Trucking company owner's workday.

Q: What does a business owner do all day?
A: Whatever needs doing.

The fact that you're trying to decide what model new trucks to buy and wondering what the boss does throughout the day tells me you haven't done much homework learning about the industry. Before you bow up and get defensive, consider this:

First and foremost, this new venture is funded out of your pocket. Nobody in the world gives a crap about your money more than you do. So with that in mind, you start with a crushing amount of regulatory paperwork and compliance matters. Next, you get to deal with a host of vendors that are quick to take your money and slow to do actual work for you. In between, you have to hustle up work to bring in some revenue. Then, in your spare time, you'll get to solve everyone's problems. The buck (pun intended) stops with you. There's no set agenda to being a business owner. You pretty much start the day by reading incoming emails, faxes, and phone calls to get caught up. Next you prioritize the days tasks based on the risk to your bottom line and get-r-done. Then if you're good at it, you'll set a time to stop working and carry the leftovers over to the next day. Being able to delegate work or be a good boss is a product of your success in managing the above.

I'm new to the trucking industry, but not new to being the boss or owning a business. I studied the industry in depth for half a year before starting anything up or writing the first check. Do yourself a huge favor and do the due diligence and then come back with some focused questions - you'll get better answers that will serve to enhance the hard work you've already done without spending a nickel.

 

It's sort of the question of whether you have the bankroll to start up a dollar store or a Walmart.

Start with a business plan and a worksheet to do what-if scenarios for profit/loss. Be realistic with your assumptions. You're right that banks won't loan to new businesses. That also applies to commercial truck/trailer leases. So other than maybe some line-of-credit stuff for services, you'll need to fund it yourself. Either with cash on hand or borrow against your property. In my case I refinanced two cars and put the money into a truck and trailer. For me it's almost a neutral risk because I have other sources of income and can afford the new loans outside of the trucking venture. The bottom line is that was in fact a personal loan not a commercial loan. As a result I got very good terms, saving a little in exchange for taking the personal risk.

To buy or buy into an existing business the same thing applies. Unless you're walking around with lots of personal value (cash, real estate, etc) you are not going to have a lot of luck.

And be cautious of borrowing to get started. It's a slippery slope and substantially increases your break-even figure. Even that will vary depending on your individual circumstance. Factoring is just another form of financing, and like any other time value of money problem, you need to set your priorities and decide accordingly.

 

Also I am looking at borrowing money from family/friends.

Speaking from personal experience regarding loaning to or borrowing money from friends and/or family for any reason...DON'T! If repayment is delayed, for any reason, you will definitely find out who your truest friends are! Not a good idea.

 

Most trucking companies start the same way - with one truck - and grow from there. Most of the time when you see a truck line bought turn-key is when a larger company comes along and buys the company - and it's customer base - to absorb into the larger company.

6 - 10 trucks is a BIG responsibility, but you'll find that it's not enough to be able to hire much additional staff to help deal with everything. In other words, it's all on your shoulders. On top of making sure everyone and everything is running as it/they should, your biggest concern is keeping loads on your trucks. A company with 6 - 10 trucks will most definitely deal directly with shippers on the out haul, and use brokers as little as possible for backhauls or to reposition equipment. You'll need to make sure those shippers are happy, and be out finding new ones when there aren't enough loads for all of your trucks. There's always something broken needing fixed, and don't even get me started on keeping up with the government. Registration, taxes, compliance, you name it - they've got an issue with it.

Just for reference, my company runs 4 company trucks and 10 O/O leased trucks in a Monday through Friday local/regional operation. It's a joint effort between myself, and my parents. Each of us have specific roles, along the fact that my Dad and I both drive pretty much every day. We're lucky if we get more than Sunday afternoon to spend with our families. My wife hates it when my phone rings, because she knows I'll probably have to be going somewhere, if not hunkered in my office trying to tend to some problem from there.

It'll consume your life, and if you didn't grow up around it, or have some sort of sick passion for it (sadly I'm guilty of both) you'll probably figure out over time that there are better ways to make a living. With that said, I wouldn't trade it for anything.

But that's just my 2 cents. Others may see it much differently than me.