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Voices: Page 2
Overdrive Extra
Say no to legalized theft: Rein in exorbitant nonconsensual tow fees
Colorado trucking association's Greg Fulton calls for an end to tow company abuse of "the privilege of being on a state’s safety rotation" -- trucking companies, he says, "should not be at the mercy of unscrupulous towing operators'" excessive fees.
July 15, 2022
Hours of Service
2020's split-sleeper change: FMCSA's greatest hit?
A majority of drivers now enjoy increased productivity with hours-accounting flexibility after 2020's split-sleeper shift in the hours of service. But not everyone agrees, and not everyone thinks trucking and its regulators are headed down the right path.
July 14, 2022
Overdrive Extra
The slip-seaters of your nightmares, and how not to be one
Nothing will reveal to you the true depths of your character deficits like a small herd of goats and a bad fence -- or a slip-seating situation with an absolute slob. Long Haul Paul shares more than one path to maximum cab freshness.
July 11, 2022
Overdrive Radio
Two show-ready rigs -- and owners -- moving toward retirement in style
The diligence it requires to set yourself up to leave the road isn't exactly easily achievable, to say the least. Yet this well-matched pair of owner-ops have prepared better than many, set to ride out their last half-decade in two custom 389s.
July 8, 2022
Custom Rigs
The young career -- and custom 2015 Peterbilt 389 -- of owner-op Tony Gonzalez
Gonzalez grew up around the business of his longtime owner-operator father, after whom he's named and from whom he purchased the rig, his first. Catch plenty of views via this video, likewise more from a man clearly loving his time OTR as an owner.
July 7, 2022
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Overdrive Extra
Forget speed limiters: Safe parking, highway infrastructure should be top priority
Clifford Petersen argues that lawmakers/regulators should set aside legislative and regulatory projects pushed by those with little to no familiarity with OTR realities, in favor of a push for real progress on parking, highway infrastructure needs.
July 6, 2022
Channel 19
AB 5 contractor law: California small fleets, owner-ops take stock
Opinions vary on whether California fleets' business-to-business relationships with longtime owner-operators in de facto exclusive partnerships can survive AB 5, yet it's not hard to find measures of confidence owner-op contracting models will survive.
July 4, 2022
Overdrive Extra
Understanding costs/profit in relation to time for better load evaluations
Trying to select the loads based on the information showing on the load boards, or received from a broker on the phone, can play out with huge differences when it comes to bedrock costs/profit. Use these cost strategies for better self-dispatch results.
June 27, 2022
Overdrive Extra
How to change your decision-making for successful self-dispatch
Are you moving to assume greater control of your load selection, negotiation, planning? This two-part feature, by longtime owner-operator and business coach Gary Buchs, looks closely at aspects of self-dispatching that can set you up for success.
June 27, 2022
Custom Rigs
Love the smell of hay in the morning? Scenes from the A.J. Soza Memorial Truck Show
The show's second edition got under way at the fairgrounds in Merced, California. The Central Valley location stood in high relief at the early point in the day as these hay-hauling doubles you see rolled in, split by a livestock hauler.
June 24, 2022
Overdrive Radio
OTR to home: Making local trucking work with Mike 'The Boston Trucker' Gaffin, Terry Shelton
Gaffin, with a growing profile as a videographer, details his long history in, and huge love for, OTR trucking, running back to childhood with a trucking father, a Teamster turned OTR post-deregulation. Gaffin's run the reverse path back to local work.
June 24, 2022
Custom Rigs
Wedding getaway vehicle and more: Jacob Phillips' 2016 389 steel hauler
The owner-operator's custom project rig proceeded with his father-in-law toward a maiden voyage as the chariot that took Phillips and his now wife away from their wedding party at its nadir. Phillips has been full-time hauling with the 2016 Pete since.
June 23, 2022
Channel 19
The fuel-discounts app aimed squarely at independents -- owner-ops and truck stops both
Mudflap launched as a mobile app just two and a half years ago, building a user base with owner-ops and small fleets on half a million downloads. Its cost-plus fuel discounts at independent truck stops, meanwhile, have delivered other benefits, too.
June 22, 2022
Overdrive Extra
'What do I do now to stay in business?' 5 tips toward reining in costs
W. Joel Baker answers the question in the title, one he's been getting increasingly from struggling small fleet owners. The answer? Part of it is to avoid the self-inflicted wounds common to trucking business owners who've grown too quickly.
June 20, 2022
Overdrive Radio
Maximum daily driving/duty flexibility in HOS, and the owner-op in pursuit of it
For this edition of Overdrive Radio, we're joined by Lee and Lisa Schmitt. Lee's exemption request from parts of the hours of service turned plenty heads when it hit the Federal Register recently. Also: We pause to recall an owner lost far too soon ...
June 17, 2022
Custom Rigs
Meet the Lewis Transfer custom 2007 Peterbilt 379, with operator Andrew Reed
Working in and with this 2007 Pete, powered by an '06 emissions-spec Caterpillar C16, this year has been something of a dream come true for operator Reed. He showed us around and inside the well-appointed 379 at Large Cars & Guitars last month.
June 16, 2022
Hours of Service
2020 hours of service changes: Did they result in more productive use of your time?
Weigh in on this poll question as to whether or not you've seen improvement in your hours of service utilization as a result of 2020 changes to split-sleeper regs, the 30-minute break, the short-haul logbook exception or other changes.
June 15, 2022
Channel 19
Remember 'reverse price gouging'? A success story in resistance
The phrase reared its head with the story of one operator's recent resistance to a broker's attempt to cut an agreed-to rate in half on a double-drop trailer load toward Chicago. The operator urges others to similarly "hold the line" on profitability.
June 15, 2022
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Overdrive's 2022 Pride & Polish competition
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