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

Adam Wingfield (0:00)

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But Jared Reaves and Blackwell Trucking out of Wayne, Oklahoma, are proof of that. They started hauling equipment for a pipeline construction business, and when the pipeline slowed, they went over the road using StepDex, RGNs.

Then rates fell off, consistency disappeared, and they had to make a call. They pivoted to hoppers. Now they're running seven trucks with plans to keep expanding. That pivot is the whole conversation today. Not because hoppers are the answers for everyone, because they're not, but because the discipline it takes to recognize when something isn't working and change course before it becomes a crisis, is a skill that separates the carriers who build something from the ones who don't. Let's get into it. If you run your business on guesswork, you're putting yourself in a bad position before the wheels even turn. Right now, more than ever, who you align your business with matters. One thing I've always been a big fan of is transparency, whether it's knowing your numbers, knowing your lanes, and knowing exactly what you're getting into before you even book a load. That's why Amazon Relay stands out. Up front rates, unlimited mileage, accurate mileage, and real appointment times. These are the things you can actually make a decision based on facts and not just assumptions. Whether you have box trucks, drive vans, it doesn't matter. What matters is you're operating with clarity and consistency. So if you're serious about building something sustainable and not just chasing whatever pops up, make sure you go to relay.amazon.com and check it out.

Welcome to The Long Haul, the podcast dedicated to empowering small carriers and owner-operators to drive their business forward. I'm your host, Adam Wingfield, bringing you insights from industry leaders, real-world success stories, and strategies to help you navigate the road to profitability. Whether you just getting started or looking to take your fleet to the next level, this is the show where trucking meets opportunity. So buckle up, it's time to go to distance.

Welcome back to The Long Haul. I'm Adam. Today's guest is somebody who represent a part of this industry I want to talk about more. The family-owned specialty freight operation that didn't start as a trucking company and figured out this business the hard way.

Jared Reaves manages operations at Blackwell Trucking Incorporated out of Wayne, Oklahoma. It's a family-owned, step-deck, RGM, belly-dump hoppers serving the lower 48 They got seven trucks right now and still growing. The company has roots in pipeline construction, which is a different industry context than many carriers come from, and that background is what shaped how they think about freight, consistency, and what actually means to build a sustainable operation. Today, we're talking about pivots, about when to hold your lane and when to change it, about driver retention, especially freight markets, about what small carriers get wrong about growth, and about the hard truth that Jared put into his intake that I want to put on record. You're not going to get rich quick in this industry at all, and the carriers who think you are the ones that use them, ones that make the decisions that hurt them.

Jared, welcome to The Long Haul today.

Jared Reaves (3:38)

Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

Adam Wingfield (3:41)

I appreciate you coming on. Now, let's walk through the beginning. Let's get a little bit casual, man. We'll be back to the beginning, man. Blackwell started as a pipeline construction operation that used to use trucks to haul equipment. Take me through that.

Jared Reaves (3:56)

So we still have a pipeline right-of-way restoration business.

And thankfully, it's picking up, it's picking up quite a bit in the last year or so. But no, we've had that business. My father-in-law started that, I don't know, 25 years ago plus. And we always had trucks. We had to move our equipment. But we would use those trucks to move equipment to our job. And then to catch a backhaul back to get more equipment, just so you're not dead-heading because the pipeline work, it's all over the United States. So you may be dead-heading back from North Dakota. Well, that didn't make much sense.