Seven Trucks and a Hard Lesson About Consistency | The Long Haul

Blackwell Trucking didn't start as a trucking company. They started as a pipeline construction operation out of Wayne, Oklahoma. The trucks were there to haul equipment to the job sites — and when the jobs were done, they'd grab backhauls to make the trip pay. That worked until pipeline construction slowed down. And then it stopped working completely. So they pivoted. Tried stepdecks and RGNs over the road. Rates were falling, loads were inconsistent, and the model wasn't producing what they needed. So they made another call — hoppers. And that one stuck. Seven trucks now. Plans to keep growing. Jared Reaves manages operations at Blackwell Trucking and has watched this business navigate every version of that story. The good freight. The bad freight. The drivers who didn't work out and the ones who did. The temptation to grow before the foundation is ready. This episode is about what it actually looks like to run a small specialty freight operation in a market that doesn't care about your plans. And why the carriers who find consistency aren't always the ones who picked the right freight from the start — they're the ones who were honest enough to pivot when the first answer wasn't working. ⁠Follow The Long Haul Podcast⁠ ⁠Other FreightWaves Shows⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices