'Power only' as a springboard for owner-operator growth: Tim DeWitt's 34-truck fleet

Overdrive Radio

Tim DeWitt is no short-term-minded person, as he says in this week's edition of Overdrive Radio, charting how the small fleet owner’s begun to make good on on long-term goals of improving the conditions under which his now more than 30 driver employees operate. And: to continue to achieve solid profitability. He's doing it with his authority as DeWitt Transportation, based in Southern Illinois, and without owning a single trailer. In the podcast, lean more closely into DeWitt’s operation, detailed in part in Overdrive's recent three-part feature series covering the wild growth in power-only opportunities for owners with motor carrier authority. You can find that series in full at this link: https://www.overdriveonline.com/business/article/15286059/how-covid-fasttracked-poweronly-opportunity-growth-in-trucking There are many reasons for opportunity growth in that operating segment, where a truck owner runs a carrier business with authority but doesn’t bring an owned trailer to the freight arrangement. Growth in demand for large carriers’ services and limitations on fleets' growth is one, as he's seen at his principal freight partner, the brokerage side of Prime Inc.'s business. Hauling exclusively there, however, DeWitt’s own company’s growth has been explosive over the roughly two year’s he’s been an employer of anyone other than himself. With steady and rising contract-type rates in Prime’s system, he’s made hay of long-term focus in a very short period of time, going from one to more than 30 trucks and drivers, and climbing. So how is it that he's been able to recruit all those drivers when so many of his large-carrier counterparts sound like they’re facing the greatest shortage in history when they talk about the men and women behind the wheel? There's a guaranteed-pay structure involved, but a lot more to it. Here more in the podcast. DeWitt was among Overdrive’s 2021 Small Fleet Champ semi-finalists back in the Fall: https://www.overdriveonline.com/small-fleet-champ/article/15279711/how-to-approach-guaranteed-driver-pay-in-a-poweronly-system