Thinking of starting small fleet business

Some options are expedite carriers like Panther or FedEx Custom Critical . All FedEx Ground trucks are O/O and FedEx eliminated single truck owners to avoid contractors from being classified as employees

 

I am new to trucking (working on my CDL) but I do have a word of advice for you if you are going to start your own fleet business. Seriously think about using a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) trucking program for your business like ROADVision, Cheetah, or CimaTruck and many more. I have 30+ years in Information Technology/Data Processing and you don't need the computer headaches. Yes it will look expensive up front but the money you will save on backups, disaster recovery, security, hardware problems, software glitches, etc. will save you money in the long run. Plus SaaS is an off the top expense where if you buy computers for your business now you have to amortize the stuff and all the headaches it brings. SaaS allows you to access the program from anywhere you have an internet connection. That will be a big plus if you are out on the road too.

 

All FedEx ground trucks are O/O's? Thank you for the information rickg I actually had no idea they were all owner ops.

 

Yes , FedEx bought RPS (Roadway Package Service ) and renamed it FedEx Ground . At that time it was mostly single route I/C's . Then a few years ago contractors won suits in several states to be classified as employees . The deciding factor making them employees was they had to run the same route every day . To eliminate that FedEx did away with single route contracts . Now all FedEx Ground O/O's have to contract more than one route and pay their drivers the payroll expenses FedEx avoided .
Interesting article . http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/08/independent_truck_owners_carry.html

 

Do a little Googling and you can find plenty of FedEx routes for sale...

 

I think that having a good software program that is trucking specific is a good idea. However, I would not want to use any software that has my information stored on a server that I did not control. It is too easy for those with ill intent to access your information. Plus, you pay a monthly fee with most of those programs. There are several trucking software programs where you pay a one time fee and you own the program. You keep all your information under your personal control. The Truckers Helper (www.thetruckershelper.com), Easy Trucking (www.easytrucking.com) and Trucknpro (www.trucknpro.com) are the three primary software programs that are most prevalent in this industry. If you plan on building a fleet, either Truckers Helper or Trucknpro would be your best choices. My first choice would be Trucknpro (Foglinessoftware). Each has an online demo or trial version you can try before buying.

 

Some of the larger carriers do allow fleet owners to lease onto their authority. Depending on the type of equipment you want to pull, Landstar, CRST Malone, Universal AmCan, Mason Dixon, Admiral and US Xpress are a few who do lease on fleet owners. Most are agent based, so you dispatch yourself or your own trucks. You can also get your own authority and build your fleet using your own MC number.

 

I thought you only cant have multiple trucks on the choice program, but you can put the others on the mileage side. Just what I was told. Is that wrong? Be safe out there drivers.