BLP 359: The Most Valuable 30 Minutes for Running a Trucking Company
Release Date: 02/23/2026
BLP 370: Rolling Coal, an $18M Fine, and Redemption: The PDI Story
Bulkloads Podcast
They fined him $18 million. He built a diesel empire anyway. Jerad Wittwer grew up the son of a St. George milkman and rancher, overhauled his first engine at 13, and turned a passion for horsepower into Performance Diesel Inc. (PDI) — one of the most recognized names in diesel performance. But the road there ran straight through one of the most controversial chapters in trucking: EPA investigations, deleted trucks, and an $18 million federal fine. In this episode, Jerad sits down with Jared Flinn for an unfiltered conversation about the whole journey — the rise, the reckoning, and the...
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BLP 369: 1 Gas Station to 1,400 Employees: How Wallis Built a Fuel Empire
Bulkloads Podcast
Bill Wallis went to work at 13 to help his family. He served in the 101st Airborne, came home, and bought a single gas station in Cuba, Missouri in 1968. Today Wallis Companies runs 67 stores, a 42 truck bulk fleet moving 120 loads a day, and employs around 1,400 people. In this episode, Matt and Alan take us inside the fuel hauling world most truckers never see: the predictive dispatch tech, the back to back state safety awards, why their turnover is almost zero, and the tribute show truck they built for Bill called "Blue Collar Roots." CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro: Meet Matt and Alan 0:41 From a K9...
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BLP 368: We Doubled Our Trucking Company, Then 2025 Hit
Bulkloads Podcast
Watch on YouTube: Rob and Kate have been together since high school. Years ago they took over the family farm and trucking operation, doubled the business, and then watched 2025 turn into the hardest year of their lives. In this episode they get honest about what it actually takes to run a trucking company as a husband and wife team. The 16-hour days through the freight recession. The financial calls that kept them up at night. The hardest decision they ever had to make. And how they protected their marriage and their kids while fighting to keep the trucks moving. If you run a fleet, drive...
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BLP 367: The $1 Million Bet That Built a Trucking Dynasty
Bulkloads Podcast
Tom Keller spec'd his first truck at 20 years old to haul watermelons off his family's farm. He'd drive a load to Indianapolis, not like the price, keep driving to Detroit, sell them, and set the cash on the kitchen table — then do it again the next morning. That hustle became Keller Logistics Group: 350 trucks, four divisions, and $200 million in sales out of Defiance, Ohio. In this episode, Jared Flinn sits down with Bryan Keller and Jonathan Wolfrum to unpack how a melon farmer's instinct for finding the next opportunity built a company that's survived every freight cycle since —...
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BLP 366: $10,000 to Replace a $300 Part? The Dealership Trap Explained
Bulkloads Podcast
Watch this episode on YouTube: Fleet maintenance isn't sexy — but it's one of the highest expenses in trucking, the most controllable, and by far the most ignored. Justin Brevik of Bosch FleetMe returns to the BulkLoads Podcast to break down exactly where fleets bleed money on maintenance and how to fix it, whether you run 3 trucks or 3,000. Host Jared Flinn and Justin cover the real cost of letting a truck sit at a dealership, the oil-change myth costing you thousands, why tires are your #1 maintenance expense (and the cheap fix almost nobody does), and how to move your operation...
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BLP 365: For This Business, Success isn't Measured in Trucks
Bulkloads Podcast
Watch this episode on YouTube: For Matt and Sharon Kill, the goal was never to have the biggest fleet. But it took growing to 21 trucks — and nearly losing what mattered — to figure that out. The family started with nothing: one truck, a borrowed belt trailer, and a 1950s pay loader that lost steering every time you let off the throttle. After Matt got let go from John Deere, they accidentally built a four-way ag operation — trucking, manure spreading, farming, and feed commodity trading out of Saint Mary's, Ohio. 🎙️ Brought to you by BulkLoads — the bulk freight...
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BLP 364: Why This 31-Year-Old Says Fancy Trucks Are Killing Owner-Operators
Bulkloads Podcast
Watch on YouTube: Craig Broerman left a corporate mechanical engineering career, sold the money meant for his grandparents' farm, and bought a belt trailer in 2019. Six years later, he and his cousin Alan Lennartz are running 7–10 trucks across the Midwest hauling DDGs, soybean meal, cottonseed, and industrial products — and they did it before either of them turned 32. In this episode, Jared sits down with Craig and Alan on location in Portland, Indiana to talk about the BulkLoads find that changed everything, the phone call in a North Carolina cornfield that made Craig get out of the...
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BLP 363: The $500K Lesson: Inside Blackwell Trucking's Pivot to Hopper Freight
Bulkloads Podcast
Watch it on YouTube: What does it take to run a four-generation family business through cotton, cattle, pipeline restoration, AND a 7-truck hopper fleet — all at the same time? This week we sat down with Bob Blackwell and his son-in-law Jared Reaves at Blackwell Trucking in Wayne, Oklahoma. Three generations of Blackwells have worked this land. Bob started chasing pipeline restoration jobs 25 years ago when one came across his field — and built Blackwell Trucking on the side just to keep his own equipment moving. Then the last four years took a swing at them. Pipeline work went...
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BLP 362: From a Coin Flip to 750 Trucks: Inside the 75-Year Wayne Transports Empire
Bulkloads Podcast
Check this episode out on our YouTube: https://youtu.be/hc33VvhAS_I In 1950, a teenager who'd dropped out of school to save the family farm bought one truck and started hauling gasoline. Today, Wayne Transports runs 750+ trucks, moves nearly 290,000 loads a year, and posts driver turnover rates a fraction of the industry average. In this episode, we sit down with the next generation of Wayne ownership to unpack the full story — the Korean War tragedy that almost ended the company before it started, the bank loan that gave it its name, the move from Milaca to Rosemount that unlocked...
