Again in biz: Proprietor-operator Rufus Morris, Trucker of the Month

Ollie “Rufus” Morris knew from a younger age what he wished to do in life. He was enthralled by massive vehicles as a child and “all the time wished to start out out driving one and proudly owning one,” he mentioned. The North Carolina-based operator obtained his official begin in trucking within the mid-Nineteen Nineties driving a dump truck to get some expertise, then moved on to pulling logs and wooden chips.

Late in that very same decade, he purchased his first truck — a 1996 Kenworth W900 — and pulled logs as an owner-operator for just a few years earlier than, as he put it, “life occurs and it was higher off for me simply to get out of it.”

He stayed within the trucking enterprise as an organization driver for 20 years earlier than his spouse, Patricia Morris, got here to him with the thought to start out a enterprise. “So I obtained the truck of my goals, if you wish to know the reality,” he mentioned. “Simply the truck I all the time wished.” It is a 2004 Peterbilt 379 Prolonged Hood. “My spouse … knew nothing about trucking.“ 

By no means been in a truck, by no means wished to be in a single: Patricia Morris bought actual property for 1 / 4 century earlier than „we talked about it and figured that is the most effective factor for us,” Rufus Morris mentioned. 

Patricia remembers waking up at some point with the conviction that enterprise possession was the proper factor for the Morrises. „I knew if anybody might do it, it might be Rufus along with his eagerness to succeed and conquer the world,“ she mentioned, „and that’s precisely what we’ve got accomplished at the moment.”

Rufus and Patricia have been collectively since 2015, and married a pair years after that. Patricia mentioned she’s seen how her husband “lives and breathes the dedication and dedication required for this demanding career. I’ve seen firsthand his unbelievable laborious work, the early mornings and late nights, all fueled by his real perception in himself and his skill to all the time ship.”

That dedication, that dedication, each led to Patricia nominating Rufus Morris for Overdrive’s 2025 Trucker of the Yr award. Proprietor-operator Morris is our Trucker of the Month for Could, formally placing him within the operating.

Overdrive’s 2025 Trucker of the Yr competitors, sponsored by Business Automobile Group and Bostrom Seating, acknowledges clear enterprise acumen and distinctive or time-honored recipes for fulfillment amongst owner-operators. Nominations are open for distinctive owner-operators, whether or not leased or unbiased. Nominate your corporation or that of a fellow proprietor (as much as three vehicles) by way of this hyperlink for an opportunity to win a customized reproduction of your tractor and a brand new seat from Bostrom and CVG.

Nominating her husband, Patricia mentioned Rufus “faces each problem head-on, by no means compromising on security or effectivity. His sense of duty and his quiet power make him not only a devoted driver, however an distinctive particular person who actually deserves this recognition for every little thing he pours into his profession and each family throughout the U.S.“

Again to biz, with an eye fixed on the long run

Regardless of round 20 years between stints as an proprietor, Rufus Morris jumped again in with each ft in 2022 when he and Patricia began Midnight Rider Transport LLC. They purchased his 2004 Peterbilt 379 — geared up with a 550-hp Caterpillar with a 13-speed that sits on a 300-inch wheelbase and boasts lots chrome, additional lights. The pair had been out on their very own with authority from the get-go, with Rufus doing the driving and Patricia the dispatching, with a concentrate on flatbed freight.

That dream truck: Proprietor-operator Morris’s 2004 Peterbilt 379 Prolonged Hood, powered by a 550-hp Cat with a 13-speed.

“We had our personal authority and every little thing, and it labored out OK,” Rufus mentioned. “I used to be fairly properly glad with what we had been doing, however load boards obtained a bit bit laborious to take care of — and brokers — and it was a bit little bit of a headache to it, however we had been nonetheless doing good.”

One of many firms he’d booked freight with now and again, first by way of the load boards, was Materials Logistics Administration (MLM), affiliated with Triad Metals and whose service operation strikes that firm’s freight. MLM at some point referred to as him “out of the blue” and requested if he’d be taken with leasing on, Morris mentioned. He and Patricia talked it over and, after some back-and-forth, determined to present it a go a few yr and a half in the past, close to the top of the sluggish 2023 yr for spot freight and charges. 

“It’s been nice since we leased on with them,“ he mentioned. „The whole lot’s been good.“ 

No want for load boards, typically fickle brokers. 

Below the association, Morris hauls metal beams, typically oversize. He owns his personal flatbed trailer — a 48-foot spread-axle 1998 Utility — and he additionally rents a 53-foot 2018 Reitnouer from MLM.

