Small Fleet Operators Find Different Roads to Survive

Most small fleet owners face an agonizing decision: go it alone or sell out. Some are forced to consider a third option: get out of the business.

In Oklahoma, along a 200-mile stretch of highway, all three scenarios are being played out in a way that illustrates the problems and the opportunities for small trucking companies today and the different roads they take to the future.

At one end of the spectrum are two veteran truckers, Terry L. Moore and Daryl Bischoff.

Moore, the owner of T.L. Moore Trucking in El Reno, says the industry is being undermined by poorly trained drivers and misguided regulatory oversight. He has trimmed his fleet by two-thirds over the past three years.

Bischoff of D&D Cartage in Norman chafes under the demands of some shippers. He will soon turn over the business to his 24-year-old son, George.

In Tulsa, LinkAmerica Corp. is rounding up small fleet owners who favor strength in numbers. Its president, Roger Collins, thinks he can help small firms succeed by taking over many of the duties that doom a small business owner — financial management, safety assistance and marketing — and letting local managers do what they do best — hire drivers and run the operations.

Susan Atherton, president of Lake City Express in Grove, is out to prove that small fleets can flourish in the shadow of larger competitors, although not without some help.

Lake City was established by J.B. Hunt Transport Services in 1996 and spun off last year to Atherton and two partners — Virgil Coffee of TVC Pro-Driver Inc. of Oklahoma City and John Christner, president of John Christner Trucking of Sapulpa.

For the full story, see the March 1 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.