Rought transcript generated below:
Todd Dills: Hey everybody. Here’s hoping you had a great first few days of the new year 2025. Even with all the chaos in New Orleans and Los Vegas and along I85 in Carolina late in the week last week, the road shut down for hours after a driver’s apparently idle bomb threat that, well, just couldn’t be ignored of course by the trooper who stopped him. Weather too, all across the northern tier of the country. So stay safe, stay as warm as you can as this winter season settles in for a long run itself.
Im Todd Dills, your host for this first edition of Overdrive Radio for the new year. And in November, I talked to the small fleet owner we well hear from today. He was looking ahead to warmer temps himself. About to spend a few days on a cruise.
Josh Rickards: We’re going to port out of New Orleans, and it goes to Roatan, Honduras, Belize and then Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico.
Todd Dills: A working cruise as it were. As you’ll hear for small fleet owner Josh Rickards with his Rickards Transportation Services business headquartered in Renton, Washington. He calls South Carolina home these days. The business in something of a growth mode, bringing on leased owner-operators to specialize in part in the entertainment industry, supporting concert tours and often enough working in tandem with larger entities, with larger tours occasionally fully supporting smaller efforts. What’s Josh Rickards looking forward to for the new year? He just bought a brand-new 2025 Western Star you willl hear him talk about in this Overdrive Radio episode for January 6, 2025. And he’s bringing on two more owner-operators as he continues on the goal of sustainable growth. As he told me last week, it’s not just about growing in numbers, he said.
Anybody with good credit can buy a truck. For Rickards his laser focus is on what he calls the real challenge, maintaining that growth while staying profitable.
Josh Rickards: I have an office out in Renton, Washington and that is of course that is like the headquarters of the company. And I do have a house out in South Carolina. We predominantly, I mean everybody’s an owner-operator and it’s leased on and so you got guys just in different areas and we’re really like kind of over the country. we got one of our drivers is down in Florida and near Orlando and that’s a really hot spot, for the entertainment. And then you also, got another gentleman that’s over in Cartersville, Georgia, another that’s actually out in Washington. He’s not far from the, from the headquarters. And then you have a gentleman that’s down in Phoenix, Arizona. and we do got a, a new, we got a new driver coming on board that’s like not too far from Vegas. And that, that’s something where I’ve been like, you know, wanting to find somebody that’s kind of close to that area. then you kind of have your bases covered there. And then of course, you know, I’m over here in South Carolina where, you know, three hours from Atlanta, two hours from Charlotte. These are all big hotspots, not just for freight, but on the entertainment side. It is a different world. We’re starting to hit that growth mode. but at a point, but at a pace. There’s no, there’s no set pace.
You know, it’s interesting because I got, I got asked this question, when I actually did that DAT video.
Todd Dills: Find a link to the DAT promotional video showcasing Rickards that he notes there in the show notes for the podcast. Likewise in the post that houses it at overdriveonline.com. The question Rickards was asked?
Josh Rickards: We did make the video. There was a part in the video where, where I said, you know, it’s really important to create opportunities for people, right? So the question that, the question didn’t make it, but the question to them was like, what is success to you? How many trucks is success to you? And to me there was no number on it. It could be, you could, you could be one truck and very successful. You could be five trucks and very successful. so for me I was like, well, you know, and that’s where I went to answer the question which was I, think it’s more about the opportunities that you createave for people, right? So you know, the environment and the structure that that has been built with Rickards Transportation Services is I’m not getting rich by bringing on guys like far from that. It’s such a, it’s, it’s a much. It is a percentage base, but it’s such a low percentage. It’s more about like there’s these avenues for the guys to least on to really, you know, financially flourish. Right? And it’s one of those things where I don’t necessarily have, even for small fleets, I have a very low turnover. and it’s more about like these opportunities that are created for these guys that like the fleet consists of people that really enjoy doing the entertainment. So we specialize in that niche. So it’s basically a group of guys to get to do what we love to do but also you know, make, make good money doing it and be able to keep our, keep up on our equipment. and and be able to also keep up with the, with the image and the branding. The name has, it has my last name in it and it was just something because when I started this it wasn’t about growing a bunch of trucks. But so I don’t go off too much down, down the road here. you know we got guys in different areas and you know, and it’s just one of those things where we are in that growth mode. So I think next year I think there’s going toa be a few more coming on.
