Problems You Need To Overcome When Starting A Trucking Business

The trucking industry is one of the most growing and lucrative businesses today. However, just like any other business, it has its own share of challenges. Before you venture into this business, you should know the challenges you are most likely going to encounter. Most of these challenges are inevitable. For your business to thrive, you need to grow a thick skin and face these challenges head-on. Here are challenges you are likely to encounter when starting a haulage business.

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1. Business Financing

Just like most businesses, financing is the main challenge. The haulage business requires quite a substantive amount of capital. Purchasing a new truck is quite expensive. This is why most people shy away from this type of business venture. To overcome this challenge, you can look for a favorable source of funding such as bank loans or you can start by purchasing lightly used trucks. They are much cheaper compared to new trucks.

2. Maintenance Costs

Trucks are huge vehicles. This means servicing them is more expensive compared to servicing another type of vehicle. Trucks parts