Taking a vacation is something many micro-motor carriers place on the back burner. The trucker either thinks he can’t afford it or his business will go down the tubes if he takes time off. On the contrary. As far-fetched as this may seem, a vacation is possible with a bit of planning and foresight.
As anyone who goes into business discovers, there are no guarantees when it comes to making money as an entrepreneur. It’s a learning process with each business. Learn from each business the skills that can be applied to the next one. Each enterprise develops a life pattern of its own.
How is your trucking company differentiated from all the other small and micro-carriers?
In simple terms, this is the basic premise of company branding. So how do you increase your trucking operation’s name recognition?
Do you have the facts and figures which support what you’re doing according to your plan? This is how you determine if it’s working. Should you stay the course? If it’s not working, to what extent do you adjust the plan? Do you scrap the portion that isn’t achieving your goals, or make small changes? How do you know the best course of action?
Many small fleets run on ‘day-to-day’ load planning. It’s like a pilot flying by the seat of his pants; it may get him to where he needs to be but–after a nail-biting, really bumpy ride–it won’t be a flight he wants to repeat.
Knowledge creates strength; hence, it gives you the power to succeed. There are two different ways in which a person can gain knowledge. One is from experience, being there and doing it, making mistakes and working in the trenches. The other way is through studying and research until you know your subject inside and out.
“Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” You shouldn’t let a single customer represent any more than 20% to 25% of your total revenue or accounts receivable.
A Customer Service Action Plan is a series of activities assigned to each driver and employee which must take place consistently with every customer…
You need to reassess where you’re hauling, who you’re hauling for, and what you’re hauling. Many hauling sectors declined in the last year, but not all. A hauling sector can be anything from the lane you haul in, to the products or industry you’re concentrating on, to the individual companies for which you haul.
You have a wheelbarrow filled with dirt at the top of a hill, or you have the same wheelbarrow at the bottom of a hill. Obviously getting that dirt-filled wheelbarrow to the bottom of a hill would be a lot less work than trying to push it to the top. Now think of this wheelbarrow as your freight rate: