When Ernest and Chree Shunn found out that the factory where they had worked for thirty years was closing, they knew they had to find a new path forward in order to make a living. Their solution? Trucking, specifically Expediting!
Follow along as Spotlight News details how they took ES’s PTO (Path to Ownership) to get their MBA (Much Better Alternative) to truck finance. Their path followed in the footsteps of Patrick Lee and Eric Hyfield, Fleet Owners who started their careers at ES as Contract Drivers and had taken the Path to Ownership years ago to become successful fleet owners.
What led you to transportation after the loss of a thirty-year career in manufacturing?
Ernest and I had worked for a company that manufactured hand tools. Things had been slow for a while and one day, they decided that the plant would relocate to China. That was in 2015. Fortunately for us, the company had a severance package that included a two-year jobs training program that would pay for any type of re-training we chose.
We had done a lot of research about what we wanted to do and trucking interested us very much. We enrolled in trucking school and got our CDL and began looking for a way to get started. We had heard a lot of good things about FedEx and contacted them. Our goal from the start was to become owners.
After choosing FedEx as your carrier, what was the next step?
We spoke at length to our FedEx recruiter and let him know right away that we wanted to be owners. He said ownership was something that we could definitely achieve, but we would need to get some hands-on experience first, driving as Contract Drivers. That’s when he suggested we drive for a Fleet Owner to learn the ropes. The Fleet Owner(s) happened to be Patrick Lee and Eric Hyfield.
In our very first conversation, we explained to Patrick and Eric that we wanted to become owners. They were fine with this and said there was much to learn about the business and that we could start on one of their trucks. They also explained about ES and their PTO and MBA programs and how ES takes your work history into account when financing a truck. This all sounded like a wonderful opportunity and we soon began driving right a way. They were right, there was a lot to learn about the business and we jumped in with both feet — that was in March of 2016.
The interesting thing about Eric and Patrick is they started off just like us. They took ES’s Path To Ownership to become owners and that’s exactly what we are doing. We were excited to get started and prove to ourselves we have what it takes to become owners. (read Eric and Patrick’s story here)
Tell us about learning the business? Getting started was a bit of a challenge, but with Eric & Patrick we had good mentors, plus we had tools and advantages being under the ES umbrella. It wasn’t long before we started getting the hang of things and began generating a pretty good income stream. At that point we knew we had chosen the right path and we were on the road to success.
In early 2017, Eric and Patrick suggested that we attend The EGG (ES’s Group Gathering) in Southaven, Mississippi. The EGG was an event tailored for people like us who are interested in learning about the industry and the trends that shape the market. We also learned a lot about ownership opportunities. The EGG re-enforced our desire to become owners. It also gave us the opportunity to meet others within the industry and to get to know the people at ES on a personal level. We learned so much about the ES community, including the fact they have one of the broadest and deepest fuel discounts in the industry. They are also a low cost provider of insurance and provide a national program with vendors for repair and maintenance. And on top of that, we learned that ES offers operational and back office support. All of this support helps Owner Operators be successful.
Tell us about getting financed and purchasing your truck?
At the end of last year, we submitted our paperwork to Expediter Equipment Finance. We knew our earnings were good and getting even better as we gained experience. It wasn’t long before we were approved.
Patrick helped us spec our truck so we could make sure it would fit our needs for how we run our business. We wound up getting a Kenworth T-680. We operate as a Fedex Custom Critical team, so the truck is a TVAL unit. We’re thrilled with our new truck and the PTO and MBA was such a great opportunity to get into a new truck with very reasonable terms. We could not have gotten a better deal anywhere else. We also like the fact that ES took our attitude, aptitude and work history into account when it came to getting qualified.
We just picked up our truck last week and are in the process of getting the branding applied. We will be hitting the road and taking our first load within the next few days. We’re looking forward to it and appreciate all of the support we get from ES, so we Never Stand Alone.
What does the future hold for your business?