Enter your corporation in Overdrive’s Trucker of the Yr competitors for an opportunity to win a customized scale reproduction of your tractor as trophy but in addition a brand new seat and/or different perks from program sponsor Bostrom Seating.Whereas the Morris’s true residence base is in North Carolina, a lot of the work they do for MLM is out of Indiana. They haul regionally from there into the South and thru a lot of the Midwest. Once they go residence to North Carolina — often about as soon as a month — they’ll depart their truck in Indiana and fly residence to spend time with grandchildren and have a pair days of residence time.

Mallory Yarmoski, an MLM agent who works with Morris, mentioned he’s “one in all my greatest and prime drivers. He’s so hardworking; goes above and past to verify masses get picked up and delivered on time.”

[Related: Prospects for a ‚phenomenal‘ flatbed year: Trucker of the Month George Kincaid]

Conservative with service intervals, thorough with all upkeep

Operating in an older-model truck, Morris stays squarely on prime of upkeep, servicing each 10,000 miles or so. He does a few of the minor work himself, however tends to make use of a handful of trusted outlets for his common upkeep wants and any greater jobs. 

“The main stuff and the service and stuff like that — it is simply so handy to go elsewhere and get it accomplished,” he mentioned.

Yarmoski lauded Midnight Rider for upkeep and a spotlight to element, too: Morris “all the time makes certain his truck is in good situation,” she mentioned, highlighting his ardour for the work, too, when she referred to as him “merely simply the most effective. I’m so grateful to have him as a driver. He is an excellent addition to our staff.”

With the Business Automobile Security Alliance’s Worldwide Roadcheck at prime of thoughts on the time of the interview for this characteristic this month, Morris mentioned he didn’t get stopped as soon as in the course of the blitz and has actually solely been inspected just a few instances in latest reminiscence.

[Related: Connecticut inspectors talk HOS, ELP enforcement]

A kind of inspections, although, was memorable after a ridealong pup, Otis, obtained the Morrises in scorching water with an officer. Otis is a Bea-Tzu (a beagle-Shih-Tzu combine), and his identify is on the Morrises‘ truck. He is as a lot part of the operation because the truck itself. 

Otis’s cute exterior belies a tricky spirit — he is fairly the protector. Rufus instructed the story of the memorable inspection — he’d made sure the officer was conscious of Otis, advising him to not trouble the canine or stick his hand within the truck. However the inspector „reached in there, going to intimidate him, form of shoo at him or one thing within the door, and he bit him. He wasn’t too proud of that.“ End result? Inspectors „can discover something unsuitable, so he discovered one thing to place me out-of-service,“ although Morris mentioned it was a minor merchandise in the end. He made the repair on the spot. „I used to be proper again up. It wasn’t something main.“Flatbed work “has been excellent for me,” including that he “couldn’t see myself doing nothing else.”

Not solely is compensation higher again trucking on his personal since 2022, and significantly for the oversize metal he tends to haul now with MLM, he values the train that comes with the work. “Once you pull a van, you simply don’t get no train,“ Morris mentioned. You „simply sit within the truck” and don’t get to be as lively as he prefers.

As Overdrive has been monitoring this yr, up till latest weeks flatbed spot charges had been on a major upswing by a lot of the yr. “It’s loads higher than it was,” Morris famous. “We’ve stayed regular the entire yr.”

[Related: Post-Roadcheck rates: How did the spot market respond?]

If higher circumstances persist, Morris is eyeing 2025 as doubtlessly his greatest yr since getting again in enterprise. “The best way it’s began out and the best way it’s going thus far, it’ll be our greatest yr,” he mentioned.

When he was operating below his personal authority, he nonetheless did “actually good with charges and stuff” resulting from relationships constructed with brokers and a few clients they hauled for frequently, he added. But whereas he was by no means dissatisfied with these charges, he is extra comfy now having the extra safety of “individuals behind you” within the leased association. MLM has lots to supply on the subject of freight. It is led to a „lot much less stress and loads much less fear about the place my subsequent load is coming from.” 

Within the roughly 18 months he is been leased now, he can recall only a single time that he didn’t have a number of masses booked out prematurely. “They maintain you busy, and that’s undoubtedly a great feeling,” he mentioned.

[Related: ‚Keep digging‘: Trucker of the Months plants seeds of long-term success, growth in dump]

Enter your individual or one other deserving proprietor’s enterprise (as much as 3 vehicles) in Overdrive’s 2025 Trucker of the Yr competitors by way of this hyperlink.