From Company Driver to $10K/Week Flatbed Owner Operator. Truck Yoo #110 — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00You really want me to cuz it didn't
2. 0:01start good for me.
3. 0:02>> It's fine that but that's the whole
4. 0:04point. It never starts good. Welcome to
5. 0:05Trucking You. My name is Sebastian.
6. 0:07Today we have Elvin Rodriguez. He's a
7. 0:11member of our Trucking Business Pro
8. 0:12Group and does flatbed
9. 0:15for quite a while now. He shares his
10. 0:17story on what was the first truck he
11. 0:20bought, how he started, how he
12. 0:22transitioned into what he's doing right
13. 0:23[music] now and what and to do in
14. 0:24flatbed. So, let's dive right into it.
15. 0:28>> [music]
16. 0:31>> Elvin, you've been an owner for how long
17. 0:33now? Since [music] when did you get your
18. 0:34license?
19. 0:35>> Well, I got my license by the end of
20. 0:372015, like November
21. 0:38>> Okay.
22. 0:39>> 2015, almost 2016. And I become became
23. 0:44owner-operator like uh
24. 0:464 years ago. So, I did last like about
25. 0:49like 6 years as a just a company driver.
26. 0:52I did uh all type of work. I've done um
27. 0:55well, I started off with Western
28. 0:57Express. I lasted there like 6 months.
29. 1:01Then I ran into this owner-operator.
30. 1:04Uh I did like about 3 months with him
31. 1:06going to like uh from Hazel 10,
32. 1:09Pennsylvania to California
33. 1:11for about 3 weeks. Things didn't work
34. 1:13out because uh he wanted to pay me like
35. 1:16lower than he'll pay a normal driver
36. 1:19because I didn't basically have the
37. 1:20experience even though I was doing the
38. 1:22runs.
39. 1:22>> Yeah.
40. 1:23>> Uh I ended up going with this guy doing
41. 1:26uh I don't know if you've ever heard of
42. 1:28the flatbed uh not flatbed uh
43. 1:32dump trucks and uh walking floor
44. 1:34trailers, hauling trash and stuff like
45. 1:36that. I did that for like about like 2
46. 1:39years. It went decent. I was local.
47. 1:42Running local uh runs in uh Philadelphia
48. 1:45area, Delaware,
49. 1:47Jersey.
50. 1:48I did that for about 2 years. Um
51. 1:51then I ran into this company uh hauling
52. 1:54dedicated runs from Brooklyn to
53. 1:56Minnesota.
54. 1:57I
55. 1:58uh started working with them. It was
56. 2:00pretty decent. They had great trucks. I
57. 2:01wasn't used to it because working in the
58. 2:04uh walking floor um
59. 2:07hauling trash, you don't have the best
60. 2:09trucks out there.
61. 2:10But um
62. 2:12I did I spent like about 2 years with
63. 2:14them
64. 2:15as company Everything I'm talking about
65. 2:17is company driver to this point. Yeah, I
66. 2:19was a company driver.
67. 2:21>> So, that was What a year was that?
68. 2:23>> So,
69. 2:24let me see. I lasted
70. 2:26uh 6 months with Western Express. That
71. 2:28had to be like 2016 already.
72. 2:31Um
73. 2:33by 2017, I was actually uh hauling
74. 2:37the walking floor trailer doing trash
75. 2:39and anything that has to do with
76. 2:41recycling. 2018, so by I believe like by
77. 2:432020,
78. 2:45no, by uh
79. 2:46by 2019, I stopped working with that
80. 2:49company. And I went to do the
81. 2:52dedicated runs from Brooklyn to
82. 2:54Minnesota.
83. 2:55I did that for about
84. 2:572 years and a half, so that will bring
85. 2:59me up to like what? Like 2021.
86. 3:01>> Okay.
87. 3:02>> And
88. 3:03uh I did that. Um I ran into these guys
89. 3:06like when Amazon was doing good at that
90. 3:08time during the pandemic. It's around
91. 3:11that that time, 2020 2021.