We’ve worked out a three-year plan for our business. If things go the way we anticipate it will, we could see ourselves becoming Fleet Owners. For now, we’re thrilled to be owners and will work hard to be a Success in Trucking!
A Woman in Expediting’s Perspective
What has it been like being a woman in the transportation field?
I have no other transportation experience to compare it to. But so far, my experience has been very good. I haven’t experienced anything that I would personally consider negative in my dealings with people in the industry. However, I think it has a lot to do with what you make of it. I always try to be professional and treat others accordingly.
From what I’ve seen since being on the road, I think women are definitely making headway in the industry. There are so many women now in every aspect of transportation and it’s important that woman take advantage of opportunities like ES’s 150 Women-Owned Business Challenge. (Read more about the WIT/ES 150 women-owned business initiative here.)
How do you and Ernest balance your workload? Our balance comes from helping each other no matter what needs to be done. If I’m working on paperwork and he needs some help working on the truck, I’m always ready and able to help out. He’s the same way. We both got into this business as a team and that’s just the way we operate.
What would you tell women who are looking to start a career in transportation?
I would tell them that transportation can provide a great opportunity as a career. It’s important that you work hard and explore all of the options available, just as we did in order to become owners. This path worked very well for us.
How many times in business and in life have you met someone who knows exactly what they want — probably not that often. But every once in a while, you’ll meet people like Jackie Rocha and Michael Barclay, a husband and wife Expediting team who parlayed ES’s Path to Ownership into a Much Better Alternative to truck finance to become true owners in pursuit of the American dream.
Rocha and Barclay knew from the start that they wanted to become owners. Fortunately, they were introduced to Patrick Lee and Eric Hyfield, Fleet Owners who started their careers at ES as Contract Drivers and had taken the Path to Ownership themselves years ago to become successful fleet owners. Read more to see how all of their paths converged to become a Success in Trucking.
How did you and Michael get into the transportation business? I was a private investigator in south Florida and Mike was a mixed martial artist teacher. We both felt the need to look for better opportunities and decided to relocate to Atlanta. We both felt like we were in a rut and wanted to do something different. We had talked about getting into trucking in the past and Mike mentioned that we should seriously look into it. We began doing research online. We also visited local truck stops to get a feel for what the industry was truly all about. During that time we talked to a lot of drivers to make sure this was what we really wanted to do. We liked what we saw and heard. We knew right away that transportation was the place for us.
We were motivated to get started. I turned twenty-one on a Sunday back in March of 2015 and on Monday, we were enrolled in trucking school. After graduating and getting our CDL’s we went to work as company drivers for a large carrier and stayed with them for two years.
Tell us about finding a Fleet Owner to drive for, choosing FedEx as your carrier and working with ES? We knew after our first year as drivers that we wanted to be owners and wanted to make sure that our next move would put us in a position to reach that goal. We wanted to get as close to being owners as possible so we could live the reality and learn in order to prepare for being owners, so we began looking for opportunities as Contract Drivers.
One day I stopped and spoke with a FedEx Custom Critical team at a truck stop about their business. I asked them how they got into being owner operators with FedEx and what it was like. What they told me was exactly what we were looking for. We knew FedEx was a great carrier and that’s what we were looking for. They recommended Patrick Lee and Eric Hyfield as Fleet Owners. They also mentioned a company called ES that was great at support for contractors and owners. We were intrigued by the opportunity.
Right away we contacted Eric and Patrick. Everything the couple told us was true. These guys were great! They explained the ins and outs of being Contract Drivers and helped us get into the groove at FedEx. From the beginning, we made it clear to them that we wanted to be owners. They were cool with that and told us to be patient and to learn the business. That’s when they told us about ES and their Path to Ownership. We knew right away the PTO was our ticket to owning our own truck, but we still had to dive in, learn the business and prove to ourselves (and to ES) that we could generate the revenue and be able to handle being owners.
