Commercial truck financing is just one way to grow your shipping fleet. These six tips could help you overcome the challenges of expanding.
Anyone can own a trucking business, but owning a successful one? That’s difficult. Lots of people who are excellent truckers try their hand at running their own trucking business and fail. Why? Because they don’t understand the business side of things.
That’s where we come in.
If you run a small trucking business, you need to learn how to grow your business to keep up with the competition. At AA Bankers, we understand how challenging it can be to compete with bigger companies. Here are some tips to help you find your footing.
Secure Commercial Truck Financing to Purchase New Trucks and Equipment
Securing financing for your next commercial truck isn’t always easy, but if you can find a lender to support you, it’s an excellent way to continue growing your business. Even if you’ve been turned down for financing in the past, you should try again with a different lender. Your goal should be to build a relationship with someone who understands your needs.
Avoid Cash Flow Problems
It costs a lot to run a trucking company—as the owner or manager of one, you can probably imagine better than anyone what it takes. Just think about all of the repairs, fuel costs, and insurance premiums that you pay out monthly. The problem is that shippers and brokers often make it hard on business owners like you, sometimes taking as long as 45 days to pay invoices.
You’ve got to have a plan in place in case this happens. One way that many business owners avoid cash flow problems is invoice factoring. For trucking company owners, there is also repair financing.
Don’t Grow Faster Than You Can Sustain
When you want to grow your trucking business, it can be tempting to expand by leaps and bounds. But as with so many other areas of life, slow and steady wins the race. So many trucking companies that don’t know any better take out extra commercial truck financing loans to expand their fleets more than they can afford to sustain. If you are not sure what you can handle, it’s best to take it one truck at a time.
Maintain Your Trucks
A simple fact of trucking is that trucks break down. All the wear and tear of driving cross-country with heavy loads adds up. It’s critical to avoid extra repair expenses by regularly inspecting and maintaining your fleet of trucks.
Find Jobs That Require Less Driving but Pay the Same
If you drove a truck for another company in the past, you need to change the way you think about trucking ASAP. Why? You’re the one who pays for any inefficiencies now. One way to ensure your drivers are staying efficient is to find jobs that require less driving. The fewer miles your drivers have to go, the less likely they will be to cost you more than you can afford.
Don’t Forget to Build Your Reputation
As a small trucking business owner, you are only as good as your reputation. As you expand your fleet, don’t forget to build a good reputation, too.
Ready to finance the next truck for your fleet? Get in touch with AA Bankers today to talk about your commercial truck financing options.