So you’ve either bought a truck, or you’re planning to do it.
And now, you’re at the stage where you’re ready to start running a successful trucking company.
First of all, congratulations.
This is a major business move that can pay huge dividends.
Trucking is a big business. And for that reason, it can be an extremely lucrative field to get into.
Here’s the challenge, though.
It’s not always so obvious how to run a successful trucking company.
So in this post, you’re going to learn five of our best tips for how to be successful as you embark on your new trucking endeavor.
Let’s jump into it.
1. Start By Choosing The Proper Market
You may be surprised to hear this—but in the trucking industry, most drivers and company fleet operators will end up choosing a specific market to service.
For example, you may haul for grocery stores, or you may haul for specific types of merchandisers, etc.
The idea here is to find a specific niche that will really fit with your equipment and the assets that your company already has to leverage.
Once you decide on a specific market and are ready to niche down into that market, you’ll be ready to start looking for contracts.
2. Make Sure You Have A Business Plan
Creating a thorough and detailed business plan for how you’re going to run your trucking company is crucial.
Here’s the thing.
Trucks have a lot of operating costs.
There are a lot of costs overall associated with creating a functional business in this industry that yields the proper return on your investment.
And it’s really important that you crunch the numbers and do all of the math beforehand.
For example, at the most basic level, it’s really important to understand how many miles per gallon your truck actually gets so that you can properly calculate the costs of hauling a load.
All of these things matter.
So make sure to do all the math before you ever start looking for jobs, so that you’ll know exactly what your prices and costs are.
3. Get The Proper Equipment
Getting a truck is really the first step toward making your trucking company successful.
However, you’ll also need to get some more specific equipment that’ll help you to serve your target market.
For example, do you need a refrigerator trailer to help haul frozen goods?
Do you need a car hauler so that you can haul cars for car lots?
There are all kinds of different types of equipment that you could invest in to help you service your focus clientele—so make sure that you get the right equipment for the job.
4. Start Looking For Loads And Orders
There are multiple different methods that you can utilize to help you find contracts.
You can:
- Look for freight brokers
- Browse load boards
- Connect with registered government contractors
- Network with industry professionals
This is one of the scariest parts of starting a new business.
Every business owner usually has a little bit of fear in the back of their mind saying something like:
“What if I don’t get any work? What if all the contracts dry out? What if I do a load or two and then the work just stops coming in?”
These are valid fears.
But remember, if you stick with it and you operate with a can-do attitude, you’re much more likely to overcome such dangers and find plenty of work to keep you busy.
5. Be Diligent In Tracking Income And Expenses
Another crucial thing to remember when you’re either driving a truck or operating a fleet is that there are a lot of taxes.
Tax details are important to keep straight.
And the best way to minimize your tax liability (and to maximize write-offs for your expenses) is to make sure you’re extremely diligent and detailed in tracking income and expenses.
Every time you make a purchase, it’s important to record that purchase for your business.
Every time you get paid, it’s really important to keep detailed income information about it.
Your ledger is going to be your greatest asset when tax season comes around.
So make sure that you stay diligent and keep meticulous records so that your business can be in the clear, and that you’ll always know exactly what the numbers are.
Note: Do you need some extra capital to invest in your business? Consider using factoring for trucking to get it!
Conclusion
There you have it.
Five tips on running a successful trucking company.
This is a great business to be in.
So congratulations!
All that’s left now is to get out there and get to work.
You’ve got this.
