From Power-Only Scams to $14K Flatbed Weeks | Owner-Operator Story. Truck Yoo #109 — Transcript

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1. 0:00I started out doing just to to get some
2. 0:02revenue done. I started out doing uh
3. 0:04power only loads. So, I jumped on with a
4. 0:06company after I purchased a truck.
5. 0:08>> How did that go for you? Like, would you
6. 0:09would you recommend it to to to start?
7. 0:16All right. So, I'm here with one of our
8. 0:19>> [music]
9. 0:19>> trucking business school members,
10. 0:21Dennis. How's it going?
11. 0:23>> What's up?
12. 0:23>> Let's do a walk around your rig. Tell me
13. 0:26show me what you got. You got a
14. 0:28beautiful truck.
15. 0:29>> All right. So, it's a 2019 Peterbilt 579
16. 0:32purchased from uh TMC Truck Sales. I
17. 0:35picked it up purchased it last October,
18. 0:38picked it up in December, ran power only
19. 0:40for a while, and then switched to
20. 0:42flatbed market after things increased
21. 0:45with JRC Transport. Now, I'm currently
22. 0:47hauling with uh Dominic Dominic Lewis.
23. 0:49>> Do Lewis Transport, yeah.
24. 0:51How do you like it so far?
25. 0:53>> It's It's been amazing. Dom's uh I met
26. 0:55him through the trucking pro group a
27. 0:57while back, and we've kind of had things
28. 0:59in in progress, and and things the stars
29. 1:02aligned, and uh and I've been with him
30. 1:03for I think this is going on the fifth
31. 1:05week now.
32. 1:06I have had one week that was actually we
33. 1:08broke $14,000
34. 1:10revenue.
35. 1:11>> And yeah, I went home I was out for 4
36. 1:14weeks and just coming off of 4 days at
37. 1:16home. Um
38. 1:17while I was home, I put Starlink got
39. 1:20I've been wanting it for a while.
40. 1:21>> Well, walk me through really quick.
41. 1:22Let's pop the hood and show what you
42. 1:24got.
43. 1:24>> Uh so, tell me this is a so, it's got
44. 1:26it's got a TX15 Cummins.
45. 1:28>> It's the Eco Eco version.
46. 1:31>> I think it's 400 450 horsepower.
47. 1:33>> What year?
48. 1:34>> It's a 2019. So, the things that I've
49. 1:37done, I just had two new steers put on.
50. 1:39Uh I had the alignment done.
51. 1:41Shocks all the way around. Uh Pittsburgh
52. 1:44power, I swear by them. I run the
53. 1:46catalyst in in this the catalyst and the
54. 1:48MaxPoint mileage for the DPF reasons and
55. 1:51to maximize my fuel mileage.
56. 1:54I I'm 70,000 mi on this oil, 65,000.
57. 1:58I run an OPS. I change change it filter
58. 2:01the oil every 25,000 mi, 20 to 25,000
59. 2:05mi. So, I'll send a sample in. Uh I I
60. 2:07use Horizon, but there's there's tons of
61. 2:09other ones.
62. 2:10>> Would you recommend the OPS system, too?
63. 2:12>> Absolutely. See, uh so, like I said, I
64. 2:14got just about 70,000 mi. Some guys are
65. 2:16swear by it changing their oil every 10
66. 2:19to 15,000 mi. Uh like I You got to
67. 2:21figure even if you're doing it yourself,
68. 2:22you're $500 in an oil drop for filters
69. 2:26or oil. And so, it's I'm saving the
70. 2:27money on that. Plus, to boot with the
71. 2:30with the oil sampling, I can really see
72. 2:32if there's anything going on any issues
73. 2:34going on with wear metals in in in the
74. 2:37oil. My base was getting a little low. I
75. 2:39added a gallon of Lucas synth- synthetic
76. 2:43last last sample after the last sample
77. 2:45came back. But, other than that, like
78. 2:47all my wear metals, sodium, calcium,
79. 2:50everything was really really good as as
80. 2:52far as my
81. 2:52>> Awesome.
