Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/904267
Voices 10 | Overdrive | November 2017 The foundation of Randy Carlson's busi- ness, the Minnesota-based owner-oper- ator says, is deep mechanical knowledge garnered before trucking as an owner-op- erator. His entry into trucking followed a career as a mechanic, learning from his father, who also trucked, then in trade school and on the job at an International dealer. It's a solid basis for an owner-operator business. It's also probably less common than it used to be, given the increasing complication of today's engines and the growth in the driver-training industry. (Read more about Carlson's current operation, powered by a 2001 Freightliner Classic with a fully mechanical Caterpillar, newly exempt from the ELD mandate, in our latest ELD Buyers' Guide on p. 2.) While superficial knowledge of a truck's working systems is required to earn a CDL, there's no replacement for hands-on maintenance experience to save on repairs by doing them yourself. Many owner-operators have such experience, judging by the poll on this page, having worked as a diesel mechanic before driv- ing professionally. More often, experience is less formal, of the "grew up around trucks" variety. That description might well apply to Wayne Van Hooser, who noted under our poll that he "started working on my own vehicles at age 15. My best friend and I started building hot rods in high school and fixing other people's cars, trucks or whatever. In 1973, I bought my first truck. I didn't have the money to pay to get everything fixed, so if I didn't know how to fix something, I'd go get a book and go to reading. Forty-four years later, I'm still doing all of my own work." Van Hooser's built his fleet of six power units around his slowly growing maintenance specializations – "Caterpil- lars, Peterbilts, Eaton transmissions and rear-ends. I keep all of my equipment the same" and thus "parts are interchange- able. … I have six Peterbilts, 359s and 379s. I have all Caterpillar engines and all Eaton 13s and 18s, Eaton 402 and 404 rears. … Same filters, same oil, brakes, etc. l tell drivers today who ask about buying their own truck: 'Do you know how to work on one? Because paying to get it fixed every time will put you out of business before you ever get started.' "That usually puts their mind to thinking." Dan: Was an aircraft me- chanic in the USAF. Had mechanical knowledge and had been around trucks and farm equipment since I was a kid. I knew or could figure out how to do a lot of things, but most importantly, I had a good idea of what jobs were beyond my ability and/or toolbox. Brad Ramsey: I had a general idea of how vehicles work. I would use what I had to attempt to figure it out. If I was unsuccessful, I would ask some of my old-timer friends who'd been trucking for 30 or more years. They'd usually take the time out of their day to help troubleshoot the problem and even assist in fixing the problem. Old-timers have not only helped me with mechanical problems, but in every aspect of trucking they have formed me into the driver I am today. The value of mechanical skills before owning your own truck Owner-operators' mechanical experience level when they started their business Source: OverdriveOnline.com poll, 1,000-plus responses I worked in a shop for a short time 7% I attended diesel school 3% I went to diesel school and worked in a shop for a short time 7% I did shop work for years 11% I knew enough to be dangerous (in a good way) working on trucks, but no professional experience 36% I had basic truck system knowledge, but no direct maintenance experience 31% Other 5% A recent entry in Overdrive's Dashcam Central repository for reader-submitted videos showed it can pay to move over for police at roadside in more ways than one. And if reader Glen Brannon's video is any indication, police can be as unpredictable as any four-wheeler. Brannon was "west- bound on I-70 coming up on Terre Haute, Indiana, when I saw the lights of the Indiana State Police trooper," with a car pulled over on the right shoulder. "I moved to the left lane," as required by law. Just as Brannon ap- proached them, howev- er, the trooper whipped his cruiser out into the right lane – "right beside me!" says Brannon, who was traveling at highway speed. They missed each other by scarcely a foot. Later in the video, which you can catch via OverdriveOnline.com/ dashcamcentral, Bran- non notes "you see him pull over another car for not moving over to the left lane." A four- wheeler is a four- wheeler