Small fleet owners - how did you do it?

haider99 · Sep 17, 2018

Thanks for great replies. And no to some more questions:

1. When you say market Niche...what do you mean by that? Someone here mentioned about a friend running flatbed, would that be considered niche? In my books, no, I feel in trucking there is a lot of competition because the barriers to entry are low? And because of this, there really isnt any competitive advantage one company has over the other. As a result, the only way to survive and expand is efficiency.

2. If I go to a customer and they agree to offer me lets say 10 loads a week but I dont have the equipment or driver. In this case what would I do?
For example, I have carrier who regularly gives me well paying loads but sometimes when she emails in the afternoon I dont have a truck available, because I cannot wait that long to hear from her. As a result, I cant be her go to guy. What would be done in this case?

I feel like the only way to differentiate your company is by focusing on driver. Instead of being a customer focused company, be a employee focused company.

Ridgeline · Sep 17, 2018

haider99 said: ↑

1. When you say market Niche...what do you mean by that? Someone here mentioned about a friend running flatbed, would that be considered niche?
Click to expand...

Actually it is what some of us consider a macro-niche - for lack of a better term. Flatbed use can mean a number of things but so can trailer crane, soft side and open top (yes flatbed with one side open and an open top - those are what some of us consider "micro-niche.

one niche example is a trailer crane, it looks like a dry box but has a crane in it - silly isn't it. BUT I and the drivers who are running two of the three I have make pretty good money and while their DH is almost 100% plus of the loaded miles (one is DH 900 miles to make a pick up to go 300 miles), it still pays very well.

haider99 said: ↑

In my books, no, I feel in trucking there is a lot of competition because the barriers to entry are low? And because of this, there really isnt any competitive advantage one company has over the other. As a result, the only way to survive and expand is efficiency.
Click to expand...

Well I agree the barriers are low, if non-existent. A lot of O/O will argue with me that there are a lot of them but really no other industry allows this crap of entry on a penny to make a buck with no skin in the game to begin with. One reason why I am all for making this a skill trade, getting rid of the grade school level licensing and making means testing the norm.

That said, the competition you face as a fleet is a lot different than what you face as an O/O. O/O think they have leverage and can take losses but that's not the case. Most, I mean most don't have the capital to sit on side with a broken down truck. NOR can they absorb losses to end up with a long term relationship with a good paying customer.

haider99 said: ↑

2. If I go to a customer and they agree to offer me lets say 10 loads a week but I dont have the equipment or driver. In this case what would I do?

For example, I have carrier who regularly gives me well paying loads but sometimes when she emails in the afternoon I dont have a truck available, because I cannot wait that long to hear from her. As a result, I cant be her go to guy. What would be done in this case?
Click to expand...

Well I don't solicit for work unless I have the capacity to cover them, this is one reason why I go after deticated work opposed to peice meal work. This way I don't have an upset customer.

If the customer doesn't want to get into a deticated contract, then work something out with them to cover their loads as a broker/carrier. I know a couple fleet owners who do that, they can take the load, broker it out to specific carriers and still make money while making the customer happy.

That said another issue that's pops up is that when you start negotiating with a potential customer, you need to actually see what they are shipping out. They may look busy but if they are just sending out cheap freight, then what's the use to talk to them, making pennies from a customer is a waste of your time.

haider99 said: ↑

I feel like the only way to differentiate your company is by focusing on driver. Instead of being a customer focused company, be a employee focused company.
Click to expand...

I disagree.

You build up the company by being customer centric, drivers don't make the money.

haider99 · Sep 30, 2018

With the ugly weather approaching, I am starting to loose motivation on expanding this business seriously. Especially, because it is so #### risky.

Thibking about getting back into my financial field of Accounting and Finance. But if I do this, I will be pushed back and will be back to pretty much zero.

haider99 · Oct 27, 2018

Ridgeline said: ↑

Actually it is what some of us consider a macro-niche - for lack of a better term. Flatbed use can mean a number of things but so can trailer crane, soft side and open top (yes flatbed with one side open and an open top - those are what some of us consider "micro-niche.

one niche example is a trailer crane, it looks like a dry box but has a crane in it - silly isn't it. BUT I and the drivers who are running two of the three I have make pretty good money and while their DH is almost 100% plus of the loaded miles (one is DH 900 miles to make a pick up to go 300 miles), it still pays very well.

Well I agree the barriers are low, if non-existent. A lot of O/O will argue with me that there are a lot of them but really no other industry allows this crap of entry on a penny to make a buck with no skin in the game to begin with. One reason why I am all for making this a skill trade, getting rid of the grade school level licensing and making means testing the norm.

That said, the competition you face as a fleet is a lot different than what you face as an O/O. O/O think they have leverage and can take losses but that's not the case. Most, I mean most don't have the capital to sit on side with a broken down truck. NOR can they absorb losses to end up with a long term relationship with a good paying customer.

Well I don't solicit for work unless I have the capacity to cover them, this is one reason why I go after deticated work opposed to peice meal work. This way I don't have an upset customer.

If the customer doesn't want to get into a deticated contract, then work something out with them to cover their loads as a broker/carrier. I know a couple fleet owners who do that, they can take the load, broker it out to specific carriers and still make money while making the customer happy.

That said another issue that's pops up is that when you start negotiating with a potential customer, you need to actually see what they are shipping out. They may look busy but if they are just sending out cheap freight, then what's the use to talk to them, making pennies from a customer is a waste of your time.

I disagree.

You build up the company by being customer centric, drivers don't make the money.
Click to expand...

Once you take the first step of running your only truck under your authorities; then to expand, you would need to add more trucks. This is where I am stuck. To be able to add trucks and have the drivers make money, you would have to do local pickup and deliveries. I know as a one truck operation, what kind of a pain it is to wake up early morning and do the delivery. And if I am doing the local work, I would need a lot more trucks to make up my income lost.

NoExcusesNoApologiess · Sep 9, 2019

Justrucking2 said: ↑

I was doing GREAT until Dodd Frank. And Obama.

I am one of four that did not file bankruptcy and I am still whole. Now, I lease to a carrier and let them sweat the details. I had my run, it was fun while it lasted. Now, just burned out on the entire industry. It is out there, just make sure you get good advice. this is not the place I would look for good advice. Just saying.
Click to expand...

Hiring??

natec · Feb 4, 2020

thanks for sharing, this was really interesting!

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