Even if it sounds not significant always consult with your lawyer before signing!
If you do that there is no turning back, you are stuck honoring that contract till the day it expires. Agreeing on something that is not so great for your business it will cost you money and when you are starting trucking business it might be deadly.
12. Collect Your Documents In One Place
We all know the feeling when we put the keys in a place where they don’t belong. Right? We can’t find them sometimes for an hour and after a while, they will magically appear in some unusual place. Ok, I was making a point but really, the same goes with the document and however they are much more important of the car keys.
Source: www.mindtools.com
Keep all of the documents in one place and order them by categories so in the future you will train your mind to find some document with you talking over the phone and making a deal. Everyone who done this type of organization now what I am talking about.
13. Maintain Your Trucks On Time
Maintenance process when starting trucking company can be difficult because it requires planning in advance. Be careful with the planning in the beginning and for some time it will become a usual thing.
Source: youtube
The maintenance when you starting trucking company is one important thing and if it is performed regularly it will keep you business running for a long time. Improper maintenance can cause you unnecessary and unexpected cost. Avoid this situation and maintain your truck on a regular basis.
- Make a maintenance calendar
- Plan the truck maintenance in advance to keep your trucks in perfect shape
- Get annual maintenance contract and low the price for 25% or more
14. Have The Best Customer Service
Near the middle of the list what you need to know when starting trucking company is to make the best of you to provide the best customer service for your company. Kind, respectful, efficient are qualities that you need to look when building your customer service team.
Source: www.imagebox.com
- Find people that can think in advance and can find a solution in every situation
- People that pays attention to details gives them super power to end up on their legs in every situation
- Problem solvers that can fix the broken pieces
15. Maintain Great Safety Rating
We all know how important is to maintain great safety rating from the beginning to infinity. Starting trucking company is not just buying trucks and find a bunch of people, trucking is more than that. Managing the drivers to perform nearly perfect driving record respecting the federal regulation is one task that needs to be crossed.
Source: www.sheknows.com
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) measures a carrier’s compliance with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations and provides the safety data through the Safety and Fitness Electronic Record (SAFER) website.
The review of the motor carrier operating includes:
- Commercial drivers license requirements
- Accidents
- Hazardous materials
- Hours of service
- Maintenance and inspection
- Driver qualification
Brokers are hiring trucking companies with great safety record because they know that the freight will be transported safely.
16. Have a Good Insurance
Good insurance is a great way of starting trucking company because the things can always go bad with the freight or the truck. Protect the freight and sleep better because the cost that needs to be covered without insurance can be your only and final impact.
Source: www.shopinsurancecanada.ca
Always … Always be aware of the possibilities that something might be damaged during the transportation. This is the way to protect the freight and your company.
17. Make A Contract With Gas Station That Have Quality Fuel
The fuel is the important thing for the truck to perform the hauling but keep in mind that every diesel fuel is not with the same quality. Is cheap diesel fuel always a bad choice? I wouldn’t say that but however when starting trucking company important is to consult with some friends that are for a while in the trucking business. Ask them about their experience and where it the best place to fuel your truck.
Good fuel will reduce the consumption more than 5%!
18. Train your Drivers To Perform Small Mechanical Truck Repairs
I point the importance of the maintaining your trucks on time but small mechanical skills can be a lot of help when your trucks are on the open road. The truck drivers are the ones that are connected with the trucks as babies’ trough the umbilical cord are connected with their mothers.
Source: www.driveabco.com
The road is unpredictable and no matter how great the trucks are maintained some small defect may occur. The drivers with the small mechanical skills can fix the truck in a moment of a blink. If the drivers don’t have these skills the truck will get stacked in the middle of nowhere waiting for repair team which will cause:
- Downtime
- Additional Cost
- Not on time delivery
19. Find Perfect Trucking Office When Starting Trucking Company
To get the full picture of successful trucking office you need to put all of the puzzle pieces in the right spot.
Source: www.drivenci.com
Each of the pieces needs to fit perfectly. That is why starting trucking company is not an easy job to be performed.
1. Find good location – find easily accessible location
2. Have conference room
3. Be sure to give your employees their own space
20. Provide Your Drivers With Good Quality Truck Bed And Truck Seats
Like I mention before safety goes always in the first place. The truck bed and the truck seat can affect the performance of your truck drivers to perform safe transport which for certain will affect your safety rating.
The drivers need to have good night sleep and when they get up need to have the energy to drive carefully for long hours. Fatigue and exaction are number one enemy of the trucking business. When starting trucking company be sure that the trucks are equipped with comfortable bed and seats.
21. Create A Website For Your Business
These days every information that we need first we search online. Newspapers, Flyers are not that useful like 15 years ago when most of the ads and company information were placed on a piece of paper. We live in a modern world so be sure you have your place in.
Source: www.happyapple.co.za
Imagine this: you are a new company but you have a great website with a lot of information about the trucking services you providing and on the other side there is a trucking company that is in this business 5 years but only information that you can find is the name of the company and phone number. If you where in the customer shoes which company would you contact first?
22. Be Active On Social Media
Social media like Facebook, Linkedin, Twiter … are a powerful tool that can only help your business to go in the right direction. You can use the internet in different ways to expose your brand and most important it is for free so… why not try it.
23. Be A Pet Friendly Trucking Company
When you staring trucking company finding good truck drivers can be difficult but there is a way to get some of these guys in your trucking army. Have pet policy and some of the best truck drivers will become part of your company.
Source: www.roadking.com
Some trucking companies build a brand based on their pet policy:
