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Small Fleet Champ
How the Small Fleet Champs beat the down market in 2023
Overdrive's 2023 Small Fleet Champs and finalists are poised to make it through a rough freight economy with moves made in preparation for tough times. Gain insights via this edition of Overdrive Radio, a roundtable on building business for stability.
November 13, 2023
Butterfly Xpress, LNL Trucking come out on top: Overdrive's 2023 Small Fleet Champs
This year's Small Fleet Championship saw some of the closest margins of victory in the recognition program's four-year history, following the judging round conducted by Overdrive editors and contributors.
November 3, 2023
Four fleets, four freight niches: Only two will take home the Small Fleet Champ title belts
We're proud to highlight the profit, growth, and stability achievements of the final four Small Fleet Champ contenders from bulk tank to end dump, flatbed to refrigerated. Two weeks hence, they square off in the last round at NASTC in Nashville.
October 6, 2023
Small Fleet Champ
Vickery Transportation: Safety and quality keep OOS violations and turnover near zero
Attention to detail, safety keeps customer satisfaction high and driver turnover non-existent for this highly specialized hazmat waste hauler.
October 5, 2023
Small Fleet Champ
Butterfly Xpress: Small fleet, big benefits with move toward improved stability
Owner-operator Bill Barhite manages Silt, Colorado-based Butterfly Xpress with his wife, Karen, from the seat of their truck. He strives to support leased owners with the benefits of a large fleet, despite having just 10 trucks as part of his company.
October 2, 2023
Small Fleet Champ
Organic farm grows 12-truck business of Maple Lane Transport
Owner Luke Martin brought in operations manager Chelsie Reynolds in 2021 to take Maple Lane to the next level. Expansion since then has been twofold, mostly with owner-operators leasing on to pull platform freight in addition to the farm's product.
September 28, 2023
Overdrive Extra
Fun, fellowship, safety: Making the most of a day out at a truck parade
Which one of these three things doesn't belong with the other? For Small Fleet Champ contender D. Weaver Trucking recently, it was all in a day's work culminating with participation in TFC Global's annual truck parade/show in Holmes County, Ohio.
September 27, 2023
Small Fleet Champ
Safety-minded owner drives Grayson Transport Service's success
Scott Donaldson, owner of the three-truck fleet, preaches safety to his drivers, who haul around the Greater Atlanta area under the short-haul exemption. With active authority since 2013, he fully struck out on his own in 2018 with two direct customers.
September 25, 2023
Small Fleet Champ
LNL Trucking minds the pennies, stacks up dollars in profits
Bedford, Indiana-based LNL Trucking, a 12-truck fleet specializing in liquid-bulk tanker work, thrives with a focus on financials. Owner Larry Limp found his niche in 2004 and has grown with his customers since.
September 21, 2023
Small Fleet Champ
From one truck to many: D. Weaver Trucking grows through difficult times with end dumps
Year 2019 yielded spectacular income for then-one-truck owner-operator Dannel Weaver. A high tax bill, too, which in part led to a decision to grow the fleet, now at six trucks, including one Weaver still pilots.
September 18, 2023
Small Fleet Champ
K&D Transport: Third-gen flatbed business running show-quality KWs
Increasing diversification -- led by a stroke of inspiration post-Great Recession and a never-ending focus on maintenance, driver-friendly freight and solid benefits -- transformed K&D to what it is today, a growing 14-truck flatbed biz.
September 14, 2023
Small Fleet Champ
Wallace & Sons Transport: Specialized bulk loads, confidence and competence
Larry Wallace is a third generation trucker with a versatile skill set, a knack for working on old Detroit and Caterpillar engines, and a sweet little niche carved out hauling bakery residuals.
September 11, 2023
Small Fleet Champ
LB Trucking: A right-sized family affair
The family aspect of LB Trucking is evident in every conceivable way, as the company was founded at the house where owner Larry Bredewater grew up. Thirty years later, Bredewater's found a sweet spot at 13 trucks.
September 7, 2023
Small Fleet Champ
Til Friday Trucking holds strong in the face of declining rates
Til Friday's secret to success sits right there in the name. With fairly regular hours and home every weekend and most nights, drivers and owner-operators believe in owner Michelle Hefner efforts to deliver a work-life balance rarely seen in OTR ops.
September 4, 2023
Overdrive Extra
Meet Overdrive's 2023 Small Fleet Champ semi-finalists
From the 10 fleets named semi-finalists, Overdrive will recognize two finalists each in two separate competitive divisions -- companies with 3-10 trucks and those with 11-30 trucks at the end of 2022 -- before naming a winner in each category.
September 1, 2023
Small Fleet Champ
Overdrive's Small Fleet Championship: Deadline for entries extended to July 15
Get your fleet of up to 30 trucks in the running by end of day July 1 for a chance to claim the vaunted title belt. For 2022 champ John McGee Trucking, business continues to evolve for growth and stability with the qualities of success.
June 17, 2023
Small Fleet Champ
Small Fleet Champ John McGee Trucking: Almost 100% uptime for 24/7 oilfield biz
Owner McGee sets a high bar for trucking success in the Louisiana oilfield, working hard to deliver solid incomes to drivers by using the fleet's recent-history growth to avoid downtime, save on insurance costs and more.
June 21, 2023
Small Fleet Champ
Enter Overdrive's 2023 Small Fleet Championship
Do you have what it takes? Enter the 2023 small-fleet competition to put your small trucking company in the running to claim the vaunted title belt. Fleets operating 3 to 30 trucks through 2022 year-end are eligible.
March 2, 2022
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Overdrive Extra
It's a deal: Perfect timing yields $50K saved on a new truck
But the price drop wasn't all there was to it when Matthew Mickenberg carefullly weighed added costs and other potential savings, reversing his early-year decision to hang on to his five-year-old Kenworth T680.
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