92. 3:13I ran into these guys and they offered
93. 3:16me the job to do Amazon work with them.
94. 3:18It was pretty
95. 3:20different than what I was used to cuz I
96. 3:22would stay out every like the whole week
97. 3:24with this guy. I'll come home every
98. 3:25other day cuz it was I would doing the
99. 3:2834-hour uh runs that they had.
100. 3:31Um basically, I did that with him
101. 3:34for a while as well. Like about like a
102. 3:37year, I'll say.
103. 3:39That run me into like 2022.
104. 3:42And
105. 3:43it was pretty good. I got like the
106. 3:45knowledge of like how the load board
107. 3:47worked and all that stuff. Like like
108. 3:50when you start becoming owner operator,
109. 3:51you like sometimes you have to look for
110. 3:53your own load whenever you're like
111. 3:54>> 100% 100% So did he let you How did you
112. 3:57learn about load boards? Did he let you
113. 3:59play with it or
114. 4:00>> So I had a few people that was already
115. 4:02doing it on their own that and he'll
116. 4:05like let me use the load board on my I
117. 4:07didn't have like uh
118. 4:10route already on our scheduled on my
119. 4:12router schedule.
120. 4:13And uh he'll like tell me like if you
121. 4:16want to look for your load so you could
122. 4:17run until I could like get the uh
123. 4:19contract for next week and I'll do that.
124. 4:21So that's how I learned it and um then I
125. 4:25actually got my own authority.
126. 4:27>> You got your own authority and your
127. 4:29first at the first try that your own
128. 4:31truck.
129. 4:32>> Yeah.
130. 4:32>> So tell me about first like the decision
131. 4:35like you were driving like I'm ready.
132. 4:37>> So I skipped the part while I was with
133. 4:39him, I bought my first truck the one I
134. 4:41told you about 2016 Freightliner
135. 4:44Cascadia.
136. 4:45And uh I opened my own authority and I
137. 4:48started doing Amazon just like I was
138. 4:51doing before.
139. 4:52Um things was
140. 4:53pretty good at the beginning. I lasted
141. 4:56like I'll say like 9 months to 10 months
142. 4:59like with my own authority.
143. 5:02Everything was going well. That's when
144. 5:04the pandemic came and all the prices was
145. 5:06good and then um it started dropping. So
146. 5:09things wasn't so good and uh
147. 5:11that made me decide to go with this
148. 5:13flatbed company that I that
149. 5:16closed my authority. Well, I paused it,
150. 5:19closed it down, canceled the insurance
151. 5:22and I went with this uh company called
152. 5:24Horrible Trucking. It was flatbed. Yeah,
153. 5:27uh flatbed.
154. 5:28>> Let me reverse you back a little bit. Do
155. 5:29you remember how much you were paying
156. 5:30for your insurance back then?
157. 5:33>> Um
158. 5:34>> Did you feel like it was expensive if
159. 5:35you don't remember?
160. 5:36>> No, I was paying I uh they asked me for
161. 5:38like $5,000 uh down payment as usual
162. 5:42like the insurance will ask you for
163. 5:43$5,000 down payment and you know I was
164. 5:45paying like about
165. 5:47uh,
166. 5:47>> The total annual total annual premium
167. 5:49were you made.
168. 5:50>> I don't remember the total annual
169. 5:52premium, but I did pay $5,000 down
170. 5:54payment, and I paid about $1,300,
171. 5:58uh, a month a month.
172. 5:59>> Okay.
173. 6:00So, about, I would say,
174. 6:02Yeah, we were almost $19,000, $18,000.
175. 6:06>> there. That's the the
176. 6:08>> Okay.
177. 6:08>> It's It's around there.
178. 6:10So, yeah, I I I didn't cancel it
179. 6:12because, um,
180. 6:14like, uh,
181. 6:15I canceled it because, like, um, the
182. 6:18rates wasn't good at the time. Like, uh,
183. 6:20>> To be independent.
