If you have an upstart trucking company and are looking to expand your fleet, you may be wondering what is the best way to do so. Here are some tips on growing your fleet without cutting into your bottom line.
Draw Up A Plan
Any time you want to expand your business, you need to have a solid plan in place before jumping into anything. Ask yourself what you are trying to accomplish with the expansion. Are you trying to upgrade your services to appeal to potential new customers? Are you looking into partnering with another company? Are you trying to open an entirely new department? All of these will result in expansion but need different solutions to become viable.
Consider the Software
Take a look at the software you are using. Aside from your website, where you should invest in getting a trucking website design by The Whit Group, you should also check other tools that will help your business. While any technology is generally better than no technology at all, you really should have some sort of fleet management platform in place to automate as many things as possible. When you grow bigger, you also have more things that need to be tracked. Having an effective and reliable platform in place will result in improved efficiency so that you can focus on the big picture.
Scalable
Consider what point you are starting from and where you want to end up. For example, if you only have one truck and you need to add one additional truck, it’s not a great stretch. However, you have 5 or 6 trucks and you want to end up with 20, that is a much larger undertaking. When you add new assets such as vehicles, there are many additional decisions you will have to make. When expanding your fleet, make sure to do so slowly so that it is more manageable.
Insurance Issues
Look at your current insurance policies and see what they cover and what, if anything, would change if you expanded your fleet. It may be more cost-efficient for you to switch to a different tier. You will also need to look at your drivers’ individual insurance policies to see if have grown beyond what they are currently covered with.
Money Matters
Another money-oriented decision is how you will pay for this expansion. Is your business making enough money to fund the expansion without spreading itself too thin? How soon will you be able to see a return from your investment? You may consider getting a business loan so that your liquid cash is still accessible.
Don’t Forget About Labor
With the expansion of your fleet comes to another factor to consider. Those trucks aren’t going to drive themselves. You will need more drivers to join your company and ensure all of those trucks are able to get to where they need to be on time. Keep in mind to assign new or lesser-experienced drivers to easier routes and vehicles that are not as demanding to drive. They will be more inclined to stick around with your company and you won’t have a turnover rate that is as high as your competitors.
