SuperRigs show report -- and this small fleet owner's growth story, managing pains that come with it

Overdrive Radio

Just more than a decade ago, owner-operator Don Wood was prepping a recently purchased 2003 Peterbilt 379 former fleet sleeper truck as a custom daycab. He was about to go hauling local hoping to meet his then-young children's home needs after years over the road. That wouldn't last more than a couple years itself before, though, Wood was back out on his own and, as customers leaned on him for their transport needs and drivers he knew needed work, he began to buy other trucks. He knew he had the customers to keep them going, that's sure. Over the next decade or so, DSD would grow to more than 30 trucks, some owned and some leased and owner-operated. How has he kept up with the demands of growth? Part of it has to do with the nature of the freight -- including a lot of direct customers and particular jobsite contract work that doesn't require constant negotiating with brokers. Another part: Wood recognizes the true value of what little support staff he and DSD drivers and leased owner-ops have. Also in the podcast: Overdrive News Editor Matt Cole live from SuperRigs. Cole's on the ground in Hampshire, Illinois, at the Love's there covering the annual Shell Rotella event -- in the podcast we talk through some of the highlights from his first day there, including the cabover of J.R. Schleuger and a rare heavy-haul extendable and steerable trailer from Belgian manufacturer Faymonville. Rare in the U.S., in any case. Find pictures of both via Cole's Thursday, July 30, report from the show here: https://www.overdriveonline.com/custom-rigs/article/15066767/scenes-from-superrigs-day-1-on-the-lot Small fleet owner Wood's pristine recent build of a 2003 Peterbilt 379, that former daycab mentioned above, was featured in this video and report earlier in the week: https://www.overdriveonline.com/custom-rigs/video/15066740/don-woods-2003-peterbilt-379-dsd-transports-new-flagship