Blue Ribbon Podcast

We aren’t shy about our opinions of new trucks, especially those built between 2008 and 2015 - they suck! They’re WORTHLESS! Success in business is all about managing risk and lowering expenses. These are two things that don’t mix with new trucks. Trucks built after 2007 are notoriously unreliable and the costs that come with them are generally prohibitive. The clock is ticking on our old trucks a...

The difference between success and failure in business is how well you can solve problems. It is the first lesson we teach when we hire a new driver. Adversity is coming. It is inevitable. How well are you prepared to handle all the things that will be thrown at you while you're running your business? We will give some examples of how we deal with big problems as a fleet and how you can learn how...

We’re gearing up for our next Live Event coming at the end of July. We’re still adding trucks and we will bring you up to speed on our latest editions. We have a few more maintenance stories and we need to talk about drivers being robbed by 1099 thieves. We will also talk about leases and what a horrible choice that is.

This episode will be an open discussion. We will catch you up on what we’ve been up to. We will be taking viewer questions as normal.

We talk to a lot of people who tell us they’re interested in becoming a business owner. We even hire a few of them. Too often we find that knowing what to do and then doing it presents a challenge too great for some. This is an episode about how difficult it really is to run a business and keep it open. Do you REALLY have what it takes? Tune in and find out.

The latest numbers are in from ATBS - the largest accounting service for truckers. We will dive into the numbers and talk about the importance of keeping score. We will also provide an update on our new BCO Mentoring Program. We had an event in March and it was a blast.

We have mentioned many times that we have a desire to help people that already have a truck or aren’t able to join our program directly as a driver. The time has come for us to let you know that program is ready and available. We recently learned that an astounding 60% of new BCOs leave Landstar in the first six months. We believe that happens because people come to Landstar unprepared to maximize...

Selecting the right loads for your business involves strategy and forethought. You must know your costs in order to know what loads to choose. We will talk about how we choose what lanes we run and how we pick loads to make the most for our drivers and our company.

Many great opportunities exist in the trucking industry. We stand by our belief that building wealth is easier in trucking than in any other. However, there are many scams that a driver can get caught up in, and they aren’t necessarily easy to see coming. We are going to discuss ways to avoid getting caught in the web of these predatory contacts and how to achieve your goals in a safe and less ris...

It’s time to address some hot topics that come up with how the Landstar system works. We see heated debates pop up whenever there is a dip in the market, and they’re showing up again over the last couple of weeks. There is a fundamental lack of understanding of how the Landstar system works and it leads to a lot of confusion and stress. We will break them all down: - How Third Party Logistics load...

Back on Episode 64, we wrapped up the year 2019 and discussed the challenges of the previous year with a soft market and gave our forecast for what we thought 2020 would hold. We had no idea what was about to happen! Join us for our 2020 wrap up to see if we met our goals and how we navigated the most difficult market in history.

In the first two years of operation, 9.5 out of 10 new owner/operators will FAIL. In this episode we’re going to talk about why these new businesses fail, how to avoid it, and how to put it back together after it all falls apart. Larry has 45 years of business experience and Chris has 25 years of trucking experience. Together they have developed a program that will teach you how to avoid failure,...

In this episode we discuss choosing the right truck for your operation. Choosing the wrong truck can be devastating to your ability to earn the most profit.

You’re buying fuel in all the WRONG places and for all the WRONG reasons. IFTA isn’t all that difficult to understand, but people have made it much more complicated than it needs to be. We will break it all down and show you how we buy fuel and where we buy it to get the most savings.

The time has come for us to do a detailed breakdown of how the Landstar System works. We are going to explain how the billing process works, how to work with agents, and all the benefits that come with leasing to Landstar.

We’ve talked a lot about how important building relationships and serving customers is. We’ve talked about serving customers. Now it’s time to talk about what to do when a relationship isn’t working out.

Operating a truck as an Owner/Operator is tough. It isn’t easy or for the faint of heart. The task is made all the more difficult by a shop industry that is out of touch with the rest of the trucking industry it is meant to SERVE and SUPPORT. Since Larry and Chris began this journey in 2018, they have spent tens of thousands of dollars in shops trying to maintain the trucks so they can continue to...

In this episode, Chris and Larry wrapped up the story about the 2006 Frankenliner and the lessons we learned from the catastrophe.

A viewer names Aleks asked some good questions in the comments of my "Does Landstar Really TAKE 35% of My Money?" video. I decided to make a video to answer them. They're good questions that I'm sure a lot of people have.

This is a hot topic and one that needs to be discussed. There’s too much misinformation out there and it’s time someone talked it out.

We are joined on this episode by Judy Byerly. She and her husband Marty have been team driving since 2004. They bought a truck and leased it to Landstar in 2017. She shares their story of success and how they used a strong work ethic, and attitude of service, and a passion for networking to build relationships with customers and agents in the Landstar system.

In this episode we will explain why we've been a little behind in making podcasts. We experienced TWO catastrophic failures within a week of one another. We'll tell you all about how we overcame the problems, how we kept our drivers making money, and how we sent one truck to the salvage yard and brought another back from the dead.

In this episode we are going to discuss what to do when the sh!t hits the fan. Your ability to solve problems and deal with them when they arise is absolutely essential to your success in the Landstar system (or any other system). We cover:- What to do when a load cancels- What to do when you have to cancel a load- Preventative Maintenance Strategies to keep you from falling off loads because of b...

We’ve spent the last few episodes talking about the influence the pandemic has had on the market. We decided to get '“back to basics” and discuss the principles that we use and implement that allow us to survive in a crisis market.

It's been 20 days since our last podcast. We've been busy keeping five trucks running during this pandemic. The market is down, but it isn't dead. We've had to work really hard to keep everyone loaded, but we have kept the trucks moving. We have found some silver linings and we talk about how we are optimistic for the future.