Blue Ribbon Podcast

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, maximize profit, and assure success. Dave Ramsey says “Broke, desperate, and stupid are three brothers that hang out together.” Self-employment can be rewarding, but it’s also difficult. It’s really difficult if you’re dumb. Join us as we break it all down.

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 serve their customers and raise up a new generation of Owner/Operators. The level of service that Blue Ribbon has managed to receive has been unacceptable. They will tell some stories that highlight this problem and illustrate that the shop customers need to be the ones that hold them accountable.

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.