82. 2:53>> my oil sample.
83. 2:54>> What else did you uh do to the to the
84. 2:55engine?
85. 2:56>> I've had the overhead done before I even
86. 2:58started hauling. I went to Pittsburgh
87. 2:59Power. Uh had the overhead set. As far
88. 3:02as engine stuff, oh, I put the
89. 3:04Fleetguard coolant.
90. 3:06All right.
91. 3:07So, the I I
92. 3:09I changed from the standard
93. 3:11standard filter to the Fleet air filter
94. 3:13as well. I got that through There was
95. 3:15multiple Fleet locations, but I did get
96. 3:17it through Pittsburgh Power. Uh the
97. 3:18shocks shocks are new.
98. 3:21I Supply Logistics logos on here. And
99. 3:25very proud of my St. Louis Transport, my
100. 3:28carrier. And there's there's a bunch of
101. 3:29guys that also belong to the Trucking
102. 3:31Pro Group, and we kind of really met
103. 3:34each other through the group, and then
104. 3:35it's been
105. 3:36a team of guys, you know, we can reach
106. 3:39out to each other and then kind of pick
107. 3:40each other's brain and then help each
108. 3:42other along the way.
109. 3:44>> Um yes, quick plug. If you're looking to
110. 3:46be part of a community, join Trucking
111. 3:48Business Pro. And we're there every
112. 3:50single day.
113. 3:51>> And the free the free group is good. You
114. 3:52can reach out to people and and kind of
115. 3:54get a gist of what's going on, but on
116. 3:55the calls, Wednesday and and Saturday
117. 3:57calls, I learn a lot. I'm able to reach
118. 4:00out to you, reach out to the other
119. 4:01members, and just uh learn learn a lot.
120. 4:04I mean, as far as not just the trucking,
121. 4:06it's the the business aspect is really
122. 4:08where I was green in in the trucking um
123. 4:12>> Tell me about your rig here over your
124. 4:13setup. Walk me through what do you got?
125. 4:15>> I put a uh headache rack on the tarp
126. 4:18rack. I moved my tarps this was past
127. 4:20weekend cuz I was up and down uh during
128. 4:23the in the trailer box, but I added
129. 4:25Starlink up top, so I'm I'm mobile now.
130. 4:28I like to stay out to maximize my
131. 4:30revenue.
132. 4:32About 4 weeks, and then I'll go home for
133. 4:334 days. So, every week I stay out, I'll
134. 4:36go home for a day. I got Don's. This is
135. 4:38Don's trailer. It's a 48-ft. Uh I'm
136. 4:41trying to get into my own trailer right
137. 4:43now, building some revenue. One of the
138. 4:45things that I definitely want to add is
139. 4:48a APU. Thinking about green APU. I've
140. 4:51touched on the Merlin solar panels as
141. 4:53well, so it's still still up in the air,
142. 4:56but
143. 4:56>> Yeah, it's uh you're getting there.
144. 4:57You're almost there.
145. 4:58>> Yeah. Well, tell me as far as when you
146. 5:01were setting up your rig, did you have
147. 5:02it set up like that before you came to
148. 5:05do flatbed or So, I started out doing
149. 5:07just to to get some revenue done, I
150. 5:10started out doing uh power only loads.
151. 5:12So, I jumped on with a company after I
152. 5:13purchased a truck.
153. 5:14>> How did that go for you? Like, would you
154. 5:16would you recommend it or to to start?
155. 5:18>> only was exceptional. The the cost of
156. 5:23the purchasing the trailer, you know, it
157. 5:25was
158. 5:26wasn't there, so and I was able to get
159. 5:27out there and and just start start
160. 5:29making revenue. The company I chose to
161. 5:31to go on to probably wasn't wasn't the
162. 5:34best choice, but I kind of got duped
163. 5:36duped a little bit. It was a a Texas
164. 5:38Pride and Joy guy I talked to, one of
165. 5:40the recruiters, and then got on and and
166. 5:42things were just a little funny. And
167. 5:44I'll I'll leave it at that.
