Financial questions...

A old timer once told me that if you were going to get more than one truck you need at least 10. Anything less than that is just a pia. So if you can grow a company past 2-3 trucks it might be worth it.

Also 1 hazmat spill and you got trouble. That's a factor......

Only you know your situation , so any # I say is meaningless .

You need to make enough to stay in the office and babysit . Something you couldn't pay me enough to do.

Best of luck.

 

If it were me, I'd pay well above the going rate, but be fanatical in the selection process. A driver, especially for a small company, is like a steer tire -- not a place you want to shave a dime...

 

You do not need 10 trucks to start nor sit in the office and babysit unless you hired a bunch of clowns. A nd you cannot be MARRIED to a truck that you bought for others to drive , it a piece of equipment not your 1st born..

I started with 1 and slowly grew and now have 24 , I hired the RIGHT people that I needed as I needed them to run the office side of things.

Maffy95 there are too many variables to properly give input without more details , location , area you want to run , what do you want to haul , equipment you might need.

 

From your questions, I assume that you have never owned a truck? There is no way that anyone can tell you what you will net on a truck. I have owned trucks for many years and each will have different costs and net. Unless you have a regular run on the same route with the same revenue, your income will vary from one week to another. Your expenses will also vary from one week to another. If you have never owned trucks, I would strongly recommend that you start with a single truck that you also drive and after a year or so, think about adding more trucks. It is great that someone is willing to back your business. But, if you lose the investment, your backer won't be too happy. This is an industry that has a very expensive learning curve.

 

Hey Flatbed what was your growth trend as far as trucks? Did you add a truck a year for a few years and then added more agressively? Also, i assume you have dedicated accounts, how long did it take to achieve that once you started adding trucks? It looks like you have been in the business for quite a while, what advice can you give on going after dedicated customers? When is it likely that shippers will take you seriously, more than 5 trucks? Thanks

 

aren't there consultants that answer these types of questions?