Trucking is a very demanding business that constantly faces shortages while having a high demand. Working on your own or with a company is the norm, but how about starting your own company?
If you hope to grow your profit in the trucking industry, there’s no better way to do so than by starting your own business. The opportunities are plentiful, but the competition is also high.
Right Equipment
Without the equipment, you don’t have a chance of starting your trucking business. You are faced with two choices of buying or leasing the equipment. You can buy equipment by taking a loan. Leasing requires you to pay regular rent for the equipment.
You can also reduce the cost of acquiring the equipment by going for used equipment.
Permits
Once you decide that you are going to set up a business, you need to register it and get the permits. If you are working on an inter-province or on an international level, then you require separate permits in those areas.
Clients
For a new business, you should capitalize on clients that you are already in touch with from your previous trucking job. You can utilize load boards to find clients, like Load Sufer, 123 load board, and Transcore. However, load boards don’t work as a long term strategy, as you will find yourself spending a lot of time hunting for assignments instead of them coming to you.
Develop and grow your relationship with your clients so that they keep coming back to you.
Bid Well
Bidding is going to be a big part of running the business. Bid competitively, yet not too low, since you don’t want to go in a loss. The best way to bid is to first analyze your business costs – truck repairs, fuel, employment, etc. Then, set yourself a base value that you won’t bid under.
Run the Office
You have an office to run so don’t ignore that. Take care of the day to day operations, ensure your resources are utilized, opportunities are taken, and documents are well kept. Bigger the fleet, more the reason to run an efficient office.
Accounts
Accounting is going to be a large part of your business and not one that you should ignore. Ensuring your bookkeeping is thorough, paying taxes and keeping the accounts are required by the law.
Accounting is also vital so that you know your cash flow situation and can alter your business accordingly.
Starting your own trucking business is a bold move. If you are in need of any equipment, Heavy Duty Direct provides the best in the market. We have a range of new and used heavy duty vehicles and equipment for your new business.