Looking out at the year ahead, there's quite a bit more market pessimism among owner-operators in Overdrive’s audience than optimism, that’s sure, at the start of the new year here. Welcome to 2024: https://www.overdriveonline.com/voices/article/15660801/poll-ownerops-whats-your-business-outlook-for-2024

This Overdrive Radio episode features the voice of longtime former owner-operator and current biz coach Gary Buchs with what amounts to a series of potential New Year's Resolutions for you, whether you’re among the rough quarter of recent poll respondents who think the year’s going to be worse than the tough one we just ended. Or: If you’re one of the just 16% who are optimistic for improvement.

The plurality of voters in that same business-conditions polling, by contrast, expected more of the same transitioning from 2023 to 2024. Depending on whether you’re in one or the other of those categories Buchs delineates at top of the podcast -- the haves or the have-nots -- could well be the difference between your own optimism or pessimism.

In any case, the new year offers opportunity to reassess, and Buchs urged first and foremost an awareness of your own psychology, particularly when it comes to unusually dire or, otherwise, rosy prognostications over the airwaves and bytes hammering away at the brain day in and day out.

Talking to our finalists in the Trucker of the Year competition this week yielded something of a theme of resignation -- of banking on a slower year -- among some, indeed. But also some bright spots in new customers -- or, rather, at least one example of the use of tactics similar to what Buchs recommends on the customer engagement front, learning to really sell oneself in every interaction you have. Doing that yielded a new contract for Veterans Transportation Services owner-operator John Schiltz that should cover his and his wife Sarah's operation through much of this year’s first half. With it, they make good on a goal to avoid reliance for that half-year on spot freight -- there’s little indication we’ll see much improvement in demand in truckers’ favor there anytime soon.

So, for the owner-operator’s New Year's Resolutions this year, for Buchs it’s back to basics in his work coaching a variety of business owners to better performance. Listen on for more.

Past stories and podcasts mentioned throughout the broadcast:

**Overdrive's split-sleeper tutorial: https://www.overdriveonline.com/channel-19/article/14897907/how-to-log-the-new-73-splitsleeper-in-the-hours-of-service

**Owner-operators' best negotiations tool: https://www.overdriveonline.com/overdrive-extra/article/14897683/best-freight-negotiations-tool-for-owneroperators

**Matt Mickenberg's successful truck-purchase negotiation: https://www.overdriveonline.com/overdrive-extra/article/15659622/its-a-deal-50k-saved-on-a-new-truck

**Parasitic costs: 15 ways to save: https://www.overdriveonline.com/overdrive-extra/article/15540906/15-ways-to-eliminate-truckings-parasitic-costs-and-build-value

**A plan to thrive through the bottom of freight markets: https://www.overdriveonline.com/overdrive-radio/podcast/15658960/how-to-thrive-through-the-bottom-of-the-trucking-freight-markets

**Red Eye Radio Partners in Business roundtable: https://www.overdriveonline.com/overdrive-radio/podcast/15448522/owneroperator-business-evolution-roundtable-on-overdrive-radio