Well I got to say that success is relative to each individual. To say this or that is needed for success sometimes traps people into thinking that they will never be successful.
But for me it is paying off my debts (the loan against this truck for one), pay my bills, get going on my domestic goals and save for an upgrade to a bigger flashier truck. For you it may be that brand new KW and the apartment on wheels and for someone else it maybe saving for the kids college fund (which will be more than a fleet of trucks soon). I feel that since I moved to a larger truck (and eliminated the problem of me being impatient I had in my van) I have been more successful in generating revenue.
To achieve this relative success, most of what is needed is the right attitude. I mean that having a customer service centric attitude and being able to handle situations calmly makes the difference. Image by the way in my opinion is second to this.
Now with that said, I would also add that setting goals is almost as important as attitude but realistic goals - you won't become a millionaire from this work and you should never expect too either.
The other thing is start small, many of the successful (by their standards) expediters start small - buy a used truck, get it checked out professionally and learn about the mechanics of the truck and how to fix things. By starting out small, the investment burden is also small, in my case I can walk away from my truck owning very little but the truck who is down the row from me and brand new, the owner can’t. This also gives me leverage when I get load offers, not to worry that I need to make X all the time to meet my payment.
Phil's (aka A-Team) article, which I have handed out to several people, is a good start. He has written a few things about business planning too.
Here is the link -
http://www.expeditersonline.com/downloads/introduction.pdf