Quote:
Originally Posted by kenworthw900l
To all the small fleet owners what was the hardest part of getting your company started and waht helped you a lot other than having lots of money stored for the process?
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I don't know if anyone "starts" as a small fleet owner. We started with one truck, then two, then three, then four...
I guess what helped (besides cash reserves) what the availability of outbound freight.
-Find a client in your local area with regular shipments
-Figure how many trucks, trailers and drivers you need in order for you to be the only carrier they use.
-Figure what areas their shipments go to and whether or not your equipment will be able to reload in that area (i.e. flats delivering in FL might be tough).
That local shipper will like the idea that they have trucks located so close to them. Kinda like having their own fleet without the headaches. If you can supply them with trucks whenever they want....you might have something.
Ideally you're looking to deliver and get home in the same day so you can minimize the equipment you need to buy and drivers you need to find. Is there a shipper close to you that delivers ~5 loads a week within a 250 mile radius? Theoretically you could do that with one truck and one driver operating at ~100% capacity.