She does just about all of it, Crystal Rives, when it comes to the maintenance of her one-truck Texas-intrastate car-haul business. She's put a big emphasis on solid partnerships through the years, whether with a trusted engine/major mechnical shop or a growing stable of customers. That's particularly so since she went out on her own with authority to haul cars in 2016. The move followed almost a decade and a half hauling cars for other companies, work in the Texas oilfield, end dump, side dump, pneumatic and liquid-bulk tank. 

This Overdrive Radio tour through Rives’ business and history in trucking is part of our monthly series of podcasts and feature profiles of contenders for the 2023 Trucker of the Year award: http://overdrieonline.com/trucker-of-the-year 

Rives is our July Trucker of the Month, in part recognized for a can-do approach to the work, a real do-it-yourself spirit in trucking and in life. She’s out of Cleburne Texas, south of Fort Worth, where she’s built a steady base of customers among used dealers, restoration specialists and others, hauling in a 2006 Peterbilt 379 she calls "Ruby." Yeah, the Pete's red, and powered by a 550 Caterpillar the previous owner overhauled right before she bought it in 2019. 

Find some pictures of the unit hauling a load of classic autos to Mecum collectors’ auction in Houston this past April, via this link to the feature profile that announced her contention for Trucker of the Year: https://www.overdriveonline.com/trucker-of-the-year/article/15543167/trucker-of-the-month-crystal-rives-makes-hay-of-carhaul-work

She’s no doubt got the bull by the horns, so to speak, with the car-haul business today, though it hasn’t been without it's difficulty, particularly before she went out on her own to serve customers directly. At previous employers as a company driver, she was always the only woman behind the wheel, she said, and added, certainly unnecessary pressure was on in some ways.

Since putting out her own shingle, though, her customers believe in her, that’s sure, as she follows through on lessons learned from her grandfather and father about doing more than just talking the talk. As Overdrive Editor Todd Dills wrote in the profile of her business, “Just show them you can do it,” her grandfather always told her, “and that you can do it better than them."

The chips fall where you want them, then, more times than not.

You can enter the 2023 Trucker of the Year competition via the form at this ink: https://www.overdriveonline.com/page/toptrucker

Making car-haul look easy with owner-op Crystal Rives: 'Couldn't imagine doing anything else'

The Overdrive Radio podcast is produced by Overdrive magazine, the Voice of the American Trucker for 60-plus years. Host Todd Dills -- with a supporting cast among Overdrive editors, contributors and others -- presents owner-operator business leading lights, interviews with extraordinary independent truckers and small fleet owners, and plenty in the way of trucking business and regulatory news and views. Access an archive of all episodes of Overdrive Radio going back more than a decade via this link: http://overdriveonline.com/overdrive-radio

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