Page 6 - Gary Buchs News Today

May 11, 2021 As truck drivers, as my colleague Gary Buchs wrote last week and as I’ve emphasized before myself, time is our most precious commodity. Our lives are governed by it – from the amount of time we sleep and work in a day, to the time we actually get to spend with family and friends. It can be a fleeting commodity. If one is not careful, we can go from wishing we could grow up faster as we did when we were children to wondering where the time went as we lie on our death bed...

What are the biggest problems service techs are seeing with emissions systems in late-model equipment? What can owner-ops do to effectively head those off? How can drivers better equip shop personnel with information to effectively correct problems when they arise -- or assist them in preventing issues in the first place? Rather than approach emissions equipment with the proverbial band-aid-and-antibiotic salve when something breaks, what might constitute a good PM program for emissions equipm...

Updated Apr 29, 2021 Updated April 29, 2021, republication ahead of the May 4-6 Roadcheck inspection event, taking place nationwide at a scale house near you.  The National Transportation Safety Board recommendations to brake equipment suppliers have long emphasized caution about manual adjustments for pushrod stroke when automatic slack adjusters [ASAs] are installed. Given those warnings, “it never ceases to amaze me that folks are still attempting to manually adjust auto-slacks after thei...

Apr 15, 2021 Past SuperTruck concepts from Volvo, Navistar and Freightliner involved diesel powertrains, principally. The third funding opportunity from the DOE for the SuperTruck program prioritizes battery-electric, hydrogen and hydrogen fuel-cell power plants across truck size spectrums. One of two experienced operators serving on a distinguished panel today summed up many owner-operators thoughts about major technology advances after U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm an...

February 25, 2021 Ask Gary is a series detailing owner-operator business challenges and how operators can navigate toward success. Gary Buchs, a former Owner-Operator of the Year, spent 17 years as an independent contractor at Landstar before retiring in 2019. He now coaches owner-operators and also hosts the Truck Business Forum group on Facebook. Buchs can be reached at truck.biz.coach@gmail.com. The situation: An owner-operator who had a solid year and turned a strong profit has found a tax...

Jan 27, 2021 Ask Gary is a series detailing owner-operator business challenges and how operators can navigate toward success. Gary Buchs, a former Owner-Operator of the Year, spent 17 years as an independent contractor at Landstar before retiring in 2019. He now coaches owner-operators and also hosts the Truck Business Forum group on Facebook. Buchs can be reached at truck.biz.coach@gmail.com. The situation: A younger owner-operator has been trying to better manage his cash flow and to dig his ...

January 26, 2021 More trucks competing with fewer spot market loads in the near term will put downward pressure on rates. That could continue through the year as shifting consumer habits and natural market cycles contribute to a bearish environment for spot rates. The spot market roared back to life in the months after pandemic-caused shutdowns sapped freight demand last spring, with per-mile spot rates in all three major truckload segments (flatbed, dry van and reefer) jumping every month fro...

Sponsored By Former Landstar-leased owner-operator Gary Buchs recalled making a final delivery to a long-time customer and telling his contact that he was retiring. After offering congratulations, the contact retrieved from a Rolodex a business card Buchs had left when he made his first delivery some years prior, noting that Buchs had been called three or four times simply because he had left his card and made a good impression. Owner-operator coaches Kevin Rutherford, left, and Gary Buchs answ...

Don’t Miss Out Join 135,000 owner-operators who get helpful insights and important news delivered straight to their inbox with the Overdrive newsletter. Email Sign Up Gary Buchs Gary Buchs lives with his wife, Marcia, in Colfax, Ill. Formerly leased to Landstar, the longtime owner-operator retired active hauling in October of 2019 after a decade and a half and more working with multiple freight agents and dispatching himself on dry van runs in the region around his home base. Today, he offers...

Dec 30, 2020 2020 was nothing if not a wild and often confusing ride for most. From the early fears and uncertainty lingering for months after the COVID-19 pandemic first reached U.S. shores in February to the long-lasting impacts on freight and rates and, obviously, the human toll the virus has taken in terms of illness, death and loss — it’s been a trying year for many owner-operators and small fleets.  Below is a collection of the year’s top stories, podcasts, videos and essays publis...