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Safety and Compliance
What's appropriate as 'personal conveyance' in the logbook or ELD under the hours rules?
This video, part of the Trucking Law series originally, explains regulatory guidance around "personal conveyance," making clear what is/isn't acceptable off-duty movement of the truck under the hours of service.
January 1, 2025
Safety and Compliance
How to challenge erroneous violation and crash data: FMCSA's DataQs system
Challenging erroneously assigned inspections or crashes, or incorrectly written violations and those tied to citations thrown out in a court of law ... if you're an independent owner-operator with motor carrier authority, it's your responsibility.
January 1, 2025
Safety and Compliance
Preventable or not? When to use DataQs to request crash reviews for preventability
A "nonpreventable" judgment excludes the crash from computation of the CSA scores associated with your business/leasing motor carrier's record in the system, thus ensuring you're not penalized for an accident you had no way of preventing.
January 1, 2025
Business Management
Keen fixed, variable cost understanding key to owner-operator success
Trying to reduce costs, let alone make sense of them, can be a complicated task. Understanding basic principles of operating costs can save you thousands of dollars a year.
January 1, 2025
Business Management
There's much more to earnings than per-mile pay for leased owner-operators: Understanding revenue
The per-mile or percentage figure isn't a cure for every ill. Nor does it mean a big settlement check is coming your way. Per-mile pay or the percentage you're paid for the load always must be considered with other compensation-package elements.
January 1, 2025
Business Management
Bookkeeping: Among the most important tasks for owner-operators to master
While a business services provider can save you time with the task, you should be taking an active role in collecting and recording the information. The more organized and thorough you can be, the better.
January 1, 2025
Business Management
Profit and loss statements: Tracking, analyzing your progress to effectively compete
Building a P&L on a monthly cadence allows you to track progress over time to see if business income is improving. The best, most successful among owner-operators use the P&L religiously to figure out how to adjust for changing conditions.
January 1, 2025
Business Management
Old-school, tried-and-true ways to simplify record-keeping
Creating basic monthly income/expense reports, profit-and-loss statements and filing taxes is accomplished more easily with simplified recordkeeping. This old-school file-folder process can easily be adapted to the digital world.
January 1, 2025
Business Management
Tools for the on-highway back office: Computers, mobile devices, internet
Online trucking resources, combined with ever-cheaper digital tools, can help owner-operators work faster, smarter, more profitably.
January 1, 2025
Business Management
Controlling fuel costs, improving efficiency critical to any owner-operator's survival
Reducing your speed, limiting idle time and using technology to your advantage are among myriad ways to help improve the bottom line by increasing fuel efficiency.
January 1, 2025
Business Management
More smart practices: Controlling fuel costs, improving efficiency, understanding fuel surcharges
In addition to reducing speed and idling, there are several other good fuel conservation practices, each of which can reduce your fuel bill by 1% to 3% -- or several hundred dollars a year.
January 1, 2025
Business Management
Fuel taxes: Finding the cheapest fuel about more than the pump price
You cannot reduce your tax outlay unless you choose hauls that avoid high-tax states. What you have more control over is how much you pay strictly for fuel when the fuel tax is not considered.
January 1, 2025
Business Management
Controlling tire costs: Keep your No. 2 variable expense to a minimum
Many more factors than size go into picking the right tire for a specific truck in a specific application. Vehicle usage and tire characteristics such as price, fuel economy, durability, miles to removal, retreadability and others play a big role.
January 1, 2025
Business Management
Good habits behind the wheel and in the shop key to long tire life
Tires represent one of a truck owner’s highest variable expenses behind fuel. Good habits can go a long way to prolonging your tire life to get the most out of your purchases.
January 1, 2025
Business Management
Time management can make or break an owner-operator's business
Maximizing your time and increasing the efficiency of your business are keys to success as an owner-operator. Know your split-sleeper options in the hours of service, and don't be afraid to deadhead if it makes sense. Fixed costs never stop.
January 1, 2025
Business Management
Mapping out a successful trucking week
A specific weekly plan can help in owner-operator success. One trip may not be enough time consider profitability, and a month may be too much time to manage. A single week is the right amount of time to deal with efficiently.
January 1, 2025
Business Management
Know the value of your time: Notes on paying yourself and business profits
Cost and income performance per unit of time worked isn't always a priority in the miles-focused trucking industry, yet tracking time performance closely and making adjustments is key for owner-operators who want to double down on efficiency.
January 1, 2025
Partners in Business
Calculate any load's cost in relation to time, not just miles
Evaluating any given load’s value, it’s crucial to consider costs to haul the freight on a per-mile basis, but also in relation to time. This custom-spreadsheet table and Overdrive's Load Profit Analyzer can help
January 1, 2025
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