168. 5:45>> What did you What did you find out that
169. 5:47was funny about as funny business
170. 5:49meaning not funny but like a funky
171. 5:51business that they were Was there
172. 5:52something
173. 5:53>> The recon's I feel like were doctored.
174. 5:55All the numbers ended in in a certain
175. 5:58certain number. It was like 1,600,
176. 6:001,200. There was no variation in numbers
177. 6:02and we looked on the load boards, you
178. 6:05know, and and the lanes that I was
179. 6:06running and and saw that the rates were
180. 6:08a lot more than than what I was making
181. 6:10but it was easy
182. 6:12It was a company that was very easy for
183. 6:14me to onboard. So I did that and I and I
184. 6:17made money. Like I made I made some
185. 6:19money, you know. So it was a It was a
186. 6:21good process and then uh
187. 6:24They said I went with JRC for for a
188. 6:25while to get some experience doing the
189. 6:28flatbed stuff and I did. That's That's
190. 6:30what It worked and I parted ways with
191. 6:33them and and hired on with Dom and it's
192. 6:36been nothing but great. Like Dom's Dom's
193. 6:38awesome.
194. 6:39Very helpful. Sebastian with the
195. 6:41trucking pro group as well. Things
196. 6:42things are good and I'm I'm excited
197. 6:44about trucking and what what comes with
198. 6:47the rates The rates what they are right
199. 6:48now with flatbed and everything it's uh
200. 6:50sky's the limit.
201. 6:51>> Yeah. What are you doing here in
202. 6:52Chicago?
203. 6:53>> One of the downsides I guess of
204. 6:55trucking, you know, I delivered early on
205. 6:58a load yesterday. It just The stars
206. 7:00aligned and I was able to get to a
207. 7:02shipper, two receivers. They were 6 mi
208. 7:04apart. Delivered a load a day early.
209. 7:07That put me here last night in Chicago.
210. 7:09It was a little bit more than I'd like.
211. 7:11151 mi of uh dead head and then uh I got
212. 7:14here at 9:20 last night and my
213. 7:16appointment was for 1,500 today. It's
214. 7:18going 220 mi into Lansing, Michigan. Um
215. 7:21The rate per mile was great but sitting
216. 7:23around parked I checked in at 6:45 this
217. 7:26morning. Combined
218. 7:27>> Nobody here.
219. 7:28>> Here we are and we sit. I've been
220. 7:30sitting like I said like I said and this
221. 7:31guy's been here for a couple hours.
222. 7:33Supposedly they had trucks lined up to
223. 7:36come in and out all day and couldn't fit
224. 7:38me in the schedule. Needed me to get in
225. 7:40a cancellation but
226. 7:41>> Yeah.
227. 7:41>> It is what it is. I'm I'm grateful that
228. 7:43we get to hook up today and
229. 7:44>> Yeah.
230. 7:46>> Well, tell me about more a little bit of
231. 7:47the truck. So, as far as automatic
232. 7:49transmission, right?
233. 7:50>> Yep, it's it's a the inch 12-speed
234. 7:54manual automatic. You have the Cummins
235. 7:56It's the Eco for Cummins X15.
236. 7:59>> I I've
237. 8:00>> pay attention to my fuel economy and
238. 8:02stuff like that. I check my fuel economy
239. 8:04along with my revenue. Right now, on a
240. 8:0630-day I'm probably getting I'd say 6 7
241. 8:09loaded, 7 72 on an on an average between
242. 8:12the two. But, I
243. 8:14if I kick it down and keep it at 62, I
244. 8:17can get in the high eights with this.
245. 8:19>> Really? Nice. That's nice. Are you
246. 8:21running any special tires? What are
247. 8:23those? Flo Pros?
