The nimble nature of businesses working the expediting niche of the trucking world, particularly those powered by smaller pieces of equipment like cargo vans, is well-known to longtime industry participants. One manifestation is the simple fact that in a cargo van, you can go places others can't -- just this past weekend I encountered a Bolt Express-leased van operator on my weekly run down at Nashville's Shelby Park. The operator had parked in the tiny car lot at the park's far northern terminus, well away from the freeways, truck stops and Class 8-sized parking spaces of downtown and elsewhere.
Atlanta-based Breon Thomas was initially attracted to cargo van expediting for that very reason, yet he quickly learned there was more to successful business ownership than working hard, running miles, and enjoying off time in nature on the road.
Today, after the ongoing process of telling his story and sharing with others frequently on social media, "Bre the Xpediter" Thomas is driven by a passion to give a hand up to the next generation of owners from his community coming up behind him. In this Overdrive Radio podcast, the Chattanooga, Tennessee-raised cargo van hauler recounts his journey from early battles with dyslexia to a military career and the tough transition back to civilian life. It's there, though, that he located a significant aptitude for serving as a kind of translator of the language of business/entrepreneurship to the aspirational among all sorts of folks who’ve gotten a glimpse of the cargo van expediting niche and the business ownership potential within it. Take a listen:
Part of his source material? Near the end of our last conversation, one of two leading up to this podcast, he noted that, among other resources, he’d found Overdrive’s Partners in Business manual and online series to be particularly useful for aspiring business owners. You can download the updated 2022 edition of the book via this link.
Find Breon Thomas and his "The Notebook" music video, as mentioned in the podcast, via his Youtube channel, Facebook page, or other social platforms. Find his @Xpediters community via this website.
