Tag: business: Page 6

Overdrive Radio

More flexible sleeper splits: Didn’t take long for this newbie team to see potential value

Introducing Hartsville, Tenn.-based Tommy and Linda Bryant of Hartsville, Tenn., mid-careers but brand-new to trucking and operating a team. Would they use a 5/5 split if it were an option? You bet.

July 19, 2019

Business

Rates were on the up in holiday week, as demand indicators fell

It wasn’t exactly a fireworks display, but national average spot van and refrigerated freight rates sparkled a bit last week as shippers looked for carriers to move freight during a compressed delivery window. Decreased activity, at once, caused demand indicators to fall.

July 11, 2019

Business

Landstar’s new mobile app for contractors

Intended for use by owner-operators leased to the Jacksonville, Fla.-headquartered all-owner-operator fleet, the new LandstarOne mobile app offers contractors what the company intends as a kind of one-stop shop for business needs.

June 10, 2019

Business

Detention, parking, app overload: Hot-button issues for owner-ops explored in the context of tech’s sometime salve

Prasad Gollapalli, the founder and CEO of Trucker Tools, joined two owner-operators Thursday at MATS — Greenmiles small fleet owner-operator Shain Ferris and owner-operator Tamara Brock — for a lively discussion of these tough issues for owner-ops.

March 29, 2019

Overdrive Extra

Lessons from the pothole that swallowed my truck

After a massive pothole snaps a steer-axle leaf spring, owner-operator Gary Buchs details “the kind of day that can remind an owner-operator that safe and skillful driving is just one of many tasks successful owners must develop. … ”

March 11, 2019

Business

Spot rates poised to begin upswing as load-to-truck ratios rebound

According to data provided by DAT Solutions, freight demand and rates are beginning to pick up again. Get the details on the demand and rates here on Overdrive.

February 22, 2019

Overdrive Radio

A closer look at the freight-demand and planning app for owner-ops with Load One

In the sort of emergency-freight service that is the expedited trucking business, having information about where best to be for the next load is, to say the least, a difficult proposition. Load One’s “Ultimate Advantage” smartphone app, though, delivers relevant demand information to leased owner-ops, as Load One head John Elliott explains in this week’s Overdrive Radio podcast,

February 15, 2019

Business

Rates continue seasonal slide, severe weather’s spot impact as yet minimal

DAT Solutions reports that spot truckload rates dipped again despite higher freight volumes than at this time in each of the past three years. Learn more here.

February 15, 2019

Voices

POLL: What’s your current hauling niche of choice?

Owner-operators, which of the choices in this poll — from basic general dry van, reefer and flatbed to more specialized heavy-haul, cargo-van expediting, livestock hauling and hotshot trucking — best describes your hauling niche?

February 13, 2019

Overdrive Extra

Mentoring is a two-way street when it comes to benefits

“Trucking broadly speaking has seemed to support the idea of apprenticeship and mentoring as a way to improve safety and retention, but I believe the only truly effective way to do that is through experienced owner-operators dedicating themselves to one-on-one mentorship.” Benefits “run both ways.” –Owner-op Gary Buchs on his ow experience with it

February 5, 2019

Business

The California independent contractor crisis: Undermining the owner-operator

The next battle in what some view as a West Coast war on owner-operators has nothing to do with truck emissions. Instead, California’s labor law developments, predatory lease-purchase practices and aggressive union organizing are stirring a legal stew for the independent contractor model in trucking.

February 4, 2019

Voices

POLL: Have you considered — or followed through on — moving beyond a single truck?

For many owner-operators, the possibility of expansion beyond one truck is a common goal — have you ever considered building beyond the one truck, or actually followed through on such a plan?

February 4, 2019