248. 8:25>> the 22.5s, 2 295 75 22.5s. These were on
249. 8:30here They are what they are. They are on
250. 8:32here when
251. 8:32>> They were on here when you bought the
252. 8:33truck?
253. 8:33>> Yeah.
254. 8:34>> Wow, that looks pretty good.
255. 8:35>> a set of set of steers. I just put these
256. 8:38these on this weekend. 92s, FS592s.
257. 8:42These are Firestone's new one. It was
258. 8:44the 591. They don't make them any
259. 8:46longer. So, I went with these. They're a
260. 8:48mid-tier. I had The only place I could
261. 8:51get in I had some some wear going on and
262. 8:54it could have been because of the cheap
263. 8:56iron head tires as well as the
264. 8:58alignment. The only shop I could get it
265. 8:59into was a Fleet Pride, not necessarily
266. 9:01an alignment shop. I would go with an M
267. 9:03the alignment shop. It's going to get
268. 9:05checked out at Pittsburgh Power. I'm
269. 9:07getting tuned done and crankshaft damper
270. 9:09done. Couple of little odds and ends in
271. 9:11October and going to the Nastic Fuel
272. 9:13Conference. So, they're going to have it
273. 9:15for a week to do some some odds and ends
274. 9:17to it and it's my baby. So, like this is
275. 9:19this is my my pride and joy in my life
276. 9:21right now. So,
277. 9:22>> It looks amazing.
278. 9:23>> Whatever you think I can into it.
279. 9:25>> I mean, super clean. You've You've
280. 9:26really done a really good job keeping it
281. 9:29up and and not keeping it up, but really
282. 9:32sticking care of it.
283. 9:33>> I just hand washed it.
284. 9:34>> Yeah. You did?
285. 9:35>> I wiped it down. I had nothing but time.
286. 9:36I've checked all my my fluids and
287. 9:39What? Yeah. I got a small The Cummins
288. 9:42are known about 500,000 mi. The front of
289. 9:45the oil pan on the corners when they
290. 9:47install the oil pan from that the
291. 9:49research I've done, they put a sealant
292. 9:51on there after that many miles, it heats
293. 9:54up, it cracks, so you get out of the
294. 9:56corners some seepage. So, right now I'm
295. 9:59going through about a gallon of oil
296. 10:01every 25,000 mi. And I don't
297. 10:04>> Okay.
298. 10:05>> puddle or or anything, so I may be
299. 10:07burning some, but all my fluids are
300. 10:09good. No, my oil levels sample
301. 10:11>> What's your mileage on the on it right
302. 10:12now?
303. 10:13>> It got
304. 10:13572,
305. 10:1573,000.
306. 10:16>> Okay. That's That's low. It's pretty
307. 10:18low.
308. 10:19>> What? Oh.
309. 10:20>> For 2019
310. 10:21>> The maintenance The maintenance I I try
311. 10:23to keep up on. This weekend we're going
312. 10:25to do the the back brakes on on the
313. 10:28tandems and get that done. I've got 50%
314. 10:31left on on the front. This They're disc
315. 10:33brakes on this, so it should be pretty
316. 10:34pretty simple. I'm trying to also get
317. 10:36set up to do to get my toes into
318. 10:39specialized heavy haul oversize stuff.
319. 10:42So, we're going to put some strobes on
320. 10:44this thing and and some some flags on
321. 10:46the front and the back and and start
322. 10:48diving into that and really maximize and
323. 10:50try to increase revenue as much as
324. 10:52possible.
325. 10:52>> Yeah.
326. 10:53>> Name of the game, you know.
327. 10:54>> Yeah. Yeah, so the next move is just to
328. 10:55get your own trailer then, right?
329. 10:57>> Yes. Yeah, yeah.
330. 10:58>> And APU APU and trailer.
