Who's in your corner? (Part II)
You need a tough team of pros that knows the ins and outs of trucking to help you run your business
By Clarissa Kell-Holland
staff writer
(Click here to read the first part of this series.)
Behind every successful boxer, there is a team of trained professionals ready to help the fighter with the details while he focuses on his next bout. Truckers are in a similar situation. While they are focusing on the road in front of them, there are crucial business details that also need attention.
In Part One of our “Who’s in your corner” series, truckers talked about the importance of carefully choosing a team of professional partners who are critical to a small-business trucker’s success. In Part II, we fill out the team with attention on having a banker you trust and the role a professional association can play in helping you duke it out in your trucking business.
Your banker
As a boxer becomes more successful, he needs someone he can depend on to help him manage his money and help him establish financial stability. The same philosophy applies for small-business truckers – they need a financial institution that understands their business and has their back when it comes to making important financial decisions.
Owner-operator Dave Sweetman, Tallahasse, FL, knows the importance of establishing and building a good rapport with a financial institution. He started out by opening a personal checking account with the same bank used by the company he is leased to in order to make it more convenient to have his checks direct-deposited. His next step was to take out a small-business loan, which he paid back in full and on time to show he was a trustworthy client.
“My favorite saying is ‘the two things you can’t buy in this world are good friends and good credit,’ ” Dave said. “I took out the loan and paid it back on time to show the bank I was a good credit risk. They now have financed my last four trucks.”
One of Dave’s favorite stories to show how important it is to have a good relationship with your banker is when he was at a dealership in St. Louis, MO, having the blower motor on his truck fixed in 1987. One of the salesmen at the dealership convinced Dave to test drive a new Kenworth T600 while he waited for the repairs to be done on his truck. He fell in love with the new Kenworth and decided to buy it.
“I called my bank and I bought it the same day and drove it off the lot the next day,” he said. “The salesman was amazed – he had never seen anything like it, with just one phone call and I had the financing.”
Dave has been in trucking since 1969 and has been driving for the company he is leased to – Horseless Carriage Carriers out of Paterson, NJ – for 23 years with no wrecks and more than 4 million safe miles. Many truckers would give anything to haul Dave’s cargo – he transports antique, classic and exotic cars and trucks across the country and his list of clients includes a “who’s who” of celebrities.
His advice to truckers wanting to become owner-operators is to not overextend themselves right away – he said you should figure up a budget and make sure you save at least three months’ income just in case something happens so you can still make your payments and keep your credit intact.
“Stay out of the chrome shops until you establish yourself,” he said. “Make sure you save enough to get ahead, put away more than you need. Having a bank that will be honest with you is important – you need a bank that will help you manage your money, save money and advise you as to when to spend your money.”
Your professional association
In the fight world, having a team of savvy professionals in the background can mean feast or famine for a boxer. The same goes for truckers and having a professional association – like the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association – in your corner can enhance your bottom line.
Just knowing an organization such as OOIDA exists is important to professional drivers who are concerned with the many complex issues facing truckers today.
That’s why Kenneth “Mike” Ziegler of Central Point, OR, decided to join OOIDA. He has been driving truck on and off for 29 years, but said he realized the trucking industry needs a unified voice and said he believes OOIDA is on the right track in its efforts to unify truckers.
“I got tired of whining or hearing others whining about the problems we face out on the road,” he said. “I could relate to OOIDA because it was founded by truckers who are interested in helping other truckers. I wanted to be part of that voice.”
Previously, Mike was an owner-operator, but said he now is a company driver for West Coast TruckLines of Medford, OR. He primarily hauls building supplies regionally in the western United States.
In recent years, Mike said he has been concerned that lawmakers have been implementing regulations about the trucking industry without sitting down with truckers and asking for their input.
“I feel like OOIDA is working hard to address such issues like hours of service and split-speed limits – two issues I am really concerned with,” he said. “You can tell they (lawmakers) didn’t consult truckers before deciding on these regulations because they just don’t have the trucker’s best interest in mind and you can tell they don’t make sense.”
Mike said he is not opposed to industry efforts to help truckers run safer and more efficiently, he just wants truckers to get a fair shake in helping to develop the laws that govern trucking.
“Truckers have always lacked a united voice and OOIDA gets that we need to speak with one voice and help get us all on the same page,” he said.
Mike said he initially put off joining OOIDA because of the misconception many drivers have regarding the name – that only owner-operators not company drivers, can become members. Once he understood that anyone involved in trucking is invited to join the Association, he has started encouraging other company drivers to join OOIDA to “have a voice.”
“I have been both an owner-operator and a company driver and I have realized that OOIDA represents all drivers – you don’t have to be an owner-operator to join.”
clarissa_kell-holland@landlinemag.com