The truly inspiring thing about Patrick and Eric is the fact that they started out in the business just like we did as Contract Drivers at ES with FedEx as their carrier. They also took ES’s Path to Ownership and built their business from the ground up to become successful fleet owners. That says a lot about their hard work and the support offered by ES! (read Eric and Patrick’s story here)
Tell us about taking your Path to Ownership? We started by driving a used straight TVAL truck for Patrick and Eric under ES’s umbrella. We drove the truck for about a year and a half. Our numbers were good and we had learned a lot about the business and about ourselves. ES looked at our earnings, our attitude and aptitude and asked if we were ready to become owners and of course we jumped on the opportunity!
After submitting our paperwork to Expediter Equipment Finance we were soon approved. We had looked at other financing options in the past and no one even came close to ES. Other finance companies wanted much larger down payments and they didn’t take our work history into account. ES required a much smaller down payment, leaving us more cash that we could use to support our business. We wound up purchasing a 2018 Freightliner Cascadia from Stoops Freightliner.
Have you seen a difference in your bottom line since becoming owners? We’ve been in our new truck since May and we’re certainly making more revenue. One thing that definitely helps us save money is ES’s fuel card. It’s awesome! Also, ES’s support is wonderful. They’ve been there when we’ve needed them so we Never Stand Alone.
A Woman in Expediting’s Perspective
What is it like being a women in the transportation field? I’ve had a great experience as a driver and now as an owner. Everyone has always acted professionally towards me. Transportation is such a great opportunity for women. When I talk to women who have been in the business for many years, I’m just in awe at the things they have done and what they did to blaze a trail for women like me. I hope to be able to help other women as I move forward in my career. It’s also great that companies like ES help support women-owned businesses with the 150 Women-Owned business challenge.(Read more about the WIT/ES 150 women-owned business initiative here.)
How do you and Mike balance your workload? When it comes to our business, we’re both all in. Whenever anything needs to be done, we support each other. I do just as much driving, backing and anything else as he does and we both do what it takes to be successful. I’m fortunate that we have a great relationship and respect each other. What would you tell women who are looking to get into the transportation field? I would tell them
to jump in with both feet. There is lots of opportunity for any woman who is willing to work hard and pursue their dreams. You can be a contract driver, owner or even a fleet owner if you want to. It all depends on you!
What are your future plans? Just like Eric and Patrick, we plan on becoming Fleet Owners under ES’s support. Once we get into the position as Fleet Owners, then we can help other drivers to become owners through ES’s PTO. In a way, it’s like paying the opportunity forward. We’re looking forward to the challenge of ownership and growing a fleet in the near future.
The noted French writer, poet, aristocrat, journalist, and pioneering aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry once famously said: “A goal without a plan is just a wish”. His words could have easily been the inspiration for the husband and wife transportation team of Ed and Yolanda Camacho. Their career has spanned over twenty years together and during that time, they have always had a plan to achieve their personal and business goals.
Yolanda speaks with Spotlight News and details how they modified their meticulous planning to take ES’s Path to Ownership (PTO) in order to get their MBA (Much Better Alternative) to leave behind a troublesome and expensive lease purchase agreement.
How did you get started in Transportation?
Before getting in to transportation, I was a private investigator and I did a lot of undercover work. One day on the way to a job I saw a billboard promotion that said “be your own boss” as a truck driver. Since I had just finished an investigation and was forced to take a three-month sabbatical, I thought I would look into the opportunity. That was twenty-four years ago and I’ve been in the business ever since. Ed started driving eleven years ago and we’ve been on the road together since then.
How did you choose XPO as your motor carrier?
We had been working for an owner operator who had quite a few trucks leased on with XPO. We had a lot of experience transporting pharmaceuticals and they asked if we would be interested in coming on board with them in that capacity. We worked with another owner operator in that division and that’s how we got on board with XPO. We’ve been here about two years, they’re a good carrier and have been a good fit for how we run our business.
Tell us about your lease purchase experience?
We had been with XPO for about a year, driving as contractors for an owner operator. We were in the process of moving to another owner operator when the opportunity to move into a lease purchase came along. The truck wasn’t new (it was a 2016) and soon it began to have maintenance issues. We had problems with the motor, the generator and several other major components. We began spending a lot of money on getting the truck up-to-par.