331. 11:00>> APU, yep. I'll probably There's good
332. 11:02APUs. I'll probably for the simplicity
333. 11:04of it and the ability to work on them
334. 11:06and buy the parts at local parts stores,
335. 11:09NAPA Kamodo dealer is the green APU at
336. 11:12Chicago. I've also thrown the idea
337. 11:14around maybe adding a hotel battery
338. 11:18hotel load lithium battery with the
339. 11:20Merlin solar panels. It's about two
340. 11:22grand plus the battery.
341. 11:24You can
342. 11:25increase, decrease your hotel load
343. 11:27there. So, it's really keeping me The
344. 11:29rates in Texas right now are are
345. 11:30incredible. I was out there a couple
346. 11:32weeks ago, but it's It's hot and I end
347. 11:34up idling, so
348. 11:36I chose not to go back out there this
349. 11:37week. Until I get APU, there's another
350. 11:39member that's put a Chinese deal on on
351. 11:43his. So, I'm going to get with him and
352. 11:45see if that might be a an option.
353. 11:46>> If it works, it'll be 1,200 bucks, you
354. 11:48know.
355. 11:48>> Tell me, what would you tell to a a
356. 11:50fresh guy that's has cash that wants to
357. 11:52get into being an owner-operator?
358. 11:55What would you What What would be some
359. 11:56of the Like, give me one or two tips for
360. 11:59a guy that's about to pull the pull
361. 12:01a trigger on a truck?
362. 12:03>> It's the the truck itself. Definitely do
363. 12:05the
364. 12:05>> Anything that's Think of when you were
365. 12:07in your When you were about to do the
366. 12:09jump and
367. 12:10>> diligence and One of the things that So,
368. 12:13like I said earlier, this was a TMC
369. 12:16truck. I went with them because of their
370. 12:18maintenance and and seeing the guys out
371. 12:20on the road, the way that the trucks are
372. 12:22up up kept. Um so, I went with them. I
373. 12:24would advise guys to find a fleet that
374. 12:26that take care of their trucks. They
375. 12:28used to You see them out there on the
376. 12:29road. I mean, you you you could talk to
377. 12:31guys at the fuel island. Or if you're
378. 12:33going to buy buy one on a private sale,
379. 12:35really do the rig dig and and and try to
380. 12:37get as much information on that truck as
381. 12:40possible. Really. You know, do a blow-by
382. 12:42test and and go through the truck. If If
383. 12:44you're not a mechanic, have a mechanic
384. 12:46go with you and and uh do the best you
385. 12:48can to do as much research on the truck.
386. 12:51I would say for myself coming in to
387. 12:54truck I've been in trucking for a while
388. 12:56and into excavation
389. 12:59construction field for all my life. The
390. 13:01part that I didn't know and and it was a
391. 13:03very scary to me that I wish I had
392. 13:06learned more about. So, I'd advise new
393. 13:08members to coming in is to really do
394. 13:11your research and your due diligence
395. 13:12with the IRP, the process of getting
396. 13:15your plates, your IFTA, your HUT. Um I
397. 13:17would say
398. 13:17>> that's available in our even free group,
399. 13:19so yeah. They could They could find that
400. 13:21out. Absolutely. It's just
401. 13:22>> I signed on and went with a company that
402. 13:25that offered me the plates so I could
403. 13:27get get rolling. I wish I had done that
404. 13:29initially myself because I had to take a
405. 13:31break. It took me 35 days. You know
406. 13:33>> Yeah. Yeah. I know.
407. 13:35>> We talked. You You know this the pain I
408. 13:36went through sitting home for 35 days uh
409. 13:39waiting for for plates and uh
410. 13:40>> Yeah, so get your own plates, right? Get
411. 13:42your own plates if you can. The hot to
412. 13:44after uh
413. 13:45>> you know, Connecticut Connecticut,
414. 13:47Kentucky, New York State. Do your do
415. 13:49your due diligence and and get all that
416. 13:51stuff lined up. You know, it's a lot of
417. 13:52paperwork stuff and I'm not great on the
418. 13:54techie aspect of things. So, I have a a
419. 13:57hard time with that. You know, that's
420. 13:58one of the things that I hope to grow
421. 14:00and and learn more as well as those
422. 14:02things go on. I got an accountant. Get
423. 14:04yourself an accountant that was trucking
424. 14:06oriented that can help you along the way
425. 14:08as well and and benefit you
426. 14:10um with your revenue and and through
427. 14:12taxes and stuff as well.
