Help me PLEASE!! Turning around a trucking business

Tiffy, it seems to me as though you really need to find someone who can come in and turn this around for you while you still can. From your posts you appear to be looking at too many different things. Find a direction and move forward. Decide what you want to haul and find drivers who can do the job. Try to NOT spend more money. Utilize what you already have. Drivers are there to work. If they don't work or steal then you get rid of them. If you can prove that they steal, throw them in jail. If you expect to survive you have to be tough. I didn't say mean, but tough. Mentally tough. You need to let these driver know who is boss. Get rid of the non performers. If you can't do it yourself then hire someone who can. In business, if something is not working then you regroup and go in a different direction. Right now there is plenty of freight in most areas. Rates are mixed but with several trucks you need to be moving freight. If you are having trouble running your own authority then perhaps you should look at leasing your trucks on to a larger carrier. Most will help you find drivers and some will even dispatch them for you. Your success will still be up to you. I would hate to see you and your husband lose your entire investment. Right now you are bleeding $$$$$. You need to stop the bleeding.

You have not posted anything that you have been doing to turn things around. You should be able to find someone who can run the business for you if you don't feel confident that you can make the hard decision's. I never like having to fire drivers, but sometimes it becomes necessary. If drivers are costing you money then you are better off with the trucks sitting. If it were me I would be looking for either some dedicated opportunities or put the trucks over the road. If what you have been posting is true then you don't have time to waste. If you run over the road then you can hire drivers out of your immediate area. There are still a lot of drivers looking for jobs.

 

You have absolutely no experience in this industry. Cut your losses now and go back to what you know best. Just because you bought brand new equipment does not make you experienced.

 

There is a lot more to it than shiny trucks and trailers sitting in the yard. If you can see making a go with less equipment , nows the time to unload the surplus , next fall / winter will be too late.

 

seriously consider leasing on with someone NOW.

Even with a reduced fleet.

That way you can get someone to mentor you while you gain experience.

Even if you talk to Big Bad Bill and lease on to him.

Unless you find a major carrier, you may have to split the fleet up so they can handle that big an influx of equipment.


This company looks for fleets of 10+ trucks to lease on. They actually have a 10 truck minimum.
http://www.otexp.com/

 

Landstar has some fleet owners who lease on with them. CRST Malone is looking for fleet owners to least their equipment on with them, as well. If you were to lease your equipment on to another carrier they would help you to keep your trucks moving. I know of a couple of doctors who have over 100 trucks leased to Crete. If you could lease your equipment to a carrier with a good freight base, it would take some of the stress off of you. There are agent based carriers where you mostly find your own loads and then there are those who have dispatchers who are assigned trucks. Many handle from 35 to 50 trucks. Since you have vans, Landstar might be a good choice for you. Universal Am Can and some of their sister companies, such as Mason Dixon do have van as well as flat bed freight. Most carriers are looking for owners to lease their trucks on with them. One advantage in leasing to another carrier is that you can buy your base plates through most and they will deduct the amount from your weekly settlement checks. Another is that the carrier will pay for all liability and cargo insurance. That will take a lot of financial pressure off of you both. I don't necessarily want to sway you one way or another. But, you need to act fairly quickly. I know one fleet owner who has had about 16 trucks leased on with Landstar for many years. He must be doing well to have kept them with Landstar for so long.

Unless you bring in a manager to run your business, you might very well be better off leasing your trucks to another carrier. I also believe that you will need to find drivers who are willing to drive over the road. You need cash flow, but also need to make a profit.

 

Sounds to me like you're dealing with truck drivers. I'd try finding some different folks to run your rigs who actually want to get a job done not just milk ya.

 

The blind leading the blind.....

 

Let me have one of those trucks and the let me go work with BBB for a while.

Then just follow our lead.....LOL