We had established a maintenance account, but it was so much trouble attempting to communicate with the lease company trying to get out our funds to fix the truck, we wound up paying for most of the repairs out of pocket. It was either pay for it our selves or take a financial hit due to the truck being down for an undetermined amount of time. The lease company also bragged about having a working relationship with a number of vendors that would save us money and perform repairs, but that never happened either. So, we bit the bullet and did what we had to do to keep our truck and our business going. The lease company even gave us a hard time about that too, because they said the repairs weren’t “up to their specs”, even though I took the truck to the dealer for repairs and kept all oft he receipts as proof. Dealing with them was a hassle from the get go.
Looking back on that experience makes us realize just how bad being in a lease purchase actually is. There are a number of things that just don’t add up, chief among them is the fact that you pay a LOT of money to lease the truck and there’s truly no way to beneficially pay off the lease. If we ever did pay it off, the truck would have wound up costing us at least twice what it is worth. And don’t get me started about maintenance on a used truck that you know absolutely nothing about.Add to that the lease company kept the money that we set aside in our maintenance escrow account. There was even a “buy out clause” that stated the lease company would buy your truck for “fair market value” — which wasn’t much! Really, the only thing that does add up with a lease purchase is the money you have to spend to be in one of them. It totally isn’t worth it!
How did you hear about ES and the Path to Ownership and Much Better Alternative to truck finance? We’re a planning family and feel its important to be organized in order to have a successful business. The expenditures on maintenance on our lease purchase truck didn’t allow us the ability to save as much money as we wanted in order to put a down payment on a truck, which left us looking at different financial options.
I spoke with another team who is with XPO that also had a bad experience with a lease purchase agreement. Their XPO recruiter had told them about options for buying a truck and they had chosen Expediter Services because of their PTO and MBA programs. It sounded like just the kind of opportunity we were looking for. We approached our XPO recruiter about financial options available in the market and we also chose ES. We were intrigued about ES taking our work history, attitude and aptitude into account when it came to getting financed. We had never heard of anything like that before, so we gave them a call.
Tell us about getting financed and purchasing your new truck?
Our first contact was Danny Vernon, Expediter Truck Sales Manager. We told him about our desire to become true owners. He gave us a lot of good information about the program and explained how it worked. We told him about the kind of truck we wanted and he found us a brand new Volvo 860. It’s everything we were looking for. It has a terrific sleeper with lots of room and a big refrigerator, which is nice because we prepare almost all of our own meals. The truck also is equipped with a ThermoKing APU, which helps us save on fuel. It has a great turning radius and you can tell it was built for a team. We love it!
Once our truck was selected, we were placed in contact with Steve Kochensparger at Expediter Equipment Finance. We submitted our paperwork and in a short amount of time we were approved. The entire process was really pretty easy and both Steve and Danny always kept us up-to-date on the status of the transaction. They were also patient and helpful because we had tons of questions about the truck, financing and the PTO and MBA programs. Everything they told us was spot on. Everyone was upfront and easy to communicate with, which was refreshing after our lease purchase experience.
When everything was in order, we made the trip to ES’s offices and picked it up. We’ve been in our truck since July 23rd and things are going well. The fuel economy is very good and there have been no maintenance issues. The ES fuel card is wonderful and positively effects our bottom line. Also, our relationship with the ES support staff is very good. These guys really know how to service us, so we Never Stand Alone.
What are the future plans for your business?
We plan on driving this truck and generating revenue for our business. At some point we want to purchase another truck with a custom sleeper and possibly build a fleet. We’re just going to work our plan and see where it takes us.
A Woman in Expediting’s Perspective
What is it like being a woman in the transportation field? When I first started twenty-four years ago, there weren’t even showers for women. Many times I had to wait until all of the men had left the shower area and it was awkward. But today many things have changed. Women are welcomed at truck stops and there are facilities for us.
