There’s more to boosting your bottom line than just cost-cutting, though that’s certainly a principal best practice. Such business tips, including how to plan in a freight market that’s more uncertain than it normally is, were shared August 25 by owner-operator coaches Gary Buchs (recently retired from the road) and Kevin Rutherford (also well-known for hosting his daily satellite radio program) in their Overdrive‘s GATS Week session. The presentation, followed by a listener Q&A, was part of the long-running Overdrive‘s Partners in Business coproduction with ATBS.
Don’t be too quick to mistake the current surge in rates and freight in a spot market that’s swung back from record lows in May for a sure bet on the rest of the year. “In good times,” Rutherford noted, “you can be a little pickier about things,” but despite the recently good news, this is not one of those times. “One of the things I hear in trucking all the time is the ‘I don’t’ statements. And that’s fine. I love being an entrepreneur, because you get to choose what you do.”
Yet owners would do well to put aside thoughts like I don’t go North of I-40 in the wintertime or I don’t run New York City, Rutherford advised.
In a market whose short-term future potential might best be characterized as a crapshoot, the smart entrepreneur recognizes that the fundamental ability to choose business “doesn’t mean you always get to do just what you want to do,” Rutherford says. “And this is one of those times when you need to stop thinking that way.”
Above, find portions of the hour-long talk that focused on managing with a mind toward addressing the volatility of the present moment. You can access the full online seminar in video form. For audio only, catch this recent edition of the Overdrive Radio podcast.