Advice for Growing a Trucking Fleet from 3 to 50 Trucks
Interview with Ryan Good, CEO of RGM Transport
Luke (Host):
Welcome to the Caution: Wide Right podcast, brought to you by Compliance Navigation Specialists. I’m Luke, your host, and today we have Ryan Good, CEO of RGM Transport.
Founded in 2005, RGM Transport is a fast-growing, asset-based trucking company specializing in hauling building products, steel, aluminum, and high-value equipment across North America. With operations in both Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and Buckeye, Arizona, RGM serves all 48 continental states and Eastern Canada.
Ryan took over the company in 2012 when it had just three trucks. Under his leadership, RGM has expanded to 55 trucks with a diverse fleet, including flatbeds, step decks, RGNs, dry vans, and reefers. The company is committed to excellence in service, safety, and compliance while maintaining strong partnerships with its customers and a driver-focused company culture.
We’re going to break all of this down today, but first, Ryan, welcome to the podcast!
Ryan Good (Guest):
Hey, thanks for having me! Glad to be here.
Luke:
Let’s talk about growing your fleet. Walk us through this journey.
Ryan Good (Guest):
In May 2010, my wife and I had decided I should start looking for an office job. A couple of months later, at a truck show in Lebanon, I was talking to a friend when another guy, Gary, joined the conversation. He had started a small trucking company in 2005 but was looking to sell and get back into farming.
It felt like a God-ordained moment—the right opportunity at the right time. We first talked about it in June, but I didn’t follow up until September. Eventually, we sat down, and by the end of 2010, I was working for him.
From 2010 to 2012, my wife and I built the company up to 12 trucks. In January 2012, we officially bought the business and were off to the races.
Growth and Challenges in Trucking
Luke:
Did you always have a vision to grow the company to 50 trucks?
Ryan:
Not necessarily. Back then, I was aiming for around 25 to 30 trucks, including owner-operators. My main goal was to have enough office support to create some flexibility in my schedule.
In January 2012, when we took over the company, my wife was pregnant with our son, Alex, who was due in April. It hit me in February that I’d need help managing the fleet while also being at the hospital for his birth. So, in March, I hired our first dispatcher, Darren.
Hiring a dispatcher meant taking on more expenses, so we had to add more trucks. That’s the tricky part of growing—you get caught in a cycle of expanding your fleet to cover overhead.
Luke:
A lot of our audience consists of small fleets or owner-operators looking to grow. What challenges did you face, and what advice would you give them?
Ryan:
Growth comes with challenges—it’s called growing pains, not growing joys, for a reason. We expanded quickly, but we lacked systems and processes, which created a lot of turmoil.
Looking back, I wish we had focused on building strong systems and structures earlier. Even now, at around 50 trucks, we’re still refining our processes to improve efficiency.
Another lesson was bringing in financial advisors. They helped us create a budget and plan for seasonal slowdowns. Since we haul oversized loads, November and December are slower months due to permit restrictions and shorter daylight hours. Our drivers also take time off for the holidays, so we have to factor that into our financial planning.
Luke:
That makes sense. You mentioned in 2017, your advisors suggested getting new trucks. How did that decision impact the business?
Ryan:
That was a game-changer. Before that, we were spending a fortune on repairs. Every time a truck is in the shop, it’s not making money, and it creates frustration for drivers and customers.
Our advisors recommended buying new trucks, but we were in no position financially to do so. Still, we took the leap and financed them 100%. Looking back, I see debt as a risk factor—I’m now more focused on stabilizing rather than rapid expansion. But upgrading our fleet kept our top-line revenue steady and improved driver satisfaction.
Luke:
It sounds like a mix of smart financial planning, strong mentorship, and a willingness to take calculated risks helped you grow RGM Transport. Any final advice for trucking entrepreneurs?
Ryan:
Absolutely. Surround yourself with good mentors, plan financially, and build strong processes before scaling up. And remember, growing a business isn’t always smooth, but if you stay focused on delivering great service, you’ll build long-term success.
Improving Customer Service
Luke:
Let’s start with customer service. How has RGM Transport improved in that area over the years?
Ryan:
I think our customer service has significantly improved, especially compared to some competitors. Customers tell us that we show up on time and avoid breakdowns more than others. Of course, there are times when things don’t go as planned, but we move heaven and earth to ensure things stay on schedule.
We’ve also learned a lot about balancing fleet downtime in the winter months. Having an established customer base from the beginning really helped us grow. Finding new customers from scratch is an entirely different challenge. Balancing contract freight, spot market loads, and strategic diversification is crucial.
