Gaming industry employee finds niche for new business in Las Vegas

Marcella Williams, 41, works as a program manager in the gaming industry by day.

By night, she runs a semi-truck rental company that targets truck drivers in need of commercial driver’s license renewal.

“If they’re new, they need to go to school, but if they’re somebody who has been on the road, lost their license, took a break, well they can come to me, to rent a truck,” said Williams.

Williams said she was looking to start a company to promote her project management skills and settled on something “completely out of the box.”

The entrepreneur owns two semi-trucks, one to rent to drivers at the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles and another that transports products out-of-state. Revenue from the truck that transports currently covers both business operations, but Williams said she expects the rental company to become profitable once it gets more customers. One of her drivers, Larry Jordan, 55, does the out-of-state routes and helps with recruiting clients to rent the truck to.

Every week, Jordan and other drivers park a semi-truck outside of a North Las Vegas DMV that does commercial drivers licenses.

Jordan, who has worked as a truck driver for more than 20 years, described the new business as “very unique.” Jordan met Williams in March while he was working as a driver for hire and initially thought she was crazy when she pitched her plan, he said. Along the way, Jordan has offered input and advice as Williams gets up to speed on the trucking business.

“She’s got goals and she’s not afraid to go after them,” Jordan said.

Williams said there were some obstacles before she could get her business moving. The DMV wasn’t sure at first if she could rent the vehicle, but in the end determined that it was allowed. It was also difficult to get the vehicle insured, Williams said, but she was ultimately able to do so.

Williams grew up in Petaluma, California, and moved to Las Vegas 16 years ago. While business has picked up, it hasn’t been as big yet as they expected. Jordan said that’s because many truck drivers aren’t accustomed to renting a truck to borrow when they renew their license.

Typically, drivers go through a trucking school or use a company vehicle for the test once they’ve gotten a contract, said Jordan.

Williams has plans to expand her business, CDL Focus, which currently employs two drivers and two backup drivers. Williams said she wants to get a newer rental truck and add more semi-trucks for transport.

Contact Alexander S. Corey at acorey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0270. Follow @acoreynews on Twitter.