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The Heavy Haul Operator Riding the AI Data Center Wave
Bulkloads Podcast
Watch episode on YouTube: He started with one truck at 18 years old — and went bankrupt within a year. Most people would have quit. Kendal Mast didn't. Today, KM Wood Products runs 60+ trucks, hauls some of the heaviest freight in the country, and has quietly become one of the biggest players in AI data center freight — with 65% of their entire fleet dedicated to it. But the road here wasn't straight. Kendal rebuilt this company from zero multiple times, survived COVID with his family living in the truck, fired his entire driver pool to save key contracts, and learned million-dollar...
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109,000 new trucking companies entered the market in 12 months.
That’s 300 new competitors per day. So the real question isn’t “Is trucking competitive?” It’s: How do you win anyway? This is the BEST trucking advice we’ve captured over the past few years — condensed into one powerful 30-minute masterclass for owner-operators and fleet owners who want to stay profitable, stay booked, and build something that lasts.
Inside this video, experienced operators break down:
✅ Why SAFETY must be the foundation of your company (or you’re built on sand)
✅ How to avoid going out of business during slow freight markets
✅ The truth about cost per mile (most truckers calculate it wrong)
✅ Why cheap tires actually cost you MORE money
✅ How to manage cash flow before it’s too late
✅ Why balancing your checkbook monthly could save your company
✅ The difference between being busy and being profitable
✅ How diversification protects you when a major customer disappears
✅ Why trust & reputation beat marketing
✅ The difference between a “driver” and a true professional
You’ll also hear hard-earned lessons about:
Growing too fast Insurance mistakes
Underestimating accounting
Seasonal trucking challenges
Fuel efficiency strategies
Working on your business vs. just in it
This isn’t theory. This is real-world trucking experience from operators who’ve survived downturns, fires, rate swings, and market crashes.
If you’re serious about building a trucking company that lasts longer than the next freight cycle — this video is for you.
🔔 Subscribe for real-world trucking insights: We share stories, strategies, and lessons from the people actually building successful operations.
#trucking #owneroperator #smallfleet #truckingbusiness #dumptrucking #freight #logistics #cdldriver #truckerlife #businessadvice
Clip 1 - Sam Watts, 10-4 Truck Insurance https://youtu.be/n0LhfBtkgHE?si=0RnnEuAe9RVJzade
Clip 2 - Mike Bennet, Eagle Logistics https://youtu.be/MOqg_2ycTcI?si=M5ANI13XBkN9HO9D
Clip 3 - Evan Shelley, Truck Parking Club https://youtu.be/C4byWaQ3sy8?si=BJcL_aeEJDFQhbBB
Clip 4 - Steve Miller, Reliant Transportation https://youtu.be/umhF7BdpOZQ?si=ibkP2DVpmEG_cIr4
Clip 5 - Brian Kinsey, International Used Trucks https://youtu.be/jm5qACtGyAM?si=hQgKyV0IuKUec4y4
Clip 6 - Roger Zima, Foltz Trucking https://youtu.be/SKNaFnwK6go?si=oegWh058xEKtVp5B
Clip 7 - Mark Walker, Transland https://youtu.be/IZytshzWfcs?si=auCc2C_9cYSSUPKk
Clip 8 - Matt Gibbs, Ozarko Tire https://youtu.be/O33DuglTye8?si=EOfdEoKlwWiTV0hz
Clip 9 - Jesse Bounds, Bounda Hay https://youtu.be/D6bFidG8Tr8?si=WNQt2JKWsrvWo9GH
Clip 10 - Justin Sturgill, Justin Sturgill Trucking https://youtu.be/iVDGEBf-w5c?si=_y5dW6r_Fykn8g9i
Clip 11 - Jesse Runions, Ben R Brown Trucking https://youtu.be/L9FL7QckbVk?si=K0I08nAci1mXrOmF
Clip 12 - Earl Martin Jr., ERM Trucking https://youtu.be/7beLHlc1pGk?si=YMeBedkQQI3Yz7xj
Clip 13 - Brad & Jason Hammes, Hammes Trucking https://youtu.be/lHLKMYyEdRw?si=QpZtQsQIsQAUvwXu
Clip 14 - Austin Hammen, AH Trucking https://youtu.be/T1uMLzYvSP8?si=VfTvV_3WROyLmUR3
Clip 15 - Woody Bogler, Woody Bogler Trucking https://youtu.be/UaTIT9atRss?si=jLv8RhEDWmEKzF75
Timestamp:
00:00 "Trucking Success Starts with Safety"
04:47 "Planning Ahead for Efficiency"
08:15 "Efficient Used Truck Strategy"
10:13 "Truck Driver's Perspective"
14:06 "Tire Tracking for Cost Reduction"
16:57 "Challenges of Understanding Accrual Accounting"
22:12 DIY Truck Maintenance Tips
24:29 Building Trust in Business
27:36 "Working on the Business"
29:53 Family Farms Facing Decline
. . . Check out our companies! BulkLoads - https://www.bulkloads.com/?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=Video&utm_campaign=Best_of_Trucking_Advice
Insurance - https://www.bulkinsurancegroup.com/?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=Video&utm_campaign=Best_of_Trucking_Advice
Transportation Management (TMS) - https://www.bulktms.com/?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=Video&utm_campaign=Best_of_Trucking_Advice