Being able to confidently and securely own a truck can be a challenging experience in the current trucking landscape — just ask owner-driver Michael Bransgrove.
He’s been in the game for as long as he could sit behind the wheel, getting his first taste of driving with his father, also an owner-driver.
“I didn’t have a lot of hope!” he tells OwnerDriver.
“I spent a lot of weekends growing up washing dad’s truck, greasing it. It was pretty much inevitable that I ended up in it.”
Michael’s first job was in his dad’s truck, carting paper and bricks from their native Gippsland to Melbourne and back.
One became two as he got more involved in the business, with the pair driving Scanias on shorter local journeys most of the time.
As work expanded, Michael found himself driving interstate, going as far as Newcastle in a truck that was only meant for local work at most.
“I did that for about 17 years. Dad ended up with about half a dozen trucks across that time,” he says.
“The Scanias weren’t quite right for driving interstate though. The bed wasn’t big enough and they were underpowered.
“We got into Freightliners after that, which dad had a few of over the years. They were a lot better to live in than the Scanias with their set up.
“It was hard on the family though, you sacrifice a lot being away at that time when your kids are growing up.”
With more considerations to make for the family, Michael dialled it back to local work for the last 18 months of working with his dad. As many owner-drivers would know, when work comes calling, it can be hard to refuse.
“We ended up with another job which I said to dad, ‘you should get a new truck for this one’,” he says.
“He was pretty convinced he’d bought his last truck, and suggested I buy my own. That’s pretty much how I got into owner-driving, with help from him.
“I don’t know how anyone starts off as an owner-driver these days without help from someone. I’ve been working for myself now for 12 or 13 years.”
While it was a daunting task to take the next step into being a fully solo owner-driver, Michael was taking plenty of lessons learned from the start of his career into it.
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Making the leap
Following in his father’s footsteps, Michael went out and bought his first truck – a brand-new Freightliner Argosy.
After enjoying the Freightliners he’d been driving previously, it was a no-brainer. He says a number of factors came into account, as he had to look closely at the reliability and productivity of his truck.
Any downtime or potential loss of revenue would be a killer, as he had discovered from his dad’s work.
“The Argosy came with extended warranty on the motor and driveline,” Michael says.
“That gave me peace of mind, I didn’t have too many concerns. I knew the costs were going to be covered by it.
“The biggest thing I noticed that was different going out on my own was that concern of costing.
“When you’re working for someone and something’s gone wrong, the motor’s blown up or I’ve done a diff, your only concern is how you’re going to get home. When it’s your truck, you’re thinking how am I going to pay for this?”
Michael managed to stay mostly in Victoria across his time in the Argosy, about 600,000km in total, but still did some interstate work.
He stuck with Freightliner for his next purchase, jumping behind the wheel of a Coronado next, which he had for four and a half years.
That was when his love of customising trucks really started to come out. It’s another benefit of being an owner, Michael says, being able to change and shape your truck to your heart’s content.
“I like to customise trucks, and I went to town on the Coronado,” he laughs.
“I really enjoyed it. It was a nice truck to live in, drove well and was comfortable.
“Dad was normally pretty good when I wanted to customise his trucks, but sometimes I could see him looking sideways thinking ‘what’s going on here’!”
Michael’s most recent purchase, and his current truck, is a Kenworth T900 Legend – the stuff of dreams.
Beautifully painted and finished in a combination of black, tan and brown, it’s certainly a sight to behold, both on the road and off it.
He bought it in 2017 and has already put a cool 1.2 million kilometres on the odometer.
There’s almost a childlike wonder in Michael’s voice when he speaks about the Legend — it goes to show his passion not only for the job, but the truck itself.
“We did all the customising on it at home in about 30 days and then sent it away to get painted,” he says.
“That’s one of the main reasons I’m an owner-driver. I could make more money and have a different lifestyle doing something else, but I love the machinery.
“If I could keep my truck sit in the shed and not have to work it, I’d do it every day of the week. I just love the trucks.”
Words of wisdom
With now more than a decade of experience as an owner-driver under his belt, Michael has taken plenty of learnings out of his career on the road.
One of the things that he’s strived for is a ‘point of difference’ — particularly important when you’re competing for contracts constantly as a part of the job.
“You have to be doing something different from everyone else,” Michael says.
“If you want to buy a truck and cart 24 tonnes and make a reasonable living, it’s not going to happen. You have to be proactive and find the most productivity out of your truck.
“I specced my truck up really light so I can get a 29-ton payload. I went down a different path, doing investigations on diff ratios to try and save on fuel.
“Every .1 of litre of fuel you save can save you $700 or $800 a month. These are the little things.”
As much as being an owner-driver can be hard, lonely work, Michael says building business relationships in areas you may not be as proficient in is vital.
“It’s easy to work hard and make no money.
“You do a lot of hours, doing maintenance and bookwork along with the driving. You want to put as many things going in your favour.
“It’s important if you’re not proficient in certain areas that you get help with it, whether it be insurance, maintenance or the business side.”
Adding to that, being familiar both with your customers, both their products and business, as well as your own responsibilities on the road, will go a long way.
“One of the biggest problems is the chain of responsibility,” Michael says.
“The responsibility on you as an owner is quite extreme. You have to take the risk into account. You need to be making more out of that, in case something does happen. You’re the front line.
“A lot of people get into the truck without realising that, and then it’s too late if something does happen.
“As an owner-driver you have to realise the customer is king. Not necessarily your contractor, but where your product is going. It’s important to understand their business, their product and how they’re using it and how you can make them happy.
“I remember dad going through tough times as an owner-driver, and he always depended on whether he had good work or bad work. It’s all about relationships.”
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