It's that time of year again -- the Mid-America Trucking Show is set to convene thousands of owners and operators at the Louisville, Kentucky, convention center starting March 27. And right on time, business service firm ATBS will host its twice-yearly update on owner-operator client revenue, costs, and income performance with a goal of helping chart the course forward for better profits this year.
On Tuesday, March 25, at 5 p.m. Central, 6 Eastern, and 3 Pacific tune into the firm's live "Independent Contractor Benchmarks and Trends" online session for close analysis of all the financial trends that matter for owner-operators in the trucking industry. Last year, the firm notes, proved to be one of the more difficult years for trucking in recent memory.
How difficult? The numbers will tell the tale, yet also provide answers to the question on so many an owner-operator's mind: Have we turned the corner yet?
You can register for the live session via this link -- ATBS plans to recap 2024 and answer a variety of questions:
- What are the latest miles, rates, fuel costs, and maintenance trends?
- Has owner-operator income "bottomed out"?
- Where does owner-operator capacity stand?
- How did the decline in fuel costs over the last year help owner-operator cash flow in a difficult market?
- Will 2025 be a better year, ultimately, for owner-operators?
[Related: Truckers making progress: Top 5 priorities for the incoming Trump administration]
ATBS is coproducer of Overdrive's Partners in Business training and continuing biz-education program, a comprehensive resource on owner-operator business, from start to finish. We've partnered with the firm to produce PIB for more than two decades. The day prior to the session, keep an eye on the Partners in Business main hub at OverdriveOnline.com/pib. There on March 24 you'll find a brand-new format for all of the content that made up the 100-plus-page manual in 2024 -- and plenty in the way to new updates. For this year's big PIB release, Partners in Business will go from a single-download pdf format to a much more dynamic online content library, easily accessed on any smartphone, tablet or laptop/desktop computer.
The reorganization of the PIB playbook for business collects valuable tactics and strategies for long-term owner-operator profitability in seven categories, charting the journey of owners from start-up through to retirement:
- Starting line -- business structure, motivation, owner-operator basics
- Equipment and maintenance -- from truck procurement to down-and-dirty PM and repair tactics
- Business management -- ways to understand costs, revenue and bedrock profits
- Safety and compliance -- the nuts and bolts and finer points of safety and regulation
- Trucking and other insurance -- from ways to save on liability-coverage costs for independents to affording health insurance
- Taxes -- where ATBS expertise truly shines, given the firm's long accounting/tax-filing experience delivering owner-op savings
- Independence and growth -- getting authority, building and managing the customer base, growing a small fleet
- Finish line -- how to save and invest early to better enjoy the fruits of long labor put into the business
We hope you'll take a turn through the new Partners in Business come March 24. bookmark this page to keep tuned.
If you missed ATBS's last semi-annual benchmarking update six months ago, take a run back through it via the video version of the presentation below or access it via this link.