Todd Dills: You’ll find his fleet at the company website. RickardsInc.com, where he promotes those same values and goals of creating opportunity, of sustainable growth. And with the principal focus on entertainment hauling, building a true team. And when he’s partnered with bigger entities on those larger scale tours, being that integral part of the team that is any touring production.
Josh Rickards: In the entertainment side when a bigger touring outfit brings on trucks that are not, you know, that aren’t their company trucks. when you’re on that, you know, I mean we’re wearing their T shirts it’s more of like relationships and you’re called in and that’s really, that really breaks down what we do. We really are like, like I try to put it out there and this is this is crazy. I’m gonna go hardcore and say this. We put ourselves out there as like the Navy Seals, the marines of touring. Right? So it’s like when you, we’re a smaller outfit but when you call us in you’re getting, you know, you’re getting like you’re getting the special forces that are coming in right. So that’s, it’s a way that we brand it. It’s kind of, it’s fun, you know.
Todd Dills: Rickards’ journey to success as a small fleet owner starts way way back in his boyhood with a particular mentor and an owner-operator he’s long been happy to call his uncle in Michael Paul Visbeek out of Northern California and since passed on. On the other side of a break, Rickards tells the tale of a young man’s inspiration taken in a Kenworth W9 with a Cat and an 18 speed. Then detouring through music promotion and marketing and on to true trucking success. Keep tuned.
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Here’s Rickards detailing the man who first put the trucking bug way down in his bones, as it were.
Josh Rickards: His name is Uncle Mike. Right? But he was not my blood uncle. Right? But this is one of those things. It’s like this was like a family friend. So, he definitely has, he earned the term and the name uncle, right? And so like you have, in some, in some families in that culture and different, different cultures, it’s like there’s people that are referred to as an uncle, but you know, they’re not by blood definition and uncle. So, uncle Mike had a W900 and this is over in northern California area. I went on a ride with him. He had an 18 speed, you know, 18 speed W900. And I’m like somewhere between 10 and 12. Somewhere in that range maybe, actually I’d say maybe even more broad than that. Eight to 12, pretty young. I don’t remember the exact year as far as like what age I was, but I know I was down in that age. And you know, I kept asking my mom, I was like, yeah, I want to go ride with Uncle Mike. And so you know, she talked to him and of course he’s like, okay, Josh wants to come can come out with me. Trying to figure out when it was best. And you know, I went out with him on some day trips, right? And when I rode with him, it’s so wild because he was like, all right, well you know, we’re gonna go through the gears. You’re not just if, you know, if you wanted to be in this truck, you know, you like trucks, right? So it was no secret there. And so I learned how to go to the high-low and how to split gears and all that.
And I did say this in that video. And this is the one thing that’s like, yeah, when you hear that turbo spool up, especially on them, you know, the motors they had back then, he had a Cat in that. And you know, hearing that turbo spool up and everything, I was like, yep, yep. I. I love this. Yeah. And then of course, you know, I just. I knew, I knew from that age I was like, oh yeah, I’m gonna drive trucks. Whatever I do, it’s go going to be. I’m going to be connected somehow. I didn’t know at that time, you know, like, because I look at that as a kid, you know, you just look at the truck, you know, you don’t pay too much attention to the trailer. So to me, I didn’t, I didn’t care what wagon I was pulling with it. You know, it’s like taker, bull hauler, whatever, you know, dry van, reefer. I just know that it’s going to be one of these tugging it, you know.
