Rosser Trucking: A Thread Capital Small Business Success Story
Demetria Rosser’s dream started with oily hands on the sandy soil of Eastern North Carolina when she was young.
“I remember as a little girl being outside, up under the truck, getting greasy and dirty with my dad when he worked on his tractor trailers,” she recalls.
Her father, Ernest, ran tractor trailers for more than 20 years, owning his own business and eventually working for Cummings, making the diesel engines himself.
Rosser knew she wanted to start her own trucking company one day, but it took her well into adulthood to take the leap. “A lot of it is inspired by my dad,” she says. Rosser was working a different job in Roanoke Rapids and began to feel the pull of entrepreneurship. “I wanted to do something different,” she recalls. “I was working nights and weekends. I was missing a lot of family time.”
The idea of fulfilling her dream and owning her own trucking company—a business she could run from home—began to take shape. “It was something I always wanted to do. But my dad sealed the deal for me. He said, ‘Of course, sweetie, I’ll help you start your business.’ He showed me the ropes.”
She started the company in September of 2015, and was able to purchase her first tractor trailer thanks to a small business loan from Thread Capital, which is designed to help small business owners access capital to start or grow their businesses. “I was so concerned that my credit wasn’t where it should be or where I needed it to be or where I wanted it to be,” she says. And that caused her to be hesitant in starting her company. “The loan gave me some flexibility with the capital that I already had. It made things simple. And everything worked out perfectly.”
That’s not to say things are always easy.
Trucks break down, deliveries run behind, things happen. “It has definitely tested my patience,” Rosser says. “It has brought me to be more resilient.”
Her company, Rosser Trucking, LLC, transports vehicles between dealers, auctions, and customers. She serves a wide area, from Northern Virginia across Eastern North Carolina and to the Catawba Valley. “I’m in the business of moving cars from one buyer to another,” she explains. Rosser Trucking now has four trucks, which she directs from her Halifax County home.
There, Rosser is also able to spend more time with her children, who are 16 and six. “If I need to step out and be a mom for a bit, I can easily step out and transition to being at home,” she says.
That has allowed more than just the fulfillment of a childhood dream.
“I love it. It ain’t always easy,” she says, pausing to check the status of a truck that won’t start. But she thinks of those grease-covered moments on the ground with her dad and knows she’s lucky. “You have to be able to take the good with the bad.”
For more information about Thread Capital’s Small Business loans, reach out to the team directly by email: [email protected].