This fireside chat recap is from FreightWaves’ Small Fleet & Owner-Operator Summit on Wednesday.
FIRESIDE CHAT TOPIC: Five things you should know about making the leap from company driver to owner-operator.
DETAILS: A discussion on all of the things a driver needs to think about before jumping into asset ownership.
INTERVIEWER AND SPEAKER: Matt Silver, VP of partnerships and strategic alliances at Trucker Tools, a platform connecting owner-operators and trucking companies with freight brokers and logistics providers, and Larry Cothran, owner-operator of Cothran Logistics.
BIO: Cothran has been an entrepreneur most of his professional career. He operated as a business capacity owner for Landstar System (NASDAQ: LSTR) before starting the logistics company bearing his name.
KEY QUOTES FROM COTHRAN:
On making the jump from company driver: “I was seeing everybody with these adult toys like four-wheelers and motorcycles and you go to their houses and they got swimming pools everywhere. I’m like, ‘Man, how are they doing this?’ And everybody that had all that stuff was driving a truck, so that’s what made me migrate over there to the trucking arena.”
On the best advice to drivers contemplating the move: “Apprenticeship before ownership. We’re living in a time right now where everybody wants to own their own thing. They want to have their name on the side of the truck. It’s OK to do that — one day. You don’t need to jump out there and start owning stuff [when] you don’t have the knowledge.”
On the importance of social media: “We’re living in a society right now where we’re driven by reviews and we’re driven by media and data. Social media is a mirror of who you really are. I think it shows a reflection of your company. You can build a lot of relationships off of social media.”