Driver Lifestyles

Couple Rolls To Success

Matthew and Holli Lawrence of Nashport, Ohio are typical of the the folks that populate the expedited trucking industry; hard-working entrepreneurs who were seeking more control in their professional lives and maybe a little adventure as well.
 
Matt, 36, was a mortgage loan officer in charge multiple branches for his company in Chilocothe, Ohio and Holli, 30, was a loan processor.
 
The couple began their professional driving careers around six years ago when, as Matt tells us, "Holli and I were tired of working behind a desk and when we saw a TV ad for a truck driving school in Columbus, Ohio, we thought we'd try it."
 
The couple took the four-week instructional course and after graduation obtained their commercial drivers license (CDL's).
 
"I was quite surprised that Holli took to truck driving so readily," Matt says, "she had never even driven a stick shift car before.  She jumped into a big truck with a 13-speed transmission and she's turned out to be a better driver than I am."
 
After training with Stevens Transport for five weeks, the couple hit the road pulling refrigerated-trailers (reefer) coast-to-coast. Matt explains, "Our thought was, if we're going to do it, we might as well jump into trucking all the way.  We decided to try the most difficult kind of trucking first.  We figured that anything after that should be a piece of cake." 
 
After a year and a half as company drivers with Stevens, they purchased a truck of their own. Unfortunately, the couple found that they were only getting home every five weeks or so.
"In fact, we gave up our apartment, put our stuff in storage, and lived in the truck and the occasional motel room for a few years."
 
A company called Swift Transportation offered more localized freight opportunities, so the couple made the move to running  regularly scheduled routes (Columbus, Ohio to Oklahoma and Texas) with the company. 
 
Holli tells us, "We didn't care for our experience with Swift however, because they seemed to be very disorganized and their personnel were not helpful at all."
 
She continues, "We had seen the expediter trucks on the road and we thought that we would look into that business." 
 
Holli says, "We contacted three of the largest expedited carriers and felt that Panther Expedited Services of Seville, Ohio had the best pay plan and they were the closest carrier to our home.  Adam Walter was our recruiter and he was great, he answered all of our questions."
 
When the Lawrences' entered expedited trucking, they sold their tractor and purchased a 2000 Freightliner Century straight truck with an extended cab, 72" sleeper and 22' cargo box.   
 
"The difference between expedited trucking and truckload is like night and day.  It's so much better in every way that we think is important," says Matt.
 
"One big difference is in the size of the truck.  With a straight truck we can always find a place to park.  That's a pretty big deal when you're out on the road for two to three weeks at a time. 
 
He continues, "Another difference between Panther and our previous truckload companies is that Panther personnel are so helpful and friendly. Whenever we call the company, we never reach someone who is having a bad day or who cuts us off short.  It gives the on-the-road driver real comfort and peace of mind to know that the company is always going to be there for you." 

"Expedite is so different from over the road trucking in another way. With Panther, you're driving like crazy to get from point A to point B,  but then you might wait a half day or a day for the next load.  You can't let the waiting get you down because it all works out in the end."

"And, "he says, "in truckload, there were many times when we had to hand unload a 53' trailer full of frozen meat, but in expedite, we've never once had to touch the freight."
  
It has been a dream for the couple to one day own a fleet of trucks of their own and expedited trucking has given them the opportunity they have been looking for. This past May saw the dream become reality.

Matt begins, "It wasn't until we joined Panther that we felt confident enough to make the jump from truck drivers to fleet owners."
 
"After attending a fleet owner seminar at Panther, we decided to add trucks and drivers.  One of their recommendations that we took to heart was, if you're going to own/manage a fleet, you're best off with multiple units."

Fleet ownership for Matt and Holli meant that they would have to leave the highway behind.  Coming off the road required an adjustment for Holli, who says that she still enjoyed being on the road, but Matt says he took to staying home "like a duck to water."

Holli states, "I can see now that there's no way I could manage the business from the road.  I know other fleet owners who successfully manage other trucks and remain on the road, but with our structure, it would be very difficult."
 
"We contacted our truck salesman, Bobby Snyder of Fyda Freightliner in Columbus, and he found us another 2000 Freightliner Century equipped the same as our first
truck along with a 2003 Century truck with an automatic transmission." 
 
"We also have two medium-duty Peterbilts on order from a dealer in Texas."
 
"We found our drivers through Panther, through referrals and by advertising on ExpeditersOnline.com Free Classifieds.  A couple of the drivers came from truckload trucking, while another two had only driven locally." 

"We paired the experienced drivers with the inexperienced and its worked out well.  We have one husband/wife team ready to go in one of the new trucks."

In expedited trucking, fleet owners typically "hire" subcontractors to drive their trucks and they pay the drivers a percentage of the freight charges, but Matt and Holli structured their operation differently:  "Our drivers are actually employees and we pay them a flat 'per mile' rate.  The payroll can be a little confusing and we had to spend a few hours with our accountant going over how it was supposed to work.  We had an attorney put together our employee contract, just to cover all the bases.  We also formed an "S" corporation.  We're very happy with the way it's working."
  
Holli tells us, "Our drivers seem to like being employees.  They tell us that they're happy we're doing it this way because they don't have to worry about paying for fuel or repairs."

Currently, the couple offers no benefits "package", but they say that within 90 days, they hope to offer health insurance for the drivers and possibly an incentive plan. 

Matt gives his better half the credit for the success of their new business:  "Holli runs our trucking business here at the house.  She handles the driver relations, deals with Panther and is on call 24 hours a day for the drivers.  She's the fire behind our company!"

Matt issues a note of caution about the business:  "Anyone looking into fleet ownership has to accrue capital reserves.  You've got to have the financial ability to purchase the trucks and you've got to have the working capital to run those trucks.  It's essential to have cash on hand for when emergencies pop up.  We've had breakdowns when we were still driving and I don't know what we would have done without money in the bank to cover those."
 
"Our short-term goal is to have 7 trucks on the road by the end of this year and by the end of 2007, we'd like to have 10 to 15."

He concludes, "Fleet ownership in expedited trucking has been even more than I expected and I can't see doing anything else for the rest of my working life."