184. 6:21>> To be independent, um, yeah, it wasn't
185. 6:23good at the time, and I
186. 6:25>> Was it that, or was it because you did
187. 6:27work for Amazon, and then when the
188. 6:28market dropped, Amazon started cutting
189. 6:30rates, and then the rates didn't make
190. 6:31sense?
191. 6:32>> Yeah, the the rates started didn't
192. 6:33start, uh, making sense after I was in,
193. 6:36and like, uh, me I had the experience
194. 6:38cuz I always had like people around me
195. 6:40that were owner operators. I want to ask
196. 6:42questions all the time.
197. 6:44Um, and like, I already kind of knew
198. 6:46like, um,
199. 6:48things wasn't going to get better
200. 6:50anytime soon, and you can see with
201. 6:51Amazon right now. Like, probably it got
202. 6:53better now after all the stuff going on,
203. 6:55but
204. 6:56>> The rates are still not good.
205. 6:57>> Yeah,
206. 6:58it was bad. So, I decided to at least
207. 7:00onto a company,
208. 7:02and I did flatbed because they had
209. 7:04dedicated runs. All they delivered to
210. 7:06was like Home Depot's, private lumbers.
211. 7:08I used to haul drywall, compound. It was
212. 7:11like, uh, I'll say like
213. 7:14300-mi radius, like, I would drive, but
214. 7:17up and down like
215. 7:18>> Out of Philly, right?
216. 7:19>> Yeah, I used to be based out of
217. 7:20Philadelphia. I I I would work from, uh,
218. 7:23Avon, New Jersey, or Baltimore, or
219. 7:26Washingtonville, picking up loads there,
220. 7:28and delivering it to like South Jersey,
221. 7:30PA,
222. 7:31uh, New York.
223. 7:33And it was going pretty good for me
224. 7:35right there. Then, a company came, a
225. 7:38major corporation came, bought it out,
226. 7:40and
227. 7:42rate started
228. 7:43>> Yeah. Dropping.
229. 7:44>> Dropping.
230. 7:44>> Yeah.
231. 7:45>> And I lasted there like 3 years.
232. 7:48And um everything was good until all
233. 7:51that stuff happened where the the rate
234. 7:53started uh dropping, and
235. 7:55it made me uh
236. 7:56I actually
237. 7:59was searching for a while online, and
238. 8:02company that I'm working for uh hearing
239. 8:04from right now, from Illinois, and um I
240. 8:07didn't know nobody out here. It's just
241. 8:09like
242. 8:10it made sense to me like how they was
243. 8:12promoting like the the the lease on
244. 8:15idea and all that stuff. So, I actually
245. 8:17drove Bobtail without knowing them, just
246. 8:20talking to them on the phone uh 10 hours
247. 8:22to Chicago, Illinois. I met them.
248. 8:24Everything went well. Like they're good
249. 8:26people, and um
250. 8:28after that, I've just been uh like o-
251. 8:30owner-operator again, like the the
252. 8:33with the company doing flatbed, I was
253. 8:35owner-operator. I forget I don't know if
254. 8:37I mentioned that, but
255. 8:38>> Yeah. Yeah, so tell me but tell me how
256. 8:39did you So, you had that Cascadia, then
257. 8:41how did you come around? You have a
258. 8:43W900. Um how did you
259. 8:45>> So, the
260. 8:48is a good truck. I always keep my truck
261. 8:50good, but um
262. 8:51basically I knew that truck that I seen
263. 8:54online uh the W900 because I used to
264. 8:57uh drive it when I was in that company
265. 8:59hauling from Brooklyn to Minnesota.
266. 9:01And
267. 9:02uh
268. 9:03I had like a peace of mind when it came
269. 9:05to like knowing what to buy cuz it's
270. 9:06like basically uh more about the engine
271. 9:10than the truck, but I already had a good
272. 9:12engine on the on the um Freightliner,
273. 9:14but I seen a good price.
274. 9:17The owner of that truck, I think he used
275. 9:20to haul
276. 9:21uh stuff out the ports. That was during
277. 9:24the port strikes.
278. 9:25>> Okay.
