The Elite Fleet
Carrier Partnership Program
Seated trucks. Disciplined operators. A return you can model.
Ricerca Labs brings research discipline to the business of trucking. Our six-month operating program places screened, experienced CDL-A drivers in your tractors and trains each of them to run the truck as a business, while your company keeps full control of its freight.
The problem
An empty seat is the most expensive asset in your yard.
A parked tractor still carries its payment, its insurance and its permits.
A seat filled by the wrong driver costs more: unreported defects, missed appointments and equipment returned in worse condition than it left. Both problems share a root. Most drivers have never been taught to see the truck as a business.
The program
A six-month operating standard.
Participants run your freight, as independent contractors or as your company drivers, while completing six sequential courses. Each course is applied to the participant's own loads, logs and settlements, so the lessons show up in how your trucks are run.
- Month 01OOT 101
Foundations of Owner Operations
Personal and business finance. Gross revenue is not net profit.
- Month 02OOT 202
Load Economics
Cost per mile, break-even, revenue per hour and settlement reconciliation.
- Month 03OOT 303
Capital Formation and Financial Planning
Reserves, taxes, escrow, financing and a twelve-month forecast.
- Month 04OOT 404
Freight Strategy and Market Analysis
Market cycles, lanes, load boards and customer documentation.
- Month 05OOT 505
Equipment Management
Preventive maintenance, breakdown response and equipment records.
- Month 06OOT 606
Equipment Acquisition
Truck specification, lease analysis, the capstone plan and the final examination.
Daily Operating Standard
Every morning, before dispatch: an owner-level pre-trip inspection, a weather and traffic check, and photographs of the truck, the weather and the traffic, taken only from a safe parking location.
In partnership with
What changes in your fleet
Operators who think like owners.
Screened, experienced drivers
At least two years of verifiable CDL-A experience, a stable work history, no DUI, and in the past three years no accidents and no more than one moving violation, confirmed before a participant reaches your yard.
Command of their numbers
Cost per mile, revenue per hour and settlement reconciliation, applied each week to the truck they drive.
Equipment treated as an asset
Daily owner-level inspections, a clear standard for when to stop the truck, and observation of your shop at work.
A reason to stay
Participants build a reserve every week toward their own equipment, while running your freight.
Grounded in the regulations
Weekly assessments, with 80 percent required to pass, on leasing, driving rules, hours of service and maintenance records.
Growth without lease-purchase exposure
Graduates who choose to own acquire equipment through independent leasing companies and may lease onto your authority.
Driver models
Independent contractors or company drivers.
The program runs the same way for both. What changes is how the driver is paid and what each graduate can choose next.
Independent contractors 1099
- Pay
- Weekly settlements from your company under 49 CFR 376.12, with terms stated in writing.
- Classroom
- Sessions scheduled around each participant's loads.
- Coursework
- Applied to their own settlements, logs and operating costs.
- At graduation
- Free to lease or buy a truck through an independent company and lease it onto your authority.
Company drivers W-2
- Pay
- Paid by the mile through your regular payroll. Classroom sessions are scheduled as paid work time.
- Who enrolls
- Drivers you already employ, or new drivers you bring on to seat a truck.
- Coursework
- Applied to their pay statements and logs, with a sample lease for the lessons on settlements and leasing.
- At graduation
- Free to stay on as company drivers who run the truck like owners, or to move to a leased-on owner-operator role through an independent leasing company, opening the seat for your next participant.
Same curriculum, same daily operating standard, same partnership terms. The return model below works for either.
Expected return
What a seated truck keeps for your company.
Enter your own numbers. Every result is money your company keeps after paying the driver, running the truck and paying our fees.
Your company keeps over six months
–
One truck, one week
- Revenue
- –
- Driver pay
- –
- Payroll taxes and benefits
- –
- Fuel and running costs
- –
- Our weekly fee
- –
- Your company keeps
- –
All trucks, six months
- Kept each week, all trucks
- –
- Over 26 weeks
- –
- One-time $1,000 per driver at 90 days
- –
- Your company keeps
- –
Illustrative numbers are filled in; replace them with your own. Truck payments and insurance are left out because your company pays them whether or not the truck is seated, so this shows what seating the truck adds. Results are estimates based on the numbers entered.
Why Ricerca Labs
Research is in our name.
Ricerca is Italian for research. Ricerca Labs is a data science company built for trucking. Our software reads the economics of a trucking business the way an analyst would: cost per mile, revenue per hour, cash flow and the condition of the equipment.
The program applies the same discipline to the people behind the wheel. Every course is tied to measurable operating numbers, and every participant is assessed every week.
Partnership
Requirements and terms.
Partner requirements
- Authority
- At least 24 months of continuous, active operating authority, with a safety record reviewed during the partnership application.
- Insurance
- At least $1,000,000 auto liability and $100,000 motor truck cargo, with coverage that includes program participants as drivers.
- Equipment
- Late-model, road-ready Class 8 tractors available to seat participants.
- Facilities
- Yard and shop access for scheduled observation sessions.
- Driver pay
- For independent contractors, weekly settlements that comply with 49 CFR 376.12, with terms stated in writing. For company drivers, regular payroll, with classroom sessions paid as work time.
Partnership terms
- Program fee
- A flat weekly fee for each enrolled participant during the six-month program, set in a written partnership agreement. The fee does not change with loads, miles, revenue or the source of the freight.
- Retention milestone
- $1,000 per participant, paid once when the participant completes 90 days in your tractor.
- Your freight
- Your company controls dispatch, rates, settlements and freight payments. Where we introduce your company to a shipper, the agreement is between your company and the shipper alone; we are not a party to it and receive no compensation tied to freight.
- Equipment
- We do not sell, lease or finance trucks and do not operate a lease-purchase program.
Next step
Request a partnership briefing.
Send the details below and we will schedule a briefing to review your fleet and the program.
- Company name, MC number and USDOT number
- Number of tractors available to seat
- Terminal location
- Contact name, title and phone number
Questions
For carriers.
Are you a freight broker?
No. We operate a training program. We do not arrange, sell or negotiate freight, and our fees do not depend on loads, miles or revenue.
Who pays the drivers?
Your company. Independent contractors are settled weekly under 49 CFR 376.12; company drivers are paid through your payroll, including their classroom time.
What does the partnership cost?
A flat weekly program fee for each enrolled participant, set in a written partnership agreement, and a one-time $1,000 retention milestone for each participant who completes 90 days in your tractor.
Does the program work with company drivers?
Yes. You can enroll drivers you already employ or new drivers you bring on. The curriculum and terms are the same; classroom sessions are paid work time, and at graduation each driver chooses to stay on as a company driver or move to a leased-on owner-operator role through an independent leasing company.
Where does the program operate?
Wherever our partner carriers run. Classes are held near the partner carrier's terminal or live online.
Can graduates leave our fleet?
Yes. Graduates choose their own next step. The program is designed to give them reasons to stay, and it does not bind them to any carrier.
Do you run a lease-purchase program?
No. Graduates who choose to own acquire trucks through independent leasing and sales companies.