Starting Your Own Trucking Company

The trucking industry is what keeps this country moving. Over 70% of freight is transported by more than 800,000 truck drivers, shipping over $700 billion in goods across the United States. With e-commerce on the rise, the demand for truck transportation will continue to grow, creating significant potential for profit in becoming a truck company owner, and getting into the transportation industry.

Being successful in the trucking industry comes down to more than just knowing how to drive a truck. It comes down to understanding all the minor details and running a trucking company as well. Whether you've been driving a truck for 10 years or you're new to the industry, but aren't sure about all the minor details on running a trucking company, we have you covered.

How to start a trucking company

Plan

First of all, you need to plan before you actually get going and start your trucking company. Here are some things to consider while in the planning stage:

• What type of equipment will you use?

• Do you own a truck already or will you lease or buy one?

• How many drivers will you want, if you'll want any?

• What is your financial budget? This includes insurance costs, equipment costs, fuel costs, salary costs, taxes and fees for getting your authority, and maintenance and repair.

Form a business entity

There are a few options of business entities you can form. You have the options of Sole Proprietorship, Limited Liability Company, and Partnership.

Sole Proprietorship: In this entity, a single person owns and operates the entire company and accepts all its legal responsibilities. The company is taxed on the proprietor's tax return. The main disadvantage of a sole proprietorship is that the owner has to accept all liability personally.

Limited Liability Company (LLC): An LLC has more legal protection than a sole proprietorship or partnership. An LLC is a separate entity from the owner, and any legal action taken against the trucking company comes out the company's assets, not the owners (like a sole proprietorship).

Partnership: When you start a business with another person, you can register it as a partnership. These can be either general or limited partnerships. A general partnership is similar to a sole proprietorship - the owners share all liability. A limited partnership involves more paperwork, but also has more protection.

Become official within the trucking industry

Before you get started, you need to make sure you're in compliance otherwise it'll cost you. There are many different permits and licenses you need to have before you can start your business and get on the road.

What you need:

• A legal business structure

• CDL

• Active MC Authority

• Compliance: BOC-3, IRP and apportioned plates, IFTA, and UCR

Find loads and get paid

Obviously, you need to know where you're going to find loads when you run a trucking company. You can find loads through load boards, directly through dispatchers, or working with direct shippers.

A huge part of your success in the trucking industry is knowing when you're going to get paid. It becomes extremely difficult and inconvenient to wait 30, 60 or 90 days to get paid on a load. The best way to avoid this situation is with quick pays or working with a trucking factoring company.

While quick pays can help you out, there are a couple of downfalls. Not all shipper or brokers offer them. So, you would have to find ones that do, which means you could sacrifice a higher paying load. You will also have to keep up with all your payments from different places - this could cause some issues as well.

With freight factoring, you can get paid the same day on all your loads once your broker/shipper has been approved. This allows you time to plan and find the best paying loads, all the while knowing you'll get paid the same day. You will be getting paid from one place, therefore would not have to chase or keep up with multiple different people. You also get additional benefits when you work with a freight factoring company like Porter Billing.

These include:

• FREE fuel card

• Access to a broker database

• Freight finding with a dispatch consultant

• FREE credit checks

• Insurance, Compliance, trailers, and equipment financing help

• and more

If you're ready to take the next step, click here to get a free quote and see how we can help you!

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