I began driving professionally in 2006 after losing my job at the phone company. My experiences in the corporate jungle had left a bad taste in my mouth so I went in search of the exact opposite.

I had some success as a young entrepreneur collecting newspapers around my neighborhood and selling them to the local recycling depot. I can still remember when paper hit $100 a ton and I was able to fill a good portion of my fathers’ trailer he had built for hauling wood out of the forest to heat our home. I remember being able to buy my own Stu Thompson BMX bike at the auto parts store with that money. It wasn’t the fanciest bike in the neighborhood, but it was MINE.

So, when I found myself out of work in late 2005, I decided to look more closely at being my own boss. I took a job as a car salesman to bridge the gap and started looking for opportunities. The thing about car salesmen is that they tend to be eternal optimists, and they have about a million business ideas that they never seem to develop. I also noted that nearly all my coworkers had a class A CDL. Most of them saw truck driving as a fallback, not a primary career.

When I looked into getting my CDL, I noted two things. First, there was an opportunity to buy a truck and become a business owner with a relatively low upfront cost. Second, there was a need for mentors to teach new truck drivers how to succeed in the industry. This hit two of my core values right away. I have always believed that the best path to prosperity was entrepreneurship. I also love to teach. So, I developed a plan. I decided to get my CDL, learn the business, buy or lease a truck, and teach others how to succeed in the trucking industry. This took me to my first trucking job at Swift Transportation. I was able to accomplish my two primary goals within 18 months with that carrier. I continued to mentor and lease my trucks for the next 13 years. As is often the case, mentoring eventually burned me out. I was also in the position to purchase my truck at the end of the lease I was on at the time, so I created a new set of goals.

It was time to take all I had learned and cut the strings of debt in my business. It took me another 2 years to accomplish this. But quitting the mentorship program had left a hole. I still wanted to teach. Setting new goals helped keep me occupied, but the hole persisted. That was about the time Charley Mahon approached me with an interesting idea. How about we take all the stuff we have learned over the years and help others in the industry accomplish THEIR goals? This intrigued me. So here we are. Two guys who love discussing the business of trucking and enjoying every minute of it.
I began driving professionally in 2006 after losing my job at the phone company. My experiences in the corporate jungle had left a bad taste in my mouth so I went in search of the exact opposite.

I had some success as a young entrepreneur collecting newspapers around my neighborhood and selling them to the local recycling depot. I can still remember when paper hit $100 a ton and I was able to fill a good portion of my fathers’ trailer he had built for hauling wood out of the forest to heat our home. I remember being able to buy my own Stu Thompson BMX bike at the auto parts store with that money. It wasn’t the fanciest bike in the neighborhood, but it was MINE.

So, when I found myself out of work in late 2005, I decided to look more closely at being my own boss. I took a job as a car salesman to bridge the gap and started looking for opportunities. The thing about car salesmen is that they tend to be eternal optimists, and they have about a million business ideas that they never seem to develop. I also noted that nearly all my coworkers had a class A CDL. Most of them saw truck driving as a fallback, not a primary career.

When I looked into getting my CDL, I noted two things. First, there was an opportunity to buy a truck and become a business owner with a relatively low upfront cost. Second, there was a need for mentors to teach new truck drivers how to succeed in the industry. This hit two of my core values right away. I have always believed that the best path to prosperity was entrepreneurship. I also love to teach. So, I developed a plan. I decided to get my CDL, learn the business, buy or lease a truck, and teach others how to succeed in the trucking industry. This took me to my first trucking job at Swift Transportation. I was able to accomplish my two primary goals within 18 months with that carrier. I continued to mentor and lease my trucks for the next 13 years. As is often the case, mentoring eventually burned me out. I was also in the position to purchase my truck at the end of the lease I was on at the time, so I created a new set of goals.

It was time to take all I had learned and cut the strings of debt in my business. It took me another 2 years to accomplish this. But quitting the mentorship program had left a hole. I still wanted to teach. Setting new goals helped keep me occupied, but the hole persisted. That was about the time Charley Mahon approached me with an interesting idea. How about we take all the stuff we have learned over the years and help others in the industry accomplish THEIR goals? This intrigued me. So here we are. Two guys who love discussing the business of trucking and enjoying every minute of it.