12/28/2025
As we wrap up 2025 these next couple days I just want to reflect on what this past year has been. This year has been one of the craziest roller coasters of a year to say the least. The way this year started I truthfully didn’t know if we would be here by the end of the year if I’m being honest with myself. As a business owner in this industry you always plan for slower winters. Most of the time I figure my year based off 40-44 weeks just to give wiggle room for holidays, vacations, and the usual winter slowdown. What you always hope you’re ready for but rarely are, are the major breakdowns. Coming into spring this year we couldn’t catch a break when it came to that. Finally put the second truck on the road in April and within a month had the transmission blow apart. At the same time we had engine issues on 167. Now I’m not so niave to think that adding another truck doesn’t just add problems but how the hell do you plan for both to have major issues at once. But like my dad always says “you just gotta figure it the f**k out”. I can’t thank him and Jeff Beary enough for keeping these things running everyday. It’s not always easy with 26 year old trucks especially when we all work full time jobs. You haven’t lived until you’ve pulled a transmission in a fully loaded dump truck on roughly finished concrete in 40 degree weather with nothing but flashlights for lighting. But no one said a word they just showed up for me. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t ready to put for sale signs In the windows and go on about my life. But today I’m so thankful I didn’t. This year ended up being the busiest year to date. Sometimes too busy but we always figured it out and got s**t done. I can’t thank stick and Rob enough for showing up everyday and working their butts off. Stick does a lot of his own dispatching and the amount of times this year he had to call me and say “how the f**k do you want to do all this” is honestly comical but we always made it work. Rob bounced back and forth between the Tri axle and running deliveries for the landscape yard and never bi***ed. You just tell him what to do and he goes. He ran most of the summer with no A/C and the only thing ever said was “daddy is a little warm today” 😂 We made some new relationships this year with some amazing people that have truly made a world of difference for us and I can’t wait to watch them grow in the coming years. With the craziness of this year I fell short on a lot of my goals for the year in terms of getting a website up and running, I kind of fell off the map with Raneys sales and mainly I missed out on getting the podcast started. All of which I still fully intend to get going in 2026 so be on the lookout for posts about each of those in the coming weeks. In closing I’d like to thank everyone that helps out with this deal. My wife and daughter for always being my support system when I’m crashing out even when they are the ones that honestly suffer the most when s**ts going wrong. My dad for always showing up when trucks need fixed and when I have no idea how to do all the work we get. Jeff Beary for always being willing to work on evenings and weekends to keep trucks serviced and ready to go. Stick and Rob and their families for keeping their heads down and running. Justin Reaver for killing it at the landscape yard and keeping us busy in that respect. And thank you to everyone who has given us work and keeps us going everyday. I can’t thank everyone enough for helping me live my dream. I hope everyone ends the year on a high and may you all have a blessed new year full of happiness, health and prosperity. - Tyler Stephan
