Alex Snook on Starting a Trucking Company and Launching Freight Tech | Ep 40

Alex Snook’s rise in the trucking industry started with a simple job referral and grew into a career built on hands-on learning, mentorship, and entrepreneurship. As co-owner of Presidential Trucking and CEO of OnSight, Alex brings a unique dual perspective from both operations and freight tech. In this episode of Miles and Mentors: A Trucking Podcast, Alex shares his journey from entry-level brokerage work to managing trucks, launching a fleet, and developing software that directly addresses cargo theft and fraud at the shipper level.

Listeners get a behind-the-scenes look at how Alex built his book of business inside a small Kansas City brokerage, where close-knit mentorship and hands-on dispatching helped him quickly gain confidence. He discusses how that experience laid the foundation for launching his own trucking company, what drove his decision to take the risk, and how he managed partnerships, finances, and startup costs from the ground up. He outlines the key steps for sourcing trucks, finding drivers, managing repairs, and dealing with fuel and maintenance expenses, all while balancing responsibilities across multiple businesses.

Alex also dives deep into his motivation behind OnSight. After experiencing the theft of a full truckload of electronics, he realized how exposed the industry is to fraud and inefficiency at pickup points. That event led to the development of a SaaS platform focused on secure driver check-ins, dock visibility, and shipper-side validation. He shares how the software is currently being piloted in Kansas City and how it aims to connect brokers, carriers, and shippers with real-time communication to stop fraudulent activity before it starts.

Beyond the tech, Alex shares advice on factoring, fuel card partnerships, and financial tools that support small fleet growth. He highlights the importance of building relationships with trustworthy mechanics, finding billing help, and understanding when to factor invoices versus self-funding. He also explains why fraud is not just a carrier issue but a national concern, and how small actions at the ground level can help protect entire supply chains.

For those looking to grow a fleet or launch a solution in the logistics space, this episode delivers actionable insights, lessons learned from real mistakes, and encouragement to take calculated risks with the right support in place. Whether you are behind the wheel or behind the scenes, Alex Snook offers a relatable and inspiring blueprint for building something that lasts.