How one flatbed trailer driver found success on the road

On the second episode of the Successful Driver podcast we talked with Nick Lombardo of Arrow’s purchasing and wholesale team. We asked him based on all the interactions he’s had with successful drivers, what he thought led to their business success?

He spoke about a flatbed trailer driver and how he approached his business.

“I’ll never forget Sammy Silvers. He came rolling in a 1980-something Kenworth K-100 cabover. He owned the truck, had it paid off, had his own flatbed trailer. Sammy was always looking not for the next load, but the load after that. He looked at it from a business standpoint. In the flatbed business he figured out that he could haul steel into Kansas City – and when he came into town he could put wooden spools from the electric company, put them on the steel and drop them off on the way to his next load. Drivers that think like that – looking to maximize their load and earning potential. The drivers looking to reduce their cost – the ones that know how much their truck was making them or the company – were finding success. I thought before I got in a truck industry the decision making behind buying a commercial truck would be more about business practices.”

Lombardo says sometimes there is more preference in the truck than there is about the business side of owning.

“When I got in I was surprised there was a lot more personal preference. You’re going to live in that truck a week at a time. There has to be some personal preferences met. Your main focus has to be on the business side or else you’re not going to make it. Those guys that taught me about how they were successful – approaching their business from a mindset. I think everyone in the business works hard – you can’t drive a truck without working hard. Especially some aspects of the industry – flatbed drivers. They’re climbing up and down, they’re strapping and tarping. The ones that could still approach it with a business mindset were the ones that found success. What they know, what they’re willing to learn, but already know enough business-wise to set themselves up in the right direction.”

Being creative and mindful of ways to maximize your load is certainly a pattern followed by successful drivers – not just in the flatbed aspect of the industry but in every element.