I always had a passion in the music side and it really stems to like. I actually started. Started off from the very beginning promoting music, just like going around passing flyers out and there was an artist that, you know, I can mention, Tech N9ne. I started, And this was. I wasn’t even 18 at this point. I was like 16, 17. I was going around passing out flyers and promoting his music and you know, getting free tickets to the concert. But I really, I didn’t do it specifically for that. You know, it was one of those things like at that time I was like, man, you know, I supported that artist. I’m like, I’ll buy tickets to his concert. but I just really, I was over in Portland, Oregon and I was thinking, you know, a lot of more people should know about who this guy is. Tech N9ne is from Kansas City. And so they were trying to build more of a presence and they were running quite a bit of marketing and so, and Tech has his own label. Like he’s known as an independent.
I was promoting and passing out flyers. And then, when I was 18, I started doing something where I was like getting, you know, they would send me little small checks and stuff for doing it. But again, it was one of those things. I just did it more out of passion. and then I got the call, was like, hey, you know, and they had a box truck at the time, you know, and they’re like, and it’s interesting how the conversation went because they had a gentleman that was handling their marketing at the time. And this is before I’m 21, right? So I’m like, hey, I’m going to drive trucks, right? Because I had this passion for trucking, which went back to. I was a kid, and so I knew I wanted to go into trucking. And I was doing music promotion as, like, more of a hobby, really, something I like doing. So I. But I had a passion. So I had a passion for trucks and that passion for music. And then the gentleman at that time, he was the marketing director for the label at that time. He was like, oh, you drive trucks? There’s a company called Boar’s Head. Like, they’re like the Boar’s Head meats in stores. I was driving for Boar’s Head, a box truck doing local deliveries in Texas. and he was like, you know what, man? Let me talk to tech’s manager and business partner. And then I get a call from Travis, and Travis is like, hey, would you, we got this box truck. Would you go drive for it on the tour? And, you know, of course, for me, I was like, well this is awesome. I get to do what I like doing. I’m going to go toward trucking.
And so, yeah, and then that ultimately led to me, you know, drive that box truck a couple times on tours, got my CDL. At the time, my tenure at the label wasn’t all driving because Travis saw there was some other, qualities that I had, which was, you know, kind of a salesmanship thing where he had me, like, run and merch.
I tour managed some small, smaller tours, and I always wanted to have more knowledge of other faucets of that side. So it’s interesting, when I go on a tour now or when I do a show now, I have insights or I have knowledge on production. I have knowledge from tour managing. I’ve done merch, so I’ve done all these other positions. So when I’m on these tours, I’m just like, okay, I know how to communicate with the to manager, production manager, stage manager, merch manager. Like I just, you know, I understand what they do and what workflow they have and then how can we all come together? And you know, because on the trucking side, you know, you’re handling every aspect, right? So it’s different when you’re on a tour and you’re like, if you’re a lighting guy on a tour, you’re dealing with your world. You’re in lighting world, right? But when you’re the truck driver on that tour or a lead driver on a tour, you’re dealing with all of the worlds because you could be hauling lighting or you could be hauling merch or you could. And so if I feel like if you have a little bit of understanding their. Of their world, I can jump behind a board, do some basic stuff.
But yeah, lighting. I can’t run their board, but I know their board what it looks like and I know what type of cases, and how it’s going to be packaged up and how to properly secure it.
Todd Dills: So give me a sense of when that was. You said you were 16 when you. So how old are you now, Josh?
Josh Rickards: 39. I’ll be 40 in February. So yeah, we’re going back to the early, early 2000s. Yeah, right. late, late 90s. Early 2000s was about around the time. And it started in Portland, Oregon when I started promoting for them. And then I moved down to Texas and I was outside of. I was in Austin, Texas, back when, when they offered me my first tour that I did for them. I think this is around. And that’s the thing like going back in memory. I think around 06, maybe 06 07, somewhere around that range is when I went did my first tour with them.
Todd Dills: I think it was a decade or so after all that, that you started the business here. Did you get into a tractor trailer before that and drive for anyone?
