Inherited Trucking company transition!!

At this early stage in your post, I think I have more questions than suggestions. But for starters . . .

Who will be operating the day to day operations as of Day One?

 

Congrats, you have a nightmare in the works.

here is what you really need to do;

first you need to get your crap together and figure out how to manage it or find someone who YOU CAN TRUST to run it for you and you have to still be involved. YOU CAN NOT MANAGE IT FROM A DISTANCE, IT IS A DAILY THING.

Learn your drivers, go to them, arrange for a good dinner and meeting, don’t be cheap.

You need to spend day or two, AT THE MINIMUM, meeting, learning who they are, what their concerns are, and letting them know you actually will not be an arm chair owner.

don’t take sides when it comes to issues, don’t make promises and don’t act like they are not important because this is how they feed their families.

 

Sell!

 

do not try to oversell yourself! Such as promising to make all their wishes, wants, dreams, desires come true. That is a very popular thing for trucking company owners to do, and drivers hate it. If you already have good drivers, go out of your way to keep them, they are your bread and butter as well as you’re helping them feed their families. IMO you should relocate to be close to the business, trying to manage it from a distance, will not work. It will be far too easy for you to be completely out of touch with the realities that they are facing. And just having them run a route through your home state periodically, are you going to drop and run, to meet them at a Truck Stop or something to discuss their satisfaction with your performance?

 

.

 

Are you and your husband currently in successful careers?
This might be a headache you don't need.

 

ask the drivers if it's a nightmare.

I've driven for a third-party managed company and the only thing they cared about was the bottom line.