Did you know that more than 72 percent of all freight hauled in the United States of America is hauled by commercial truck companies? Starting and running a trucking company is a lucrative way to become a small business owner and support your family, but there are a number of factors that play into the success of your trucking business.
If you want to set yourself up for the best odds of success then you need to follow business tips that will lead you in the right direction for building an efficient truck management company. Little things like fuel management and GPS tracking make a world of difference for a trucking business.
The good news is that you’re in the perfect place to learn about the key trucking company tips that will lead your business to success. Keep reading to learn more!
1. Choose Your Trucking Segment
There are multiple segments of the trucking industry that you can choose to focus on when running a trucking business. These segments will have a big impact on the trailers and equipment that you’ll need for the job.
Food trucking requires a regular enclosed trailer for keeping the food goods dry and protected from the elements, while refrigerated food requires a special trailer. Refrigerated trailers need to keep a steady and cold temperature in order to keep the food goods from spoiling during the journey to the destination.
If you’re running a smaller trucking business then it is important that you choose a particular niche and stick with it.Perhaps you see a gap in the market and decide to provide taxi trucks in Adelaide, become an expert or leader in taxi trucks and build up the reputation of your trucking business before you start venturing off into other trucking segments.
You’ll have a much easier time growing your trucking company if you pour all of your energy and resources into one particular niche. Spreading these resources around to multiple niches will make it difficult to gain a foothold in the trucking industry. It will also limit the amount of building risk insurance that you need for your trucks and truck drivers.
2. Build a Customer List
Another important part of running a trucking business is building up your customer list. New trucking companies often have to resort to bidding lower than the competition for different jobs in order to secure more business opportunities. You should look for bidding opportunities when you’re first getting started as a way to gain loyal customers.
One thing to keep in mind when you’re starting with the bidding process is that it is quite competitive. You’ll need to go with low bids in order to secure more business opportunities which will cut into the profits that you generate. Make sure that your bids are low enough to secure new customers without eliminating large profits from the job.
The more loyal customers that you end up getting, the stronger and more stable your trucking company becomes. Your best bet for securing a strong customer base is to make sales calls to potential clients. This is the most effective way to build your customer list and create a sustainable trucking business model.
3. Maintain a Strong Cash Flow
As with any type of business, it is important that your commercial trucking company has a strong cash flow. If you want to grow and scale your trucking business then you’ll need this cash flow to keep investing in your growth. You need to give your trucking time several months to become stable and start relying on the income that it produces.
A good rule of thumb when it comes to managing a business in the trucking industry is to expect payments from clients two or three months after the initial agreement. That is when the final payment gets deposited into your truck management company’s bank account.
You have every right to get excited when you start securing new customers but keep in mind that you won’t see the profits from those customers for another few months. Make sure that you have enough capital to keep your business running until those profits come through.
You’ll also need to have cash for different truck management aspects like fuel and maintenance. Without the money to pay for maintenance and your drivers’ salaries, your trucking business is doomed.
4. Run a Trucking Company Website
Now more than ever, businesses and consumers use websites to determine if a company is worth doing business with. You need to have a strong and easy-to-use website for your trucking business if you want to have success. A good website shows that you’re running a legitimate business.
This is also your chance to give your potential clients more information about your trucking business. They’ll get information about the trucking services that your commercial truck company provides as well as the contact information of your business.
If you want to drive more traffic to your trucking website then you should consider starting a blog. You can use this blog to boost your SEO while providing useful information to your visitors.
5. Get Feedback From Customers
Running a successful trucking business means being open to constructive criticism. It also means being dedicated to improving. You need to make it easy for your customers to provide feedback about the things that they like about your truck management company. You should also make it easy for them to express things that they think you can improve upon.
Perhaps they think that getting truck management software would help you become more efficient. Perhaps they think you should offer a wider variety of trucking services. Be open to their ideas and look for ways to make your trucking business stand out from the rest of the competition.
Start Taking Your Trucking Company to New Heights
Learning how to manage a business is no easy task, and it is even trickier when you’re running a complex business like a trucking company. It is important that you choose a niche in the trucking industry to focus on and that you’re open to criticism from clients. You should also make good use of advances in trucking software.
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