How Daniel Griffith used Truckstop to grow from one truck to two

Pride, patience, and the right load board are what keep Daniel Griffith moving.

Daniel Griffith is an owner-operator leased onto GKZ Trucking, a carrier based out of Mars Hill, North Carolina. He specializes in heavy haul freight using RGN trailers. His loads take him across all 48 states and demand a load board he can count on from the cab of his truck.

With 30 years in the industry and about a year and a half running full-time on the Truckstop load board, Daniel has built a reputation for showing up, being straight with brokers, and finding good loads no matter where the road takes him.

Daniel finds his own loads, on his own terms

Daniel doesn’t rely on a dispatcher to find freight. His dispatch manager handles paperwork, but the load hunting falls entirely on him. When he needs to move, he opens Truckstop. “That’s how we get our loads,” he said. “We find our loads, we find where we want to go, and that’s why we use a load board.”

Running heavy haul across the country means fuel costs are never a small line item. Daniel estimates he and his wife spend between $2,500 and $3,000 a week on fuel, which means every load decision matters. Finding the right rate, on the right lane, at the right time is what keeps the operation profitable.

Truckstop makes that process straightforward. Daniel sets his lanes, his trailer type, and his radius once, and the board saves it. He’d tried other load boards before landing on Truckstop. “We’ve tried other load boards, but they are difficult,” he said. “They’re hard to manage. With Truckstop, it’s so easy. You find your load and click call them. So it makes it simple.”

Booking loads from the road, one tap at a time

Daniel books almost everything from his phone, on the move. For an operator covering the full lower 48, speed matters as much as selection. One feature he keeps coming back to is the direct call button on each listing.

Daniel also looks for loads that don’t post a rate. Where other drivers scroll past those listings, he calls. “Most of my good loads come from the brokers that don’t post a rate, because people are afraid to call them.”

Vetting brokers and building relationships that last

Before Daniel calls any broker, he checks two things on Truckstop: the MC number and the credit rating. The MC number gives him a sense of how long the broker has been operating. The credit rating tells him whether it’s worth his time.

Daniel and his wife take it a step further. They don’t take COD loads, and before booking anything, they run approval through their factoring company. Between those habits and the broker data on Truckstop, they’ve kept fraud out of their operation.

Getting on a broker’s radar is one thing. Getting them to call you first next time is something else. For Daniel, the answer is straightforward: be honest with them.

“Honesty. Communication,” he said. “They’ve been around. They can tell when you’re lying, when you’re making up a story. Just be honest with them, and it makes that relationship better, and they’ll use you.”

That reputation has started to pay off in direct freight. Some customers now call Daniel when they have loads, bypassing the board entirely. But he’s clear about where the foundation of his business sits: “Mostly everything we haul comes off Truckstop.”

A second truck, and a harder road that made it possible

Daniel didn’t arrive at where he is without setbacks. Before joining GKZ, his truck caught fire. He and his wife lost everything in it. Bills fell behind, and keeping a Truckstop membership felt out of reach.

A Truckstop rep called when the payment didn’t go through. Daniel explained what had happened, and the rep extended a 30-day trial at no charge.

“He gave us a 30-day trial for the next month, which helped us so much, where we could be able to get up and running again,” Daniel said.

That window gave them enough time to get back on the road with a new truck. From there, Daniel and his wife rebuilt, load by load. As of this year, they’re adding a second truck to the fleet.

Why Truckstop is the only board for Daniel

When asked what he’d tell someone just getting into the industry, Daniel doesn’t point to gear or strategy. He points to mindset.

“Patience. You’ve got to have patience, whether it’s from your driving, from finding loads. If you don’t have that patience, this ain’t the industry for you. Just be smart about it. Don’t take that cheap load because you think you’re going to get somewhere else real fast. If you have to sit a day, you’ll make it up.”

That patience extends to how Daniel runs his business. He tried other load boards before settling on Truckstop, and he hasn’t looked back. Whether he’s hauling heavy equipment through Idaho or trying to find a load out of Colorado, Truckstop is where he goes first. “You find something that works for you, you stick with it. And Truckstop works for us.”

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