How do you keep track of your numbers?

Ah ha ... ok , seems your kinda in that tuff middle spot of not big but not small. So some type of real system might be necessary ? Do you have some type of dispatch software ? That integrates with quickbooks ? We used quickbooks and it worked great for us and yes it does work well for this type of business. Also the excell version for apple works very well , i think its just called numbers. I would stay away from purchasing any type of specialized software like a KR or a NASTC might want to sell you. Being a smart business person means KNOWING what KPI's are the most important important and finding a quick easy system to get those numbers. Ask your accountant for this type of system and see what he she has to advise you with.

 

Delivery date
Gross rate
Pick up mileage
Delivery mileage
Number of stops
Tarp or no tarp

This first sheet breaks down rate per mile loaded and all, per trip, week, quarter and year. I have another that I put the miles in to cross reference profitability by trip, week, month quarter and year.

I also put a little ticker on the bottom that counts down to min $ revenue goal and, another year to date rate per mile / revenue compared to last year.

Then, I keep my IFTA on another sheet along with fuel mileage and cost info all in one.

Then I have a 4th I keep track of Truck /trailer repairs, expenses and upgrades by mile and date.

Once a quarter I do an actual Profit and loss spread sheet at home that jives with my Truck bank account.

 

Looks like tug toy made up his own spreadsheet. Ive made up my own spreadsheets on the numbers apple but quickbooks works great becuase you can issue checks right out of the software and it can intigrate with your bank accounts.

 

I came from 25 years of management. Most places I worked I was required to know my numbers and goals ( my bonuses depended on it). When the owner of a company or the board asks “where we at compared to ( budget, last year, % of sales or any other combination)” you better have the answers.

Probably over kill but I got it set up easy enough to use. I can look at any combination of numbers in a mater of seconds from over the last 3 years.

If you don’t know where your AT or where you came FROM, how do you know where to GO?

If rates start trending in the wrong direction I’ll know before most and can hopefully figure out how to take advantage of it. Or if a certain lane is hot or not I can prove it to myself without guessing. I’m always looking at last years performance and trends to see if there is something to take advantage of?

This is my understanding of how real buissness work.

The guy I’m leased to and a few I’ve worked for in the past just float along and don’t know any of there numbers. As long as the bank account is growing, things must be ok?

Nothing wrong with that and they are very wealth men.

 

I also think that knowing Excel is perfect for a small carrier. Anything from a Dispatch Log through Equipment Maintenance Scheduler to Invoice tracking. There is not such a thing that could not be done there.Nowadays, with cloud storage, the data is always accessible anywhere.I can populate Excel cells from my phone when I am on the road, all the updates are instantaneous, this way I can see how richer or poorer I get every day, with every fuel purchase and every new load I take.

 

I use quick books with an add on that I had programmed for the finances it intergrates into my other systems that are used for 'dispatch', receipt scanning and maintaince. Ive been using it for years and won't change. It doesn't work out of the box, I hired a intuit developer to get everything the way I like is so when my quarterly tax info for the accountant, it is one button click and it is sent to him electronically in a few seconds.