Starting Small With Your Trucking Business

Many people aim to be able to build a thriving business for their own. If a trucking business is on your mind, then you should be prepared to take the leap and get into the trucking industry. Starting your own trucking business now is a great idea because the trucking industry is getting better and better. The demand for products and for moving freight is high, even in this digital world.

It’s true that there are other larger trucking companies that have an impressive fleet of trucks in the thousands. However, smaller trucking companies also make up a huge percentage of the trucking industry. Most of these small trucking companies only have a handful of trucks for their service. There is certainly room for more trucking companies such as the one you are going to start.

Start Planning

Planning is always the first step and being prepared helps make it more likely fr you to succeed. Most of the small trucking companies start as an owner-operator company. This means that even if you own the company, you still have a truck you use to do daily activities that your fleet also does.

Starting out as a driver for your company is a great idea. It helps you achieve a better perspective when it comes to running the company because you have the first-hand experience. However, you have to make sure you have the appropriate commercial driver’s license if you don’t have any previous experience working in this industry.

On the other hand, you can also choose to simply hire truck drivers so you can better focus on running the business. Whatever you choose, it is important to plan it out in advance.

Accomplish All Legal Requirements

Fill up forms, submit documents and do all the paper works. These might seem a lot and tedious to do but they are requirements in order to get your trucking company started. These will get you your trucking authority so that the FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration) can allow you to do business.

You’ll be assigned a Department of Transportation Number, but if you still don’t have this, you can apply for it and the processing will take from 20 up to 25 business days.

Finding Funds

Any business needs funds and even if you only plan to have a couple of trucks to start with, they can still be expensive. The trucks aren’t only the things you spend on, you also have to spend on insurance, permits and other expenses depending on which state you’re in. To get access to funds, you can use a bank loan, sell some of your properties or use your own savings.

Truck Insurance

As a trucking company, insurance is very important to your business. Trucking companies are required to have liability insurance that covers injuries or damages due to operating the commercial truck.

Get Your Company A Truck Or Trucks

Depending on your current financial capabilities and preference, you can either purchase a truck/s or lease them. If you have the budget to purchase trucks upfront, you may find a dealer to purchase all your trucks from. Purchasing multiple trucks from them might lead you to a discounted price.

Leasing trucks are less costly upfront. Some even offer lease-to-own options so you can pay them monthly and eventually own the vehicles. Just take note that the terms may vary from one dealer to another. Before agreeing on a dealer, make sure to check out what others have to offer as well.

Apart from purchasing new trucks, you may also purchase used trucks for your business. These will be cheaper than the new ones but you have to be careful about what to buy. Check and make sure that you can still use them and take note of the repair costs that they might need.

Once you’ve found trucks to purchase, you’d also need trailer equipment so you can haul freight. You’d also need various tools to run the business smoothly. Useful devices like GPS trackers for your trucks can also be purchased.

Register For International Registration Plan or IRP

If you register your vehicle through IRP, you will be permitted to cross states with your haul freight. You can even go through Canada when you register your vehicle through it. Of course you’d have to pay for fees and that amount will vary from one state to another.

Start With The Operation

After all the preparations and registrations, you can now start operating as a trucking company. You should have a marketing plan that you can follow in order to improve your chances of having someone hire you.

Look for niches that require your services. You may focus on their needs and taper your service to their niche. For example, you may specialize in transporting goods that required to be chilled or refrigerated. Make sure to contact enough clients to keep your trucking company moving and busy.

On the other hand, you may also choose to be more versatile and attract different niches or multiple niches. You have to make sure you are always attracting clients because there is no guarantee that your previous client will use your services again unless there’s an agreement between both of you. 

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