279. 9:25>> So, I was able to negotiate a decent
280. 9:27price with him. Like it was uh 70K.
281. 9:30>> Okay. So, I mean yeah.
282. 9:31>> 500 something
283. 9:32>> With 500,000. Yeah, so it's a W900 X15
284. 9:352018 with an 18-speed, right?
285. 9:37>> With an 18-speed, yeah. And um that's
286. 9:40how I did it. I basically um
287. 9:43had a
288. 9:45a loan a line of credit on the side and
289. 9:48I
290. 9:49uh
291. 9:50bought the the W900 and then sold the
292. 9:53Freightliner to make up with the rest of
293. 9:54the money that I would
294. 9:55>> Smart.
295. 9:56>> Very smart.
296. 9:56>> to get that W900.
297. 9:58>> So, you didn't finance it
298. 9:59conventionally. You just use your line
299. 10:01of credit for it.
300. 10:01>> Yeah, basically I used a line of credit
301. 10:03for it.
302. 10:04>> Awesome.
303. 10:04>> Yeah.
304. 10:05>> Awesome. Good. That's good.
305. 10:07>> Well, let's let's let's keep going. So,
306. 10:09you got that truck and then you worked a
307. 10:11little bit in
308. 10:13Tell me that story when you after you
309. 10:15bought the W900. Like, what happened
310. 10:17after that?
311. 10:18>> Well, after I bought the W900, I was
312. 10:21still in that company doing the flatbed
313. 10:23work and that's when the rates dropped.
314. 10:26I bought it thinking that the the rates
315. 10:28were still going to be good. I'm like,
316. 10:30well, I have this amount and I could get
317. 10:33a good amount for the Freightliner. I
318. 10:35did lose money, but if for me I kind of
319. 10:37won because this had it was a better
320. 10:39truck new new
321. 10:41like 3 years newer and um
322. 10:44uh
323. 10:45I felt like it was worth it because of
324. 10:47the the care that they took
325. 10:49>> Yeah.
326. 10:49>> on it. So,
327. 10:51basically
328. 10:53I bought the truck when I was on the
329. 10:54flatbed stuff. I ended up
330. 10:57leaving because of the the rates dropped
331. 11:00and I started doing
332. 11:02with the experience that I learned there
333. 11:03because I never did flatbed before that.
334. 11:07I did 3 years of flatbed doing dedicated
335. 11:09runs. So, with the experience I like
336. 11:11learned there, it made me feel more
337. 11:13confident on doing this OTR stuff. The
338. 11:17stuff and I like hauling different type
339. 11:19of loads.
340. 11:20And it's going pretty good. Um
341. 11:23I got used to everything. I have done
342. 11:25the coils
343. 11:27uh rooftop AC units, all type of stuff
344. 11:31lumber, too. Um
345. 11:33is It's not bad. Uh you just got to like
346. 11:37basically uh
347. 11:39keep going. Don't give up.
348. 11:40>> Yeah. Yeah. 100%.
349. 11:42>> Keep yourself positive and be willing to
350. 11:44like make the sacrifices. Like right
351. 11:45now, like I told you. I've been
352. 11:48uh 3 weeks out. This is going to be my
353. 11:50fourth week and I'm fixing some stuff
354. 11:52here on the truck, but I'm still
355. 11:53positive and trying to like
356. 11:54>> Yeah.
357. 11:55>> go with it.
358. 11:56>> Good. Yeah, you're in a good shop. Ed is
359. 11:58awesome. Ennis is awesome. I'm KS. Well,
360. 12:00it's a it's a really good shop. You you
361. 12:02you found him. Good. You found the
362. 12:03reviews.
363. 12:04>> Yeah. That's what He actually uh uh I
364. 12:07called him yesterday and he told me um
365. 12:10that he wouldn't be able to take me in
366. 12:11because he was full up because of
367. 12:13everybody that called him over over the
368. 12:15weekend. And I was like, "You know what?
369. 12:17You got a great reviews, so I I know
370. 12:20it's worth
371. 12:21to wait for tomorrow." I booked the
372. 12:22hotel, stayed at the hotel, and then
373. 12:24just came this morning with the truck.