Market Positioning and Customer Relationships
Luke:
Diversification has its place, but playing to your strengths is key. How do you approach market fluctuations and customer retention?
Ryan:
Our philosophy is to be the top carrier in our customers’ network. If you’re in the top one or two carriers, you’re more insulated during slow periods compared to being on the fringes at position five, six, or seven.
Our sales process is long, and we’re not pushy. We consistently check in with customers every few months, reminding them that we’re here when they need us. It can take two or three years to secure a new customer, but once we do, we work hard to align with their needs.
We aim to be an extension of our customers’ businesses. They may be manufacturers, but they’re not in the trucking business—that’s our job. Understanding their core values and pain points allows us to provide solutions that make their lives easier. It’s not bulletproof, especially in this tough freight market, but it has helped us stay stable.
The Spot Market
Luke:
The spot market is often seen as a necessary tool to keep trucks moving, especially on the return leg. How do you handle that in your operations?
Ryan:
I see the spot market as a necessary evil. We use it for about 25% of our loads. Outbound, we’re 100% direct freight, but inbound, it’s about 50% or more. One of my roles is to find consistent customers for return loads instead of relying on load boards.
For example, if we have trucks going to Chicago every week, we shouldn’t rely on load boards for the return. Instead, I look for shippers with consistent freight heading east. That’s our home, so we need to ensure steady loads back. I also focus on establishing relationships with large customers who have multiple locations and freight moving in our lanes.
Growing the Brokerage Division
Luke:
Before we move on to safety and driver-related topics, I want to touch on your brokerage division. You work with owner-operators and handle freight when your own trucks aren’t available. How do you balance growing that side of the business?
Ryan:
We’ve had our freight brokerage since 2012, but until now, it’s mainly served as overflow. Over the next five years, we’re making it a standalone operation.
We’re hiring a dedicated person to grow the brokerage, with the goal of building a five-person team. The challenge is finding customers willing to work with a broker. In tight markets, they prefer asset-based carriers, which is why we focused on growing our asset base first.
Brokerage is appealing because it’s asset-light—you just need a computer and a good team. However, finding customers willing to broker freight and securing favorable rates for both shippers and owner-operators is key.
We also want to avoid simply posting loads on boards and getting random carriers. Our goal is to grow a reliable carrier network organically. It’s a different challenge from running an asset-based trucking company, where growth is as simple as buying trucks, hiring drivers, and booking loads. This requires a different mindset, and I’m figuring out the best approach.
Onboarding and Company Culture
Luke (Host): When you’re hiring drivers in general, how do you bring them into the company culture? What’s the process like for onboarding and making sure they align with your expectations?
Ryan Good (Guest): We struggled with that for years because we didn’t have a training program. Now, we have a driver trainer and a structured process. It starts with a couple of phone calls with Matt, our gatekeeper. He’s much better at hiring than I am. I tend to sell the company to candidates, whereas Matt slows things down and asks more questions. That alone has improved our hiring process significantly.
Once a driver is brought on, they spend their first day or two in the office. We teach them our systems, fuel cards, iPads with Samsara, the load board, and dispatch app—everything they need to operate efficiently. Then, they go out with our driver trainer for a week. If they’re in flatbed, they’ll visit local customers, unload a few loads, and learn the process—how to send in a bill of lading, use the iPad, and so on. This transition period gives them confidence and prevents them from going in blind. By the end of the week, they’ve built a relationship with the trainer, who can answer any lingering questions as they transition into full-time work.
Most of the drivers we hire already know how to drive. They have at least three years of experience, and we look at their work history. Our goal is to teach them how we expect things to be done and what our customers expect. If you want to be in the top one or two of your customers’ carrier network, you have to be aligned with their needs. That means drivers need to adopt that mindset—it’s not about throwing challenges at them for no reason; it’s about meeting customer expectations.
Driver Retention and Growth Challenges
Luke (Host): That first 90 to 120 days is where turnover usually happens, right? It seems like having a structured transition and open communication really helps retention.
Ryan Good (Guest): Absolutely. I’ve been focusing on our driver retention rate. I kept hearing about companies with an eight-year average driver tenure, and I didn’t even know what ours was. Turns out, we have guys who’ve been here six to eight years, but we also have a few trucks that cycle through drivers every year. Right now, our average tenure is 2.75 years, and I want to get that up to at least eight.
A big factor has been our rapid growth. When you grow fast, you deal with a lot of changes—new dispatch software, new processes—and some drivers don’t want to adapt. They just leave. Now, we’re focusing on stabilizing and improving retention.
