATS with replica of his T600, Bostrom seat
Alan Kitzhaber's legendary run putting down more than 4,000,000 miles in a 1995 Kenworth T600 comes to an end with a bang as Overdrive honors the owner-operator as Trucker of the Year.
March 28, 2025
Alan Kitzhaber's T600 scale model, and the real thing
Partners in Business
Good news, bad news: Owner-operator revenue down, but income finally rising
Savings on fuel and operational shifts (better efficiency, more miles, length of haul shifts or other adjustments) led income to rise in 2024 for owner-operators -- a first in the last three years. That's despite continuing rates and revenue decline.
March 27, 2025
Net income lump and per mile -- ATBS
Business
Owner-ops see trucking insurance savings with tech, shopping around
Investing in technology -- and utilizing it to improve safety -- can have a notable impact on trucking insurance premiums. Depending on your situation, it could also pay off to shop around prior to renewal.
March 21, 2025
Kenny Wingate, Michael Sparks and Michael Castaldi tractor trailer images
Partners in Business
Overdrive's new Partners in Business playbook for a truck owner-op's career
The new PIB, coproduced with ATBS, builds on the decades-old trucking business-education program for owner-operators with a reorganization and reformatting with today's pro trucker in mind. It's now a browsable online content library accessible today.
March 24, 2025
Arc 704 Pib Manual 2023 Cover With Fusable Logo
Business
How to navigate the trucking insurance market to save at renewal
Insurance accounts for one of an independent owner-op's highest fixed costs. It comes due regardless of how much you work or how hard you run. Know what insurance companies look for, and what you can do to make your business a better risk, to save.
March 21, 2025
collision between a truck and a car
Partners in Business
Have freight markets turned? ATBS update set for March 25
Expect answers from our Partners in Business coproducer ATBS, just ahead of MATS, with the firm's semi-annual update charting owner-operator 2024 revenue, cost, and income benchmarks derived from tens of thousands of clients' real-world performance.
March 14, 2025
Lowboy Toting Vehicle
Overdrive Extra
What's 1 extra mpg worth in profit at today's freight rates? An extra 3 mpg?
Tariffs and more are delivering freight-market uncertainty, though some bright spots shine through in recent news. Increase your own profit certainty by cutting costs. Just one diesel mpg gained in efficiency yields thousands of dollars annually.
March 5, 2025
Chart Container Load Mashup
Overdrive Radio
New battery-powered aux A/C promises better ROI for small fleet with portability
To maximize returns on investment in the Fresco 9000 MaXX, Hell Bent Xpress owner Jamie Hagen says he can easily move the minimally invasive system truck to truck with trades -- and the battery in the design comes with a whopping 10-year warranty.
March 3, 2025
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Equipment
Carriers' lease-purchase programs 'meaningful' for at least half of lessee operators
Following the FMCSA Truck Leasing Task Force final report, which recommended abolishing carrier-controlled lease-purchase programs, survey results show nearly half of Overdrive readers who've ever started such a lease ended with the truck's title.
February 24, 2025
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Business
FEMA onboarding period for contracts open for truckers
The onboarding period for carriers in the Federal Emergency Management Agency's contracting program opened February 3. Owners with authority can apply. FEMA hosted a live Q&A session for transporters Monday, February 10.
February 5, 2025
Conestoga flat loaded with pallets
Overdrive Radio
Beat the 'winner's curse' of auction-type negotiations for better freight rates
In this edition of Overdrive Radio, contributor Gary Buchs expands on the fine art of negotiation, where pressure for speed too often yields below-market-value results for owner-operators on the spot market. Ways to win, here, without the curse.
February 4, 2025
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Overdrive Extra
The fine art of rates negotiation in today's go-go-go freight markets
If the offer rate wasn’t posted right there with any load's details, what rate would you assign to the load? More truckers should be able to answer that question, according to Gary Buchs. Here's a path or two forward.
January 29, 2025
Truckers Negotiation Getty
Overdrive Extra
Hotline offers pre-trip help to truckers hauling watercraft
Boat-hauling truckers can help prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species by utilizing the "Call Before You Haul" hotline to set up free pre-trip checks -- and decontamination, if necessary -- of any watercraft hauled.
January 29, 2025
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Overdrive Radio
Ways to build the 'Remarkable One Truck Company'
The most-efficient owner-operators have a leg up in cost-to-operate competitiveness with big fleets, in some ways. In this Overdrive Radio edition, Rutherford and NASTC's leader detail their vision for the ROTC effort to max one-truck potential.
January 27, 2025
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Overdrive Extra
A plan for better business: Why do you want to be an owner-operator?
For Overdrive Trucker of the Year Alan Kitzhaber so many years ago, the answer was simple: To make more money. Before he made the jump, though, he prepared extensively. Here, his two-part story in hopes of guiding others starting out as business owners.
January 21, 2025
Alan Kitzhaber's truck visor, with quote by Henry Ford
Regulations
Evasive maneuver in snow mangles trucker's bumper: Preventable?
With two feet of snow having laid a thick coat of icy rutting along Rambler Road, trucker John Doe took action to avoid an oncoming dump truck sliding his way, partially in his lane, only to ram the snowbank to his right and damage the tractor.
January 20, 2025
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