374. 12:25>> Good. Good. So, tell me how much are you
375. 12:28grossing right now, your top line
376. 12:29revenue uh weekly?
377. 12:30>> Gross, I would say
378. 12:33uh
379. 12:35anything between Well,
380. 12:39average I would say like 10,000.
381. 12:41>> Okay.
382. 12:41>> Average. I could go above that. I seen
383. 12:4412,000 gross.
384. 12:46And with little stuff that happens, like
385. 12:48I'll probably go a little bit down, but
386. 12:50I was I I Lately I've been above like
387. 12:53$8,000.
388. 12:54>> Okay. Good. Good.
389. 12:55>> So, after expenses and stuff like that,
390. 12:57I would say anything like between good
391. 12:59and bad weeks, you'll make anything from
392. 13:01like four something to uh $7,000
393. 13:04after expense when it comes to like
394. 13:06tolls and and fuel.
395. 13:08>> Yeah, the other stuff you had to take
396. 13:10out.
397. 13:10>> And do you see rate cons? Did they give
398. 13:11you rate cons?
399. 13:12>> Uh well,
400. 13:15I just go by what they tell me.
401. 13:17>> Okay. So, you trust You're trusting
402. 13:18them.
403. 13:19>> Yeah. Yeah. I'm basically trusting them.
404. 13:21>> Okay. Good. What's your plan What's your
405. 13:23plan after
406. 13:25let's say next 2 years or next year.
407. 13:28>> My plans are well, I'm just trying to
408. 13:30like basically um like
409. 13:35how I see things is like you got to like
410. 13:37work where like you get your stuff you
411. 13:39get yourself the equipment that you need
412. 13:41and then you got to like uh
413. 13:43um
414. 13:44pay off like anything that you got to
415. 13:46pay off and then from there maybe you
416. 13:48could like uh like have an idea where
417. 13:50you could um like I guess like move
418. 13:53things further maybe like
419. 13:55>> Thinking about going independent again?
420. 13:56>> Uh I I would cuz I have the experience
421. 14:00but uh like I said like I want to take
422. 14:02care like before I do that I want to
423. 14:04make sure the truck is good. I want to
424. 14:05make sure I have like any personal debt
425. 14:07that I have paid off just so when things
426. 14:11get
427. 14:13not so good when things like when the
428. 14:15rates drop and stuff like that you're
429. 14:16not so worried about it and then you
430. 14:18have thing in place where like at least
431. 14:20you have you're making enough money to
432. 14:21like sustain yourself and all that
433. 14:23stuff.
434. 14:23>> Yeah, very smart. Very smart. Awesome.
435. 14:25Uh well, I'm going to
436. 14:27I wish you good luck with everything. I
437. 14:29appreciate you sharing your story and um
438. 14:31you're doing great. I mean you I've seen
439. 14:33your truck your truck is awesome. So
440. 14:35you're doing really you're doing really
441. 14:36good. You're definitely
442. 14:38an owner up there I would like to see
443. 14:39more of education just
444. 14:41>> [music]
445. 14:41>> hard work, commitment and just taking
446. 14:44care of your truck. That is exactly what
447. 14:46you need to uh think about right?
448. 14:47>> Yeah, so I stay I always stay on top of
449. 14:50it. I I let Before I buy myself
450. 14:52something I buy my truck something.
451. 14:54>> Yeah. That's good. And do you have any
452. 14:55social media?
453. 14:56>> Uh social media I don't really have
454. 14:59>> to share it or you don't care?
455. 15:00>> I I don't yeah. I only have Facebook. I
456. 15:02don't even use it like I deleted social
457. 15:05social media.
458. 15:07It was a decision I made like to stay
459. 15:08muscle [music] like stay focused.
460. 15:10>> Totally agree. I'm I'm with you on
461. 15:12there. But appreciate you. Thank you
462. 15:13Alvin. Thank you so much. Thanks.
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471. 15:38>> [music]