Starting from the very bottom

Hey do what every you want, never waist your time paying attention to others thats say you cant. You have a plan and seem more determined than most in this industry. Ive only been a owner op about 4 years. But 4th generation owner op in family. Its hard sometimes. But its a long term investment.

 

Personally I'd go one truck at a time and reaaaaaally learn my processes and lanes and prove yourself to the people you wanna haul for. Maybe add on another truck every six months or so, as you learn what you're doing. With the low margins and level of competition in trucking you gotta have your poop in a group big time if you wanna stay on the black side of the balance sheet.

 

Wow.

You need some serious help and grounding.

This may hurt.

I am a fleet owner, I have drivers and it takes a lot of work to get stable and make money.

So not to discourage you but rather inform you, there are a few things you need to immediately learn.

YOU can't learn them from a forum nor listening to all these positive things being said because it all doesn't matter.

The truth is a two fold issue, one is success rates of small fleets is dismal, go and research it for yourself. IT is hard work setting it up right (most don't) and learning how it works, all of which doesn't mean success. Then there is the work of managing it, hiring drivers is a very hard thing to do, your risk in business is founded on how good the workers are. In this case, your entire company is dependent on the quality of drivers, and they are hard to find. Right now I have good drivers, it has taken me years to find them and they make money, not the OTR rates, but a lot of money. I make a lot less but I know the fleet is always moving.

The other part of that truth is if trucking was so easy, there would be a sellers market with super high prices. Trucks are cheap, crap I just bought one with mechanical problems, put $20k into it and now looking for a driver. IT is a cheap way to expand the fleet but it has to be done right. You can find trucks all day long but putting it on the road isn't for everyone.

NOW that said, if you find investors without even an idea of what's going on, please pass them onto others so we can cash in, because I am thinking that no one will invest in anything with someone who doesn't have a clue (no offense).

So to the business part, there are three things you need to learn right away.

number one before anything, learn how to run a business. Book keeping isn't running a business. Managing is. That takes skill. THEN ... Learn how the trucking business works, it is a large industry and there are so many ways to make money. The unfortunate thing is this fact, it is too easy to get into and many have ruined it by forcing rates to go down.

Number two and very important is you need a couple tools in your kit, one is a good business lawyer, who is well connected and the other is a good accountant. It doesn't have to be anyone who knows trucking, both my lawyer and accountant don't handle trucking stuff other than mine. The lawyer is important for contract review, protection from litigation and so on. He is the most important person who you will need and will cost money to retain him. Don't do what others do, look up someone to take a look at your contract and then just take the idea all lawyers are equal. Interview them as you would any other service professional. the same goes for the accountant, who will teach you when you make decisions like retiring trucks or when to buy/lease. Both of them you need to build a relationship with for success.

Number three is an obvious one, get a cdl and get on the road. There is nothing worse than a hands off owner of a fleet who has never been on the road. It don't matter if you only spend 6 months on the road, it provides an education you can't get anywhere else.

As for the company itself, I wouldn't even bother getting an authority. I made the decision that I will lease on with companies like Landstar and others before I go that route, mainly because I don't have time to waste with chasing money. Cashflow is king and to get paid by a company instead of having to worry about factoring, or a law suit to get paid, it is far far better to just be leased and not worry about it.

Drivers are the hardest thing to deal with, good ones are hard to find and demanding. Cheap ones will sign on with a new company because they can easily leave not caring what happens. YOUR biggest liability are drivers, nothing else. SO learn how to hire, interview and do proper background checks.

Oh and another thing while I'm thinking about it, I would consider 1099 drivers for a lot of reasons and with that 1099, contracts need to be written and in place before you commit to hiring anyone. I know many will say it is a way to screw drivers but if my drivers would speak up (I found out four of them are members), they will tell you that they make more money being 1099'd than they would be as employees. I would have to cap their compensation to justify the additional costs.

 

Well here is the thing.

Trucking management is learned on the job skill. There is no schooling you can get for the real world. However logistical training can be a step toward that, the best people I know came out of the military with their logistical training, one of them manages my fleet. My business plan was crated to eliminate a lot of headaches for me by using resources that I can depend on, allowing me to focus on expansion and doing other things in my life. I rarely get a phone call from a driver other than the check ins, I don't deal with issues like flat tires or when a shipper is an idiot. I write the policies for things like preventive maintaince or how to hire a driver. My manager follows those policies and I just don't worry about it.

By getting your cdl, going on the road of a year, and being involved, you can learn a lot. Even working for a company, you can ask questions and find a path you want to pursue. The dream is well a dream and may not be easy to fulfill but dreams are just that ... Dreams.

 

[QUOTE="Ridgeline, post: 5350033,

Oh and another thing while I'm thinking about it, I would consider 1099 drivers for a lot of reasons and with that 1099, contracts need to be written and in place before you commit to hiring anyone. I know many will say it is a way to screw drivers but if my drivers would speak up (I found out four of them are members), they will tell you that they make more money being 1099'd than they would be as employees. I would have to cap their compensation to justify the additional costs.[/QUOTE]



Make sure you talk to an Attorney about this.

 

Most successful companies started out with 3 to 5 trucks. So you are on the right track, you sound like you are business minded person so it sounds like you already one step head of the game. Don't listen to must of these guys they preach the same philosophy on this forum. You have the trucks now you just got to land the account, I'm not gonna lie it's gonna be hard but not impossible but don't give up. I got a feeling that you gonna be successful. Just keep on grinding and putting in the work.

 

The owner of celadon landed a major account without a truck or trailer.

 

It's so easy a caveman can do it! Just buy the trucks and wait for the money to come in!

 

I agree but the problem here is that many lawyers don't deal with labor law so to them they may not see the pitfalls.

The problem with the 1099 is the abuse that takes place, and I have to blame some of the drivers who fall for the big money idea without getting what it all means, so due diligence is needed no matter what.