428. 14:14Yeah.
429. 14:15And just stick with winners. Stick with
430. 14:16with the guys who are doing it.
431. 14:17>> with a group that's doing it that's
432. 14:19helping each other. That is the
433. 14:20Whether it's our group or anybody else's
434. 14:22group I I I don't know if there's a lot
435. 14:24of them, but our group is designed for
436. 14:26that, right? You help If it's any group,
437. 14:29it doesn't have to be our group, but any
438. 14:30group that people do the same thing.
439. 14:32It's always helpful, man.
440. 14:33>> And then talk to guys like I I have a
441. 14:35tendency to
442. 14:37start a conversation with a guy at the
443. 14:38fuel island and pick his brain, you
444. 14:40know, see what what he where he's
445. 14:42running, what where the rates are, you
446. 14:43know, like what what his fuel economy
447. 14:45is, like just just pick guys' brains.
448. 14:47Have conversations with them.
449. 14:48>> Yeah.
450. 14:49>> It doesn't hurt to to talk to guys. You
451. 14:51never know the the the conversations and
452. 14:53the relationships that you start and
453. 14:54build in trucking. It's It's crazy.
454. 14:56There's some good guys out there.
455. 14:58>> Oh yeah, we've had somebody that did
456. 15:00that and is ended up working for
457. 15:01Dominic, right? He He He met at uh they
458. 15:04talked at a truck stop, yeah.
459. 15:05>> yeah.
460. 15:06>> And it's you [snorts] never know and and
461. 15:07then he's he's doing great. So, yeah, I
462. 15:09totally agree. Um don't be afraid to
463. 15:11talk to owners. If you meet Dennis at a
464. 15:13truck stop, just pick his brain.
465. 15:15>> Absolutely. Anybody looking for a
466. 15:17carrier, Dominic Lewis. So, he hires
467. 15:19company guys, owner operators. Solid
468. 15:21guy. Not a big company, not just a
469. 15:24number. Yeah. That's what I love.
470. 15:26Ability to to use the shop if I need to
471. 15:29on the weekends if I can get there. Kind
472. 15:31of go in between if I don't want to go
473. 15:32home, and keep my revenue going. He's
474. 15:35out of Wisconsin Vester Wisconsin.
475. 15:38So, reach out to either Sebastian,
476. 15:39myself, Dominic directly. He's on the
477. 15:42Trucking Pro Group.
478. 15:44Sure, you can get a hold of him through
479. 15:45the
480. 15:46>> 100%. I'll link it all in the comments,
481. 15:47too. Where can people find you, Dennis?
482. 15:49What's your YouTube channel? I know
483. 15:50you're doing YouTube.
484. 15:51>> And I'm on Facebook as well.
485. 15:53>> Keeping people showing what you're doing
486. 15:55and how you live, right?
487. 15:56>> to brag a little bit on when Hey, we
488. 15:59work hard and we put the miles in. I run
489. 16:01pretty hard to maximize my revenue in a
490. 16:04week. I'm not a guy to sit in the truck
491. 16:06stop. I pull over when my time is up.
492. 16:09I'll run my clock out every day and try
493. 16:12to try to to get every single load there
494. 16:15on time as well for for my own pride and
495. 16:17for for Dominic as well. It's a to
496. 16:20show people that we're on time. So, I
497. 16:22take pride in my work and yeah.
498. 16:25>> Awesome. You're doing great. Appreciate
499. 16:26you, Dennis. Thank you so much. Talk to
500. 16:28you.
501. 16:28>> Yes, sir.