Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/978209
May 2018 | Overdrive | 29 up mostly in Freeport, Illinois, though his family relocated frequently. Much later, he returned to Europe for a long vacation, but his biggest international road trip came via service with the U.S. Marines from 1975 to 1983. That included a four-year stint in the Philippines, but he also was stationed in Hawaii, Taiwan, South Korea, Austra- lia, New Zealand and Okinawa. "I got into trucking right out of the Marine Corps in 1983," he says, and moved to Mississippi. He's owned a house there since 2000. "It was an industry wide open, pretty much no regulation," Keith recalls of the early '80s. "All the emphasis was on getting the job done. I always had an extra log book. I was never overloaded as long as I could get the doors closed." He did three or four years of trucking boot camp, going through three fl eets that didn't impress him. Then he met brothers Bruce and Randy Tielens in Wisconsin, who were buying Wisconsin Express Lines, with about 20 trucks, from their father, Wally Tielens, who died in 2005. "I was impressed that they were my generation," says Keith, who joined them as a company driver. "We were hauling bananas out of Gulfport (Mississippi)," recalls Bruce Tielens. "The biggest thing was deliver- ing loads on time, and he did a great job right off the bat." The Tielens brothers completed the purchase in 1988 and changed the name to WEL Companies, adding warehous- ing and logistics. Randy Tielens died in 2013. WEL, based in De Pere, Wisconsin, next to Green Bay, now has about 500 trucks, most of them company-owned. The fl eet serves some of the largest com- panies in the food, beverage and dairy industries. While it doesn't match up to his tour of duty with the Marines, WEL provided sort of a trucking occupational tour for Keith. After starting as a driver, he man- aged WEL's terminal in Gulfport from 1986 to 1993. Then he moved back to WEL's home offi ce, serving as dispatcher DISCIPLINE'S PAYOFF As for the secrets to success behind the 2017 Owner-Operator of the Year, well, there are no secrets. "I didn't do anything special," says Phil Keith, "but I didn't do anything sloppy." Avoiding sloppiness is another way of describing his disciplined approach to business: • If you want to make more money, have fewer expenses, change your oil on time, and get better fuel mileage, Keith advises. "Get air in your tires," he says. "Keep your truck greased. Someone once told me soap and water, grease and oil are the cheapest parts you'll ever buy." He says he's "constantly looking for some- thing that's breaking. Kids ask me how long is a big truck supposed to last. I say it'll last forever if you don't mind fi xing it." • Maintain a strong escrow account. "You've got to be prepared for a month's downtime at least," he says. "You better have at least $10,000 in the bank. A lot of younger drivers lease out and think they'll just get a bigger paycheck. You're actually going to work harder and make less." • "I don't count miles, I count dollars," says Keith, who's always worked on a percentage of revenue. "Giving up a percentage to WEL for their logistics support is so important. I could get my own authority and be a gypsy on my own, but I'm just a one-horse show." He enjoys not having to worry about competing with bigger fl eets, chasing down unpaid invoices or getting discounts on tires and fuel. Of Keith's friends who got their own authority, all of them have gone back to being leased. • As for safety, let four-wheelers have their way if they're being aggressive, he says. "I'm not going to fi ght you. I tell younger drivers you have to avoid situa- tions where you have to use your brakes to get out of it." The Keiths' current truck is a 2017 Peterbilt 579 with a 565-hp Cummins. Next year, they plan to order a 2020 Pete 579 with a custom sleeper that includes a bathroom and a kitchen sink. Bolt Custom Sleepers will partner with Peterbilt on the project. Keith (right) enjoys getting his 25-foot Hunter sailboat out in the Gulf of Mexico.