Josh Rickards: I guess when I left the label is interesting because I had you know, I’d been with that label for a long time and especially at that age, you know, because I’m like, well, you know, most of my adult life has been with this record label, right. And it was, it was scary kind of stepping out because it was one of those things where on one hand was a little Scary stepping out. But on the other hand I was also like, you know, I, I reached pretty much the highest position I was going to get there. Right. you know, I, for. For what I was doing. I mean there wasn’t like much more growth at that label and but it was like these guys were like my family, you know, this was like, you know, these, I mean and tour brothers. I’d done a lot of tours with them and But you know, so I stepped out and I actually I went to work for some. I went to work for a big. A mega carrier just to. Did that for a year. wanted to just kind of get. And it’s funny because that mega carrier was like, hey, you got this background and touring and I was hauling freight because I was just trying to get. I wanted to get more experience into going to different places outside of just entertainment. And they ended up. They had an entertainment division so they ended up putting me on it towards the end of, you know. But again it was one of those things was like look like I’m just wanting to. So I bounced around like when I say bounce around, not like, you know, not like less than a year. You know, I did a year with them and then so it was all and freight. Then I moved out to Seattle area and then I was hauling reefer for a while on a refrigerated vision for another big carrier. And then I went and did tanker for a bit to get a taste of something different. I just wanted to try different, get some more experience on outside of just going into venues. Right. Because I’d been a lot of venues. I’d driven a tractor trailer in quite a few venues. New York City, San Diego, San Francisco, whatever, you know. And so once I gained that experience then it was like, okay, now you know, I’m going to buy a truck. and you know, I bought a used truck from a pretty popular used truck dealer and you know, even paid a higher. I had great credit but paid a higher interest rate because it was a, you know, no commercial history. Right then started my You started my LLC and and out of state of Washington started that. And then I was like, you know what? That’s when I actually leased on to a big. A big carrier that he’leases on owner-operators, very well known one. I wasn’t there long. I leased on because I just wanted to, you know, before the time came to get my authority. I just want to get what I felt like was as much experience as I could. and I and when Le ono that big carrier, that well known name that anyone would know u I was like, okay, U I’m definitely not going to grow here either. Right? I just got to go out and do this myself. And so that’s when I leastased on got my own authority got my authority in 2018 and I leased on my first. First Guy Le on in 2019. And when I started it was. I didn’t start it to grow some trucking company. I just wanted to do what I love doing and do it on my own. And and. But then I was like, I saw the way other people were getting treated from a lot, you know, and I’m not out here. Like there’s a lot of great carriers out there, but there’s also a lot of ones where it’s like, you know what? Like I’m I least on guys that I get to know. and And it’s one of those things where I at least on people in general I get to know. there’s obviously putting us out there male, female, you know, like I anyone’s open and any of any but you know, we are in a predominantly. You know, most of the people I know that drive are male M But yeah, so I least on first owner-operator. and it just came down to like we had a conversation and I was telling him, I said, you know, like, let’s just do this right, because you’re going to be a situation where, you know, I trust you trust me and, and you’re going to get, you’re going to get more piece of the pie because, you know, I’m not trying to make millions of dollars to off a guys s les on right. You know, so I don’t have that mentality. And so, you know that. And then it just kept going from there. And then more, you know, people and a couple people have, I mean some people have left. one of the. One of the drivers passed away and that was really hard. Really hard. He passed away at home, which was you know, definitely just like thinking back on it, it’s like, oh man, be he had a family, but he was with his family. And it’s one of those things like for a lot of drivers it’s like, oh man, you always think like, you know, if it’s going to happen becausee it’s gonna. We’re all leaving at some point. It’s you know, definitely, who wants to be out there in a cab, you know, in a truck, you Know. Right. And then we had another gentleman that retired. He’s just, he’s done. Doesn’t even drive anymore.
Which is, which is great too because it’s one of those things where it’s like for me it was like well, you know, you, if you’re going to step out, I try to create this atmosphere. It’s like you, you can go where you want to go and step out where you want to step out. But it’s one of those things where it’s like you know, even for that gentleman, he was s like yeah, I’m not going to, you know, go anywhere else. And outside of being leased on, really the only step beyond this would be getting your authority, which we did have Another gentleman that I actually want to say this quickly.
