Driven for Success
Driven for Success is a podcast for trucking company owners and executives running 20–80 truck fleets who want to scale without chaos.
Hosted by Mike Ritzema, founder of Superior Trucking Payroll Service, the show focuses on what actually breaks as fleets grow—and how strong operators fix it before constant firefighting takes over.
This isn’t a motivational show and it’s not theory-heavy. Each episode is grounded in real patterns seen across hundreds of trucking companies, covering topics like:
- Where complexity quietly creeps in as you scale
- What to standardize—and what not to
- Why payroll, pay clarity, and systems become retention issues
- How to build infrastructure that supports growth instead of relying on heroics
The goal is simple: give you practical ideas you can apply immediately to run a calmer, more profitable operation.
If you’re building a trucking company that needs to work without you carrying everything on your shoulders, this show is for you.
Episodes
49 episodes
S1 E48 When Truck Drivers Say No to Per Diem: Understanding the Real Reasons
Why would a truck driver turn down extra take-home pay?It happens more often than many fleet owners expect.In this episode, Mike Ritzema explains why some drivers decline per diem and why those decisions are often based on legitim...
S1 E47 How to Roll Out Truck Driver Per Diem Without Driver Pushback
A good truck driver per diem program can save drivers money, reduce payroll taxes, and benefit the entire company. But if it's rolled out poorly, it can create confusion, distrust, and unnecessary pushback from drivers.In this episode, M...
S1 E 46 The 3 Ways Trucking Companies Pay Per Diem (And Why Two Fall Short)
Most trucking companies know per diem can save money.What many don't realize is there are three different ways to calculate it.Some fleets use a cents-per-mile method. Others use a percentage of driver pay. The third method calcul...
S1 E45 How Much Money Does Per Diem Save a Trucking Company? The Real Numbers Behind the Savings
Truck driver per diem is often promoted as a way to save money, but how much does it actually save?In this episode of Driven for Success, Mike Ritzema breaks down the real math behind truck driver per diem and explains why many trucking ...
S1 E44 What Truck Driver Per Diem Actually Is (And Why So Many Trucking Companies Get It Wrong)
Most trucking company owners have heard of per diem.Most drivers have heard of per diem.But very few people can clearly explain what it actually is.In this episode of Driven for Success, Mike Ritzema breaks down truck drive...
S1 E43 The First System Every Trucking Owner Should Build (When Everything Feels Overwhelming)
Most trucking company owners don't have a time problem.They have a decision problem.When every question, exception, approval, and problem comes back to the owner, the business starts to feel chaotic—even when you have good people ...
S1 E42 Why Your Trucking Business Feels Chaotic (Even With Good People)
Most trucking companies do not feel chaotic because they hired bad people.They feel chaotic because everybody is filling in the blanks differently.One manager says yes. Another says no. Drivers get different answ...
S1 E41 How to Stop Answering the Same Questions Over and Over | Trucking Systems & Scaling
Most trucking companies don’t have a people problem.They have a repetition problem.The owner keeps answering the same questions over and over again… and every unanswered process slowly turns the owner into the bottleneck.In...
S1 E40 Why Trucking Employees Ignore Your Processes (It’s Not What You Think)
Most trucking company owners think process problems are people problems.They’re not.In this episode of Driven for Success, Mike Ritzema breaks down the hidden reason processes stop working as trucking companies grow.Because...
S1 E39 Trucking Owners You’re Delegating the Wrong Decisions (And It’s Costing You Control)
Most trucking owners think they need to delegate more.They don’t.They need to stop giving away the wrong decisions.In this episode, we break down why some decisions should never leave the owner—and what happens when they do...
S1 E38 Are You Accidentally Overpaying Your Drivers?
Most trucking companies aren’t overpaying drivers on purpose.But if you’re paying drivers a percentage of revenue… there’s a good chance it’s happening anyway.In this episode, I break down a common mistake that can quietly eat int...
S1 E37 The Real Reason Your Trucking Team Can't Make Decisions (and How to Fix It)
Most trucking company owners don’t have a people problem.They have a decision problem.If every question still comes back to you, your business isn’t lacking effort… it’s lacking context.In this episode, we break down why yo...
S1 E36 Why Your Trucking Team Doesn’t Follow Your Processes (And What to Do About It)
If your team isn’t following your processes, it’s easy to get frustrated.You put the time in to build the system. You explained it. And yet, people still do something different.In this episode of Driven for Success, we br...
S1 E35 What Decisions Should You Keep as a Trucking Company Owner?
If you're running a trucking company and trying to delegate more… but you're not sure what decisions you should still be making—this episode is for you.After realizing they’ve become the bottleneck, many owners swing too far in the other...
S1 E34 Why Most Trucking Companies Stall at 20–80 Trucks (And How to Fix It)
If you run a trucking company with 20 to 80 trucks and feel like everything still runs through you… you’re not alone.At this stage, many owners hit a point where growth slows down—not because of bad people, but because the business still...
S1 E33 The One Question That Builds Decision-Makers in Your Trucking Company
In growing trucking companies, a pattern quietly takes hold.Every question starts going to the owner.Dispatch asks. Payroll asks. Safety asks. Operations asks.And over time, the company stops buil...
S1 E32 The Hidden Cost of Being the Smartest Person in Your Trucking Company
Early in the life of a trucking company, the owner usually is the smartest person in the room.They know the customers. They know the lanes. They know the drivers. They’ve solved almost every problem befo...
S1 E31 The Escalation Habit That Turns Trucking Owners Into Bottlenecks
As trucking companies grow, something subtle begins to happen inside the business.Dispatch escalates decisions. Payroll escalates questions. Safety escalates problems. Operations escalates anything uncertain.
S1 E30 The System You’re Afraid to Build (Why Owners Become the Bottleneck at 20–80 Trucks)
Most trucking company owners don’t stall because of bad software or bad people.They stall because every “quick question” still lands on their desk.In this episode of Driven for Success, Mike talks about the system most gr...
S1 E29 The First System Every 30–50 Truck Fleet Needs
As trucking fleets grow into the 30–50 truck range, most owners know they need systems — but they don’t know where to start.Should you fix payroll? Dispatch? Hiring? Maintenance?In this episode of Driven for Success, Mike...
S1 E28 What Trucking Fleet Owners Should Stop Measuring (And What Actually Matters Instead)
As trucking fleets grow, owners often track more numbers than ever — revenue, cost per mile, turnover, utilization.But more data doesn’t always mean more control.In this episode of Driven for Success, Mike Ritzema explain...
S1 E27 Why Good People Burn Out in Bad Systems
As trucking fleets grow past 20–50 trucks, many owners start noticing something uncomfortable: good people seem overwhelmed, reactive, or burned out — even though they care and work hard.In this episode of Driven for Success...
S1 E26 What to Fix First When Everything Feels Important
When trucking companies grow into the 30–50 truck range, most owners don’t struggle because they don’t know what needs to change.They struggle because everything feels urgent.Hiring needs work. Pay policies feel me...
S1 E 25 Why Good Systems Feel Rigid (and Why Growing Fleets Actually Need Them)
Somewhere between 25 and 60 trucks, many fleet owners start to feel resistance when new systems are introduced.Not because the systems won’t work — but because they feel rigid, bureaucratic, or “not like us.”In this episode of
S1 E24 What Owners Have to Stop Doing to Scale Past 30–50 Trucks
Somewhere between 30 and 50 trucks, a subtle shift happens for most fleet owners.The business is bigger. Revenue is there. Fewer fires are breaking out day to day. And yet, it still feels like everything depends on you.In...