Earn more income. Spend more quality time with your partner. Travel the country on someone else's dime. These are just a few reasons why you and your spouse might have gotten interested in driving together in the expedited trucking business. But then, within days--or perhaps hours--of getting on the road together, reality hits. "We went from a large, three-bedroom ranch-style house on seven acres to an OEM sleeper, and we were bosses in our previous jobs," says Linda Caffee,...

If you're new to expedited trucking or a fleet owner looking to expand, a used expediter straight truck can save you money upfront. But it also brings big risks that could sink your business if you're not careful. So, how can you improve your odds of making a smart purchase decision-and protect your financial future? Avoid these six mistakes when shopping for a used truck. Mistake #1. Choosing an undersized engine. The engine size is crucial to determining whether the truck ...

Talk with fleet owners and most of them will tell you that their biggest challenge is finding-and keeping-good, dependable drivers. That makes senses. There's a major driver shortage with a lot at stake for fleet owners. Just one truck that sits because there isn't a driver can be a significant cash drain for an owner. So what can fleet owners do to buck the trend and keep all their trucks on the road making money? EO recently spoke with Susan Medlin, an expedite fleet owner...

Meet Tom and Tina Evans who bought their first truck to become expedite owner-operators in early 2002. At the time, the retail industry was experiencing a steep market downturn, and the couple saw the writing on the wall when it came to their job security. So they decided to make a career change together. Tina stepped down from her management position at a shoe retailer; Tom left his job at a family-owned furniture store. For the next 11 years, Tom and Tina built their exped...

It was a chance encounter at a Cincinnati mall parking lot in the early 1990's that sparked Lawrence McCord's interest in expedited trucking. "I saw an expediter in a cargo van who was laid over at that parking lot," McCord recalls. "And I saw this bubble on top of the van and asked him, 'What is that thing on top?' He said, 'It's a satellite." I said, 'A satellite? And then you can know where you are?' He said, "I know exactly where I'm at.' I'm like, 'That's just amazing!'...

Meet Dave Corfman. Dave's foray into expedited trucking began in the mid 1980's as a "side hustle," building his business part-time as a fleet owner for Roberts Express (now FedEx Custom Critical) while continuing his full-time career as director of finance and operations at a vending company. Then in 2001, Dave retired from the vending industry and went all-in with expediting, continuing as a fleet owner while also driving for a couple years. About 2004, Dave decided to com...

If you're new to expediting and want to become an owner-operator, but you've been affected by past credit challenges, what are your options? You could wait to purchase a truck and drive for a fleet owner for a year or two. This would enable you to build up your driving experience-and credibility with commercial truck lenders-while also giving you the opportunity to evaluate whether you could succeed in this business before you take on the added responsibility of owning a tru...

What are the key trends to watch in expedited trucking in 2018? What will be the impact of the ELD (electronic logging device) mandate? What is the outlook for fleet owners? And what direction is the expedite market, as a whole, heading--will it grow, hold steady, or hit economic headwinds? Expedite Now asked four industry experts to peer into their crystal ball and share what they see for 2018. Here are their insights. ELD Impact"I think 2018 will see a little bit of a 'sha...

As we enter the new year, this is the time many of us spend reflecting on the past 12 months, thinking about lessons learned, things we can improve, and new goals we'd like to accomplish moving forward. But when it comes to goal-setting, there's not a one-size-fits-all way of doing it--especially in the expedited trucking business. At least, that's what I have learned by speaking with veteran expediters Linda and Bob Caffee, Heather and Jason Hutchens, and Greg Huggins. How ...

You see the blue and red lights flashing behind you, signaling for you to pull your truck off the road. Your mind races. What did I do? Why are we being stopped? How much is this going to cost us? Your attitude and actions when interacting with that officer will impact how you're treated-and possibly influence the extent of any citation. So what should you NOT do when you're pulled over by a Department of Transportation (D.O.T.) officer, state trooper, or other law enforceme...