As far as the opportunities for women in transportation are concerned, there are more now than ever before. I think its great that ES is a supporter of Women in Trucking and the 150 Women-Owned business challenge. The fact that fifty women have taken advantage of this opportunity so far this year is awesome! I would encourage any woman looking to create her own business to look into transportation. I have six kids and seven grand children. We have been able to make a good life for our family and support them, its’ been a blessing for us. It can be a great career with the proper planning and hard work. (Read more about the WIT/ES 150 women-owned business initiative here.)
What advice would you give women looking to get into trucking?
I would tell them to do your homework, make a plan and work that plan. There are great opportunities in this business. It also helps to have the right person as your business partner. In my case, my business partner is my husband and we work wonderfully together. We split our tasks fifty-fifty and truly work as a team.
Also, I would tell women (or anyone else who wants to drive and own a truck), to have a plan for how you want to achieve your goals. It has worked for us and we’ve had a great career in the business. Now we’re planning for even greater Success inTrucking as true owners.
The desire to own your own transportation business can be a compelling proposition. You need a singular focus, determination and the right opportunity to be a Success In Trucking. Kelsey Gagnon and her husband/driving partner Bryan James left their jobs in the hospitality industry to pursue their dream of owning their own business and determining their own future. Their quest led them to ES’s Path to Ownership (PTO), where they got their MBA (Much Better Alternative) to truck finance. Their path was successful and something ES does every day!
What made you want to get into transportation?
Bryan actually started in transportation before I did. He drove for another company for about nine months then he found an Owner Operator who was with FedEx Custom Critical and began working and driving with him. He did this for about a year to get to know the business. That’s when I got my license so we could work together — he trained me, too. We had both been in the hospitality industry and wanted something more. We did research into transportation and it looked like a field with a lot of opportunity, so we decided to go for it.
What made you and Bryan want to choose FedEx as your carrier?
Bryan had seen FedEx trucks on the road for years and was aware of them. We also did research on motor carriers to find which one we wanted to work with because our ultimate goal was to own our own truck and become Owner Operators. When he found an Owner Operator to work with it really helped seal the deal. We’ve been with FedEx now for just over two years. They’re a great company and we’re really happy here.
How did you find ES and our Path to Ownership and the Much Better Alternative to truck finance? Since our goal was to become Owner Operators, we did a lot of research about the best and most efficient way to become owners. We found the ES website and got a lot of good information about their PTO and MBA programs. We also spoke to some people who had taken the Path to Ownership and had heard good things about it. After doing a lot of due diligence, no other opportunity out there spoke to us like ES did.
We also spoke with our recruiter at Fedex about what choices were available to us. He told us of several options and we chose the best one, which was ES. The next step was to call ES to get more information and the rest as they say is history.
To learn even more, we attended the EGG (ES’s Group Gathering) in Southaven, Mississippi in April. They had a number of industry experts there explaining about the state of the freight market, financing and many other opportunities available through ES. We found this quite helpful and I would recommend that anyone looking to get in the business or whose interested in becoming an owner should attend the EGG.
Tell us about the process of taking the Path to Ownership and getting your Much Better Alternative to truck finance?
Of course at the time we didn’t own a truck. The Service Coordinator we spoke to at ES told us the first phase of starting our business is to drive one of their trucks (as independent contract drivers) in order to establish our ability to drive and earn the kind of numbers to qualify to own our own truck. We thought this was such a unique approach and a great opportunity. We started driving right away — that was in January of this year. Six months later our fleet manager called to say that our revenue numbers were good and asked if we were ready to begin our Path to Ownership. We were thrilled and told her yes! We submitted our paperwork to Expediter Equipment Finance and within a short amount of time, we were approved.
