Today, we’d like to introduce you to one of our graduates, Ken Elrich. We are so proud of Ken. Not only does he run his own successful brokerage, Black Ops Logistics, but he also takes on our other Veteran graduates to work for him as freight broker agents. Up to this day, he has on-boarded 20 agents.
Ken served in the Navy in the late 80’s and early 90’s. After bouncing around jobs for a while, he landed in the trucking industry, working as a professional driver. About 17 years later, Ken began to experience back problems and realized he needed to find a new line of work. After doing his research, Ken was able to use his Chapter 31 benefits to attend our training.
Here’s what he shared about his journey:
After being discharged from the Navy, I went from job to job and finally ended up working with family in a Commercial Truck Tire Business. That was my introduction to the trucking industry. I always wanted to drive a Semi-truck and well, that is where this journey started.
I started running the business and soon found out I had a knack for this industry. I learned to deal with difficult people, and how to work deals. Eventually, I was offered a chance to go get my CDL. I learned the industry well and I am proud to say, I called myself a professional driver. Roughly 17 years later, I have herniated disks in my lower back and neck, which made it painful to drive. I soon realized I needed to stop driving and I had to find a new line of employment.
Being a Veteran, and already enrolled in the Chapter 31 Vocational rehab program, I quickly researched for classes to learn how to become a Freight Broker agent. I learned a lot being a former truck driver. I was already 75% there, but I was looking for the next step, a little more. That’s when I by accident I found a link. I don’t even remember where I found it, but what caught my eye was Brooke advertised the Veterans Chapter 31 Program. I talked to my counselor and he agreed too. Jan Roach went out of her way to help me.
So, I headed off to Chicago to spend a week with Drake Sliver. The following week, Jan Roach made arrangements for me to go down to Dallas, where I got to spend the whole week one-on-one with Drake Sliver and Tish Cozine – two people that I continue to stay in touch with.
I signed up with a brokerage and that just didn’t work out for me. I soon found myself spending money left and right getting things in place to open my own Brokerage, “Black Ops Logistics, LLC.”
I had communicated with Drake a time or two what my plan was. Then in August 2017, I was on a two-week motorcycle trip and I got a facebook message from Jeff Roach. I was thinking “WOW!” Jeff Roach was messaging me! How cool! We exchanged numbers and email addresses, and before you know it, he asked me if I wanted to speak to the classes about offering agents a place to work.
When my brokerage became legal on July 5th, 2017, I told Drake I was willing to take any and all Veterans from his classes. I wanted to offer my fellow vets an opportunity to work for themselves and without the pressures of a normal job.
I soon realized that I wanted to offer all students and anyone else an opportunity to get that job that no one wants to give you, where you can learn, get experience and build a “book of business.”
Now, I speak during training classes with Brooke’s instructors, Drake, Tish, and Susie. I am not trying to become the richest guy doing this. I just want to live, eat, and pay bills, and doing this is enjoyable for me. I get to help people where most in this industry would rather not. Jeff and Jan have made that possible for me.
I am grateful for not only the education and great people who have instructed me, but also for the deep heartfelt warmth from everyone at Brooke, and the friendship.
I have to date on-boarded 20 agents. They are not all active, but I have made it company policy that no one gets fired from Black Ops. They may walk away and that’s ok, but until then their spot stays open! Where most brokerages are only allowing 70/30 split on the commissions, I have gone to 50/50 to help agents get going and start making as much money as possible, as fast as possible. We do all the back-office work for them. Later on, if they are moving freight and start to get that down, I am willing to entertain the idea of them locating and tracking the trucks, and at that point, we will talk about 70/30 split on commissions in their favor.
Ken Elrich
Ken truly has a heart for helping others achieve success, just like all of us at Brooke. We are very honored to have the opportunity to work with Ken as one of our trusted brokers, and we are very thankful he is able to help our future graduates find the success that he has found in his business! Keep up the good work!