Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/978209
May 2018 | Overdrive | 27 1-800 GET HOWES (438-4693) • www.howeslube.com From the trusted makers of Howes Diesel Treat, the nation's #1 selling Diesel Conditioner & Anti-Gel. Howes Vehicle Organizer when you purchase 2 gallons of Howes Oil Enhancer. Visit www.howeslube.com or call 1-800 GET HOWES Offer ends: 9/30/18, available while supplies last. Howes Vehicle Organizer TURN BACK THE CLOCK! Howes Oil Enhancer makes your engine run like new. The superior fluid technology works around the clock to extend the life of your engine. Prevent thermal breakdown, lower operating temperature, and stretch out the time between oil changes with every bottle. It works like clockwork … in reverse. key brokers out for coffee or lunch occasionally to sepa- rate themselves from their competition. "How do you provide more value than any- body else? What can you do that nobody else can do for their customer?" Avoid deadheads at all costs. Rutherford harped on a common owner-operator refrain, "Say no to cheap freight," arguing it can do more harm than good. "It's ignorant, and you have to stop thinking that way." Instead, owner-operators should find loads, even if they just cover costs, that put them in position to score bet- ter loads and rates. They also should stop balking at "cheap freight" that could leave them inactive. "Deadhead is the ultimate cheap freight — you get paid nothing. You want to minimize sitting and waiting for things to get better. Don't pass up loads that keep your truck moving and get you back into a better lane." Concentrate on the "really important stuff." Many truck- ers who venture into own- er-operator businesses think "being good at trucking is all it takes" to succeed, he said. "It's not about trucks — it's about business. That's where we fail in this industry." Owner-operators often get bogged down in ordinary "stuff " – DOT registrations, IFTA and UCR filings, per- mits, signage and insurance – instead of "the important Watch and listen: To see written and video coverage from Kevin Rutherford's Mid-America Trucking Show seminars, which cover how to become an independent owner-operator and prosper as one, visit OverdriveOnline. com and search "Rutherford." stuff " and "the really important stuff," he said. Consider paying someone else to perform such tasks to free up time for more critical things. What's "important" includes setting up a good accounting system, know- ing your business numbers (revenue per mile, fuel costs, etc.) and defining your business model. The "really important" includes marketing your business, identifying your broker cus- tomers and working on what makes you the most valuable to them. – James Jaillet