Making it as an owner-operator: Hard-won lessons from 18+ years

With small-business roots in farming and early driving experience with Roadway as a Teamster, then Nu-Way, longtime Landstar-leased owner-operator Gary Buchs, now retired from the road and an Overdrive business contributor — https://www.overdriveonline.com/14865331 — shares in this video how he built a successful business. From forgoing the flash of what are sometimes known as “owner-operator trucks” in favor of a bedrock return-on-investment calculus in truck acquisition, to the value of accountability and mindset in achieving and setting goals, Buchs reflects here on key moments that shaped his career.

His story is a reminder that the ability to adapt quickly is one of the small trucking business’s biggest advantages in a changing freight world.

Buchs was in conversation at the 2025 Mid-America Trucking Show with Red Eye Radio host Eric Harley, Overdrive Editor Todd Dills and ATBS Vice President Mike Hosted for a discussion of the lay of the land for owner-operator businesses today.

An a-ha moment along the way for Buchs? His choice to purchase the Freightliner Century that he drove for his entire two decades as an owner-operator. Peers in the owner community gave him a little grief over the choice — “It’s a fleet truck!” Yet as he notes in the video, “A truck is worth what you can profit, that return on that truck. People talk about the resale price of the truck,” but when you purchase a Class 8 it shouldn’t be a chief consideration.

“If you’re buying a truck to resale, … you better think twice,” he added. “In between that purchase and that resale, that’s where you need to have the return on that investment.”

The discussion hinged on the Overdrive/ATBS coproduction of the Partners in Business program, this year with a new format for its comprehensive trucking guide, a resource for owner-operators for now more than 20 years. The new Partners in Business playbook — https://overdriveonline.com/partners-in-business — offers insights into starting, growing, and (ultimately) finishing a trucking business. Now available in a mobile-friendly format, it covers everything from business planning to retirement strategies.

Learn more, and access the guide, at
https://www.overdriveonline.com/partners-in-business