How many trucks can be handled

Depends on the type of work.

 

I can't give you a specific number. A lot will depend on how you are finding your loads. Load boards will require more of your time and therefore you will be able to handle fewer trucks. But if its a dedicated haul it will be far fewer.

I knew one owner who was able to handle over 20 trucks running a combo of local and long haul bulk and dump work. It was more of a workaholic thing than a smart thing though. It was all dedicated work, except the odd load board load to reposition a truck.

I would start off with how many trucks you need to start off comfortably profitable and form there you can assess how much time that takes and expand from there. Also that way you aren't jumping to far in and ending up with too much equipment. There are also days when one truck is enough as there can be too many issues or things going on or others you could handle dozens. I would settle on the number that doesn't give you grey hair.

The biggest thing you will have to figure out is how you are going to track your dispatch. With my dads old business if he died the thing would have to be shut down the next day as he kept it all in his head. I use a combo of a calendar and a paper dispatch log i made myself. You can buy a program if you want. Each operations will have different requirements. If you are looking at long haul work, i don't think you need to keep on top of the location of your drivers as much. For me, not that I want e-logs, the location tracking would be nice so I can see where they are at to figure out when they will be loading/unloading so I can plan there next trip rather than waiting to hear back from them at where they are at. But I run two loads a day with them and have limited hours for loading.

 

;70 to 73 I babysat 70 of them. No radios, no satellite, no computers. Lots of payphones. At one point I had 22 running Alaska, easy to do, send them out and they come back in a week.

 

Sometimes more than one is too many.

 

I guess the big question is what you mean by "handle"?. If all you are doing is dispatching, then yes, you can "handle" alot of trucks. If OTOH, by "handle" you mean locate work and negotiate rates, dispatch, repair (small stuff) arrange repairs (large stuff) track fuel usage, track invoicing, do payroll, hire drivers, discipline drivers, etc etc etc, then <10, 3-4 more likely IMO.

 

Depends on how many hats you wanna wear, as well as your customer base. I always found 10 ain't too bad if you're doing everything from sales to dispatch to billing, servicing your iron when it's back in the yard, etc. But it keeps you busy.

Or you could do this. Load all of 'em outta the 'peg on Monday am. Go golfing. Have them deliver and reload off the beach on Thurs. Go golfing. Before you know it you'll be farting thru a silk thong and smoking $10 cigars.