How can you manage your trucking business in simpler ways?
- Comply with laws and regulations
- Maintain your vehicles regularly
- Improve communication standard
- Work smarter, not harder
Many people attempt to make it big in the trucking industry, and most of them are former truckers who used to drive around trucks that are Japan surplus from the Philippines. Trucks from reliable names such as Foton Philippines, Isuzu Philippines, and many more have also become common trucks seen in the business. Sadly, many truckers have grown sick and tired of having to follow orders and have decided to bet their money on a start-up where they can be their own boss. Since they have or think they have gained enough information from their years of experience as a trucker, they dive head first into the industry full of confidence and surety.
Out of the many people entering the trucking business yearly, not many are expected to make it past the first year. Majority of them are the former truckers who initially thought that they have everything they need to start their own business and don’t realize how difficult it is to actually manage one of their own.
If you’re one of the many who is hoping to find success in the trucking industry as a business owner but is yet to due to the many complications in the industry, then we suggest that you keep what’s written here in mind.
Here are some simple and effective ways to manage a trucking business:
Comply with Laws and Regulations
Sometimes the hardest part about the trucking business is staying compliant with the ever-changing state laws and regulations. Rules are being re-written almost yearly sometimes repeatedly in the span of a year which makes it hard for business owners to catch up.
Sadly, there really is no alternative. If you want to avoid unnecessary fines and violations and further complicate the business, you have to do whatever it takes to comply with the law. Additionally, you need to keep careful track of what is going on in the industry and stay on top of all the changes. Otherwise, you risk getting your business in serious legal trouble.
Maintain Your Vehicles Regularly
Vehicle breakdowns are detrimental to a trucking business yet very little is done to prevent it. While trucks from Foton Philippines, Isuzu Philippines, and other truck brands boast that their vehicles are more than reliable and durable, it is still inevitable that damage from numerous elements catches up to them. Owners often wait for their truckers to get stuck in the middle of the road before they have a vehicle checked. The only thing this does is delay deliveries and that makes your brand look bad, further complicating what is supposed to be a rather simple task.
Moreover, having to fix big breakdowns is much costlier than repairing small ones, so make it a habit to inspect your vehicles and perform maintenance regularly. You can ask your truckers to report any kind of damage and have a trusted mechanic take a look at the situation. To make things a lot simpler, you can attach an electronic logging device (ELD) to every vehicle so you have a detailed record of their condition.
Improve Communication Standard
Streamlining a better and smoother form of communication between owner and operator and business and client is one of the best ways to make fleet management easier and simpler. There are many ways to achieve this and one has already been mentioned above – installation of ELDs. Using these devices, you will always know where your truckers are and won’t have to call them every time a customer asks for delivery progress.
Successfully improving your communication standard offers a lot of benefits for all parties involved – owner, truckers, and customers. On the side of your customers, they will be able to have a better experience through the delivery process. As for you, the owner, and your truckers, transparency in communication decreases turnover. Ultimately, better communication leads to higher customer satisfaction and lower employee turnover rate, which are both good for the business.
Work Smarter, Not Harder
We’ve all heard of the saying “study smarter, not harder.” Well, you can and should apply the same concept to your trucking business if you want to make your life as an owner easy.
As a new business, you will be forced to work with and for a lot of clients. While that’s acceptable during the first few months or maybe years of your establishment, somewhere along the way you will have to choose which clients to stick with. Working with every single client that offers a paycheck is going to run you, your drivers, and your business to the ground.
Instead of working extremely hard, work smart and invest in the relationships you have with reliable and trustworthy clients who can provide steady work. It may look counterproductive on the outside since you’re dealing with fewer clients, but it will be much better for you, and them as well, because you can focus on molding your service to fit their specific needs. All this leads to is customer loyalty and a strong business base to support future growth.
Key Takeaway
Managing a trucking business with vehicles that are japan surplus from the Philippines and succeeding in the industry shouldn’t be so hard. It only seems like it is because so many people enter the market with little to no idea how to actually run a business. In order to avoid the same mistakes that these people made, always keep what’s written here in mind. These ways may not be a direct path to success, but they’re definitely better than the long, windy, and complicated roads other beginners are taking!