There was a gentleman that he went and got his own authority at the beginning of this year. He, he was leasedd on for two years. And at the end of u round around this time last year, October, November, he said hey, I’m thinking about getting my own authority. And for some reason he thought I was going to be like upset or something is he’s leaving. I don’t expect anyone at leastase is on. I don’t expect, I really don’t expect this to be the end of the road for them. You know, it’s kind of like hey, you’re go going toa grow and go different areas. And so I said, you know, that’s awesome and I will help you and I’ll walk you through the whole process. And so he’s guys own authority now and you know, things are going good for him. he didn’t want to be on tour, you know and all that. So he was. He’s got a direct customer now where he he lives out in Nebraska and’s he’s able to be home every weekend and even in this market, you know he’s doing well.
Todd Dills: So you know a lot of people always say like you know, hey this, this is the perfect time to start because if you can make it now you re can be doing really well if it things heat up.
When you guys aren’t on a tour. I suspect you’re hauling freight with brokers or what? What are you doing?
Josh Rickards: It’s a mix. We do have some direct customers. you know, when we’re not on tours there’s actually a lot of corporate work. Like I got two guys right now that are at Javits center in New York. And that’s a corporate event. So there’s a lot of corporate events, A lot of. There’s trade shows, even stuff like, you know, like the Mid-America Truck Show. I mean, everything’s hauled in and hauled out of there. And so we do a lot of those. It’s a pretty small percentage of freight. Well, during COVID it was 100% freight, right? So during that, all of fact, I had. I had a corporate. It was production, but it was corporate. And we’re on our way. I was on my way over to California, and California, it was going to Anaheim Convention center. And that was one of like, you know, at the beginning, Covid, that was one of the early places that was like, we’re shutting down. Right. And so I literally had to turn around. I left Missouri and I started heading out there, and I had to turn around and go right back to go return the gear and then haul nothing. Ideally, load boards are really kind of more set up for, you know, like, supplemental. but I have, I mean, I’ve lived 100% on the spot market before, so I can actually, I can understand both sides, but yeah, for us.
Todd Dills: It can be done, but it’s not. It’s not easy.
Josh Rickards: If you do it, you got to play that game. You got to do that strategy. You got to play that game and you got to move like that. And yeah, I mean, you really have to be willing to goere you, ah, can’t just be like, if you just want to run, you know, a trifecta or, or an A and B, if you want to go to A and, and then, you know, if you want to go to B, then back to A, you know
Todd Dills: Not going to work for you all the time.
Josh Rickards: Really rough. Yeah. But if you’re. If you’re just willing to go anywhere, let’s go. Yeah, and play that game, Post your truck, watching the, you know, the hot market map and all that, you know, you can. You can do well. But if, you know, and I know guys are still playing that game. I know guys that play that game, and I know, I know some that play very well, you know, but they, you know, they’re flexible. I don’t care where they go. And you got to stay out three, four weeks because if you don’t stay out three, four weeks, you’re not you making the money to really. You got to position into Those markets where. That, where it’s good, you know, do.
Todd Dills: Your guys leased on do they get out and book their own loads when, when, when you’re not involved in a tour or how does, how does that work? Do you help them dispatch or dispatch themselves or what?
Josh Rickards: They have both options. I got a gentleman that doesn’t really know how to work that board too well, and he’s just like, Josh, you. He tells me, he’s like, man, I trust you. I leave it open. There’s. There’s definitely gonna be a lot of freedom because I mean, I don’t micromanage my guys. I’ll look, I’ll look to see where they’re at. We’re leaving on a cruise. and we’re leaving, we’re flying Saturday and we’re gonna be on this cruise. The beautiful thing of what’s at. Because I, I pay for the Internet on the cruise. The cruise ship I’m on, they have Starlink and we are working the entire. I mean, this doesn’t set off, you know, I mean, I got guys are still out and I got two that are on tour, and two that are not on tour that are just running one-offs right now. And so, yeah, it’s one of those things where it’s like I tell them, hey, you can get a hold of me on whatsapp. Like you can call me on WhatsApp, you can message me on WhatsApp. And u can’t call me on my voice, you know, can’t call me a regular phone. But yeah, so we got a, And I actually two of them are coming off tour December 2nd and we get back December 2nd. but we got to, you know, book stuff for them in advance. So I’ll be booking loads, helping them book loads. Like why we’re on the cruise ship. You know, so think about 20 years ago and they had like payphones and stuff. like, you know, and then load board was like on an analog tv. You know, I remember those days, you know.
Todd Dills: Our talk then turned to another area that’s evolved substantially over the time Rickards has been around trucking, the bedrock truck equipment itself. Of course, he detailed the truck that got him started on his ownership journey.
Josh Rickards: So that truck was actually a 2014 Mack and I bought it in 2018 and then it, it actually when I had. So I bought a new, a brand- new Freightliner. It was a 2020 Cascadia that I bought at September of 2019 and I bought in a down market so I got it you know I was down market and got a good good price on it. So the gentleman that came on that first gentleman at least on I least purchase him that truck and then when heired out he got out of driving I actually bought the truck back from him and then lease purchased it to ah a gentleman. Now we ran that truck until actually we literally ran that truck till it was like done right and then and we weren’t going to in-frame it. We ran it until the motor was done and then I put that gentleman that at least purchased that truck and put him into it. He’s in a 2020 International. And so I’m actually going to today I’m sitting down with a salesman and we’re going to. I’m spec’ing out a brand-new Western Star. I stick with Daimler. Of my brothers one of them actually does cybersecurity for Amazon Web Services and then the other he does like coding. He’s an engineer and all that and a lot of data and he used to work for Daimler trucks in North America. So he pioneered this one program that they did you know I’d probably butchered if I went to like the full details on it but it’s like some long lines of some like the data that the computer send from the, from the truck sends back and like compiling that data and then getting it to like mega fleets like you, your Walmart and snders and stuff like that. My brother would like he would, I mean he would go to Walmart’s headquarters and sit down with them and go okay, you know here’s like the data and like helping them better spec their trucks helping you know because they’re always seeking efficiency. so that was one thing for me with Daimler and then the other thing is there’s ah, a Freightliner shop that’s like not even 10 minutes from my house. And so based on that I’m like I’m kind of stuck in that Daimler network there. but you know we’re not like you know when you le least not owner-operators. There’s no. It would be nice to. Because a lot of the big touring fleets do run the same equipment. Right. The same color and the same. And all the trucks look uniform and that’s nice. I’m actually also a believer in that too. but you know, we got a guy with gentlememan just came on. He’s got a W900. Another gentleman’s coming on. He’s got a W900. Now on the record, my favorite of the long hood trucks is the W9. Peterbilt 389 is a beautiful truck too. those are the truckers trucks. I mean don’t get me wrong. but we go to a lot of tight places and for me, I’m like, I like, I like the fuel efficiency and, and I’m not afraid of the new electronics. So I’m cool with having all the new electronics and, and having all that. I’m in that generation. I’m not, you know, because I noticed a lot of, you know, a lot of drivers in their 50s and 60s. Hey, I don’t blame them. They’re like, man, put me in a pre emission truck and let’s roll. And I can understand that, but. Yeah, so started with that used 2014. and then for me, all the truck purchases are Daimler since. I had a Cascadia since, since 2019. So I was like, you know what, why get another Cascadia? I’ll get a Western Star. Let me switch it up a little bit. But still stay in that Daimler, you know, realm.
Todd Dills: Do you run team? Do you have to run team some? Sounds like you do.
Josh Rickards: Yes. Actually there’s some team runs coming up that were team. What the solution we do right now is we just have to like fly a guy out. I’m actually looking at. On for the entertainment side, there’s some people that they’re like independent contractors and you just, you know, you do a DQ file with them. So you do the drug test and you know, basically onboard them. but you just, you know, fly them out and hire them to do. To do a drive. You know, do a team drive. I’m actually looking in, I’m looking and doing that. and you bring them on it. I don’t bring on any company drivers. you know, and that’s the thing too is like the regulation landscape. My company is out of Washington state and being out of Washington state. It’s like one of those things where it’s like it’s much better to have owner-operators and like true independent contractors and to have a true independent contractor they have. They can turn down anything. You know you’ve got to definitely got to stay on top of regulation and I. That doesn’t matter if you’re in entertainment or you’re in freight. And we do everything, I mean we are by the book so that I don’t, I don’t bring on any pre-emission trucks. I don’t have a prejudice towards anyone that’s in a pre-emission truck. I just, I don’t want any questions of compliance. I don’t want anything, you know like I like that hey you can track so you have locations and then you also have. I mean the ELD and staying and even the elds I use are fully like I use elds that are not at risk of FMCSA taking them down. I mainly use, I’ve been using Omnitracs which is owned by Solera now and for a long time I just, I have one unit that’s Motive and you know we’re up in the air whether or not to make the switch to Motive. I see Motive is definitely in major growth mode right now. So. And they have been since they were even Keep Truckin. So we’re, we’re running two at the moment which is a lot for me because I’m like know that pulls some of my comfort zone. I’m so used to omnitracs.
But both those, both those units are you know they’re so compliant it’s not even funny. You know like they’re not, they’re not at risk of being revoked. You know going back in my story during that time where I had was hauling before I started my company. One of the guys that’s leased on now that I lease purchased to. I used to work with him at that company. So I’ve known him for over 10 years. I’ve known him since about 2014, 2015. And so there’s another gentleman I know. So lease purchasing for me is a good way to help get someone into being an owner-operator and learn how to be an owner-operator and then they can go buy their own trucks from there. Whereas you know some fleets put lease-purchasing As a way it’s just a. It’s a revenue generating model for them. And it’s sad that lease purchase has I feel like the way that I do lease-purchase, not to toot my horn or anything, but it’s just one of those things where like I feel like that is really the way the lease purchase should be. It’s like, hey, here’s a way to get to be an owner-operator. Whereass. Oh my goodness. That lease purchases. I mean there’s a lot of talk, a lot of regulation talk and it’s getting the eyes of the regulators where it’s like, yo, this is being abused to the point where, you know, regulators are having this. I think they’re going to fully have to step in on it because it’s gotten out of hand.
Todd Dills: What do you do? What’s the secret thing you feel like? Just simplicity, I guess. Clear terms.
Josh Rickards: transparency. Transparency. My guys get the fuel reports, the fuel reports that I get from my fuel card provider. So they get the. So there’s no because I mean man, the things that companies do to cheat people is insane. They cheat people either telling them that oh well, here’s this discount and then they’ll pocket a spread between the actual discount and what they charge their owner-operator. they’ll doctor up rate cons. I will send my guys screenshots of emails with a customer to the point where we’re discussing the money. So they know, hey, this is. I don’t mind showing them remittance. If they want to see remittance, I’ll show them remittance because I have a, I have a lease agreement with them, I have a contract with them and it’s like here’s our percentage and it’s based on this. And at any time you can request, or most times I just present it. So I think transparency, like simplicity is important. I think simplicity is definitely important for a smaller fleet. Because when you’re looking at a smaller fleet, for anyone that’s a person that’s interested in leasing on they expect simplicity. You know, it’s kind of like, okay, I’m not, I’m not going to some corporate conglomerate here. I’m expecting things to be simple. But then also transparency. And with transparency, that’s where you build trust. So basically like we don’t just have, we build relationships with our drivers. Like you know, one of the guys was at my wedding, all were invited but you know, who could make it and stuff, you know. But it’s one of those things where it’s like, it really is like a family and that’s another thing for small fleets. Small fleets and why people will prefer them. It is more of a family atmosphere because it’s family owned, but it is, it’s ran like a family, you know. So like I really go to bat for these guys, you know, and I tell them, I’m like, I’m like your lawyer innoc sense. Like I’m representing you. You like I got your back. You can be. We can be real honest with each other because you know’re we’re. That’s the thing. Like here’s a lot. Life is short. We’re doing life together. It’s like life is too short for all that. All that, you know, the B’s and chaos. Like, man, we ain’t got no time for that.
Todd Dills: Here’s a big thanks to Rickards for his time and a wish for continued success through the new year. That’s Josh Rickards, owner of Rickards Transportation Services.