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Tracy Taylor
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BACKGROUNDTracy purchased FedEx Ground routes in Topeka in 2011. The contract covered 3 PSA’s, bought 6 used trucks, and supervised 4 drivers.
He thought ownership would put him on a path to building wealth. Taylor admits to losing over $60,000 in his first six months. Was he concerned? Sure. But is he a quitter? No way. He realized he had two huge challenges to face:
"At 23, I thought I knew everything, but soon learned otherwise. So, I took a humble approach to this stuff,” he reflects. His quest for advice led him to eTruckBiz. Both companies shared similar passions - turning a lifestyle business into a transportation company. “I told Jeff, CEO and owner of eTruckBiz, I needed help with my data. It was like having a great harvest, but not knowing how get it to market,” he recalls. Together they determined Taylor was losing $700 every Saturday that he made deliveries. So, he cut three routes and now turns a profit on weekends. Then, he swapped PSA’s with another contractor prior to peak in 2012, where the overlap allowed his company to break even that year. YOU CAN'T LET DRIVERS RUN YOUR BUSINESSIn February 2014, Tracy purchased another 6 PSA’s located in Hays, KS, about 200 miles from Topeka. Plus, he added a home delivery route to his Topeka routes.
“I had 12 employees, 15 trucks, and two operations hundreds of miles apart. Plus, recruiting, training, and managing people were new to me,” he adds. Even with a full plate, he decided to attend an eTruckBiz leadership & management class. I learned that watching my data isn't enough. My people needed me to make tough decisions instead of letting them manage themselves. I was afraid my employees would leave if I wasn’t friendly with them Later that year, he realized even more opportunities awaited. So, he began thinking of services people like himself needed.
“I told eTruckBiz I needed advisors, but I couldn’t add payroll. It'd be great if experts who understood this business would spend some time with me instead of my hiring a bunch of directors,” he recalls. eTruckBiz understood the need in the industry and created additional services to aid CSPs in running their operations - business coaching, recruiting, and payroll services. One of my BCs, has learned from eTruckBiz, too. He is great with their software and services. CONTINUING GROWTHJust over a year later, the company had grown to more than 20 trucks, plus 5 additional PSA’s in Manhattan, KS.
“FedEx management advised that I needed to add 11 trucks to my fleet for peak. I thanked them for the advice, but my data indicated only 3 more trucks were necessary,” he boasts. They required a Letter of Assurance because they thought I'd fail, but it was my smoothest peak ever. We didn’t have a single service failure. I was so proud of my team. And eTruckBiz was right alongside me as my coach,” he adds. In 2017, his company began operating 24-hours a day after he bought five tractors to offset the average return of his P&D operations. Linehaul was another big learning curve for me, but it provided solid cash flow and another 7,000 miles per week. Then, we added Linehaul Spot Work. That's picking up customers’ trailers when we weren’t pulling Ground trailers. eTruckBiz taught me how to better use my underutilized assets Today, Tracy focuses on his metrics and his managers. He doesn't have to get involved in the daily operations and is able to spend more little time with his two daughters.
“My wife and I like taking the girls to the lake. I enjoy wake boarding and surfing behind our boat. My daughters will some day be better than I am at wake boarding,” supposes Taylor. He knows there’s a strong chance they share his ability to learn from the best. |