The next step was getting in touch with Danny Vernon at Expediter Truck Sales. For our first truck, we decided to purchase a straight truck directly from the ES fleet. Going the pre-owned route represented a great value proposition and was the right move for us. We were able to purchase a low mileage 2015 Freightliner Cascadia ST dry unit at a much-reduced price over a new one. There are still plenty of miles left on this truck and we intend to get the most out of it. The truck also has a custom sleeper and an APU, which helps us save on fuel. The entire buying process was simple. It’s really true what they say about ES taking your work history and earning potential into account when it comes to getting approved. We’re proof of that! It was a great opportunity to show our aptitude, attitude and work ethic to become approved to purchase our own truck.
What is it like being owners?
Being owners is just what we thought it would be. This isn’t something we decided to do overnight. There was a lot of research, planning and work involved in becoming owners. Our earning potential is increased and so are our responsibilities. We went into this opportunity with our eyes open and its paying off. We’re enjoying every minute of it.
Even though we have greater responsibilities with our business, we still have support from ES so we Never Stand Alone. When we have questions or problems, ES is a phone call or fax away. They’re really good about communicating with us and it means a lot to have them there when needed. We’ve also found out that we’re saving money with the ES fuel card and their insurance discounts, which is nice.
What are the future plans for your business?
We’ve been in our own truck for about two months now and it’s given us time to see how our business is developing. We have plans to add another truck and begin building a fleet in the near future. With hard work and support from ES, we’re confident that we can do this in a reasonable amount of time.
A Woman in Expediting’s Perspective
Tell us about your experience as a woman in transportation? Since this is my first experience in the transportation field (having come from the hospitality industry), I have nothing to compare it to. But it’s been a very positive experience. I’ve never had any issues with anyone within the industry. I have a lot of people (men and women) asking my opinion about certain aspects of the business. I’m always happy to help and the longer I’m in transportation, the more help I can be to people who may be starting out.
What advice would you give to women looking to get into the transportation field? I would tell them to do their research. There are so many opportunities in this business and they can make a good living. It also helps to have a good partner. It also helps to have a support team like ES behind you, too.
I would also encourage women to look into the opportunities offered by ES with the 150 Woman-Owned Business Challenge. Contact the folks at ES to learn about accessing these opportunities. They can help! (Read more about the WIT/ES 150 women-owned business initiative here.)
When it comes to owning a transportation business, it pays to be flexible and forward thinking. In this issue of Spotlight News, we shine the light on Robin Edmonds and her husband and business/driving partner, Randy.
The Edmonds are experienced transportation professionals who left a lease purchase agreement to access the opportunities provided by ES. They moved their business forward and took the Path to Ownership (PTO) and got their MBA (Much Better Alternative) to truck finance. Read how they made the transition to true truck ownership below!
How did you and Randy get started in transportation?
Randy was driving a truck when I met him. He’s been driving since the 80’s, so he’s been in the business a long time. I started riding with him and decided that if I’m going to be riding in the truck, then I’m going to learn how to drive. He taught and trained me. That was in 2003 and we’ve been together ever since.
Tell us how you chose Forward Air as your carrier?
Our history with Forward Air actually has two parts. We owned a truck straight out and worked for a company pulling really heavy loads. We were looking for a way to transition into hauling lighter loads because the truck was older and had a lot of miles on it. We did research and found Forward Air. They offered a lot of things that appealed to us, such as better rates, better freight lanes and lighter loads. They were just what we were looking for in a carrier. We started in 2013 and stayed with them for a couple of years and left to pursue another opportunity hauling the mail. But as you’ll see, we wound up coming back to Forward Air and taking ES’s Path to Ownership & MBA (more on that later). They’re a great company to work with and they’re a good fit for our business.
How did you wind up in a lease purchase agreement?
The truck we owned had over a million miles on it and it was time to let it go. At the time we were hauling mail and needed another truck. We decided to get into a lease purchase. It was easy to get into — but believe me, it was not easy once we started driving that truck. It had over a five hundred thousand miles on it and it was always having problems. Whenever we tried to contact the lease company for help, they would not even talk to us on the phone. And even though we were paying money weekly into a maintenance escrow account, we wound up spending our own money to get the truck fixed. They left us no choice, it was either pay the maintenance costs ourselves or be down and not make any money. The situation got so bad that we eventually had to walk a way from the lease and the truck. Dealing with our lease purchase was a fiasco. On top of that, there’s just no beneficial way to pay off the lease.
Since we had a good experience before driving with Forward Air in the past, we contacted them about driving for them again. Our recruiter told us about several options for getting into a truck and we chose ES’s Path to Ownership (PTO) and their Much Better Alternative (MBA) to truck finance. Since we didn’t want to get back into a lease purchase again, the PTO and MBA seemed like a great choice.
Tell us about your experience taking the Path to Ownership and getting your MBA?
We called ES and spoke with Danny Vernon and told him about our desire to own our own truck. But we didn’t want to own just any truck, we wanted a truck that wasn’t white! Danny worked with us and the Volvo dealer to find a blue truck that the factory calls “smokey mountain blue”, it’s beautiful! The process took a little longer because of our color request, but this is what we wanted. Danny sourced a 2019 Volvo 860. It has a lot of amenities: a large sleeper that we can even stand up in, a large refrigerator and a Thermoking APU that helps us save money on fuel. In case you haven’t already guessed, we love the truck!
Once we sourced our truck, Danny put us in touch with Steve Kochensparger at Expediter Equipment Finance. We submitted our paperwork and before long we were approved. I can’t tell you just how impressed we were with ES taking our earning ability, work history, aptitude and attitude into account when it came to getting our approval. Throughout the entire transaction, the folks at ES were open and truthful. They kept us informed about the PTO/MBA programs and even helped us learn about their support services and discounts, too, so we Never Stand Alone.
There’s another part of our story that I want people to know. When we first approached ES about taking the Path to Ownership — we didn’t have a truck at the time because we had just turned in our lease. ES stepped up and let us drive one of their trucks (utilizing a revenue split) until our new Volvo was ready. You meet a lot of people in the trucking business who will tell you anything to get you to come on board with them and most of the time what they tell you isn’t true. But ES is definitely the exception to the rule. Everything they told us was true and they kept their word. That’s something you just don’t find everyday in this business.
Are you seeing any changes to your bottom line?
Absolutely! We’ve been in our truck since July eighth and we’re already seeing savings. Our note on this truck is lower than the note we had on our lease purchase, so we’ll be pocketing that money every month now. Also, the truck gets excellent fuel mileage and ES’s fuel card helps us save even more. Our new truck has a 500,000 mile warranty, so we’re covered on maintenance costs for a while, too. Overall, our decision to become true owners through ES’s Path to Ownership is a very good thing for our business.
A Women in Expediting’s Perspective
What’s it like being a women in the transportation field? When I first got started in the business, you didn’t see just a whole lot of women. Over the years I’ve seen that number grow quite a bit. More women are seeking the excellent opportunities that transportation has to offer. I think ES’s support of the 150 Women-Owned Business Challenge is the kind of message and opportunity women can utilize to become self reliant and independent. (Read more about the WIT/ES 150 women-owned business initiative here.)
How do you and Randy share tasks associated with your business?
Randy and I both drive. I drive the
day shift and he drives at night. We both prefer driving during these times. I do most of the paperwork and he takes care of the truck. Everything we do is a balance.
What advice would you give to women who want to get into transportation?
I would encourage women to look at the opportunities transportation has to offer. Do you research and access those opportunities. Women have a different skill set and talents to bring to this business, which I think are a real asset.
What about the future?
Randy and I are working to generate an income that will allow us to pay for our new house with cash. We will then focus on paying off this truck and then expand into purchasing a couple more trucks. I think being a small fleet owner would give us the income and flexibility to do the things we want to do as our business goes forward.
Follow along as Spotlight News details how they took ES’s PTO (Path to Ownership) to get their MBA (Much Better Alternative) to truck finance. Their path followed in the footsteps of Patrick Lee and Eric Hyfield, Fleet Owners who started their careers at ES as Contract Drivers and had taken the Path to Ownership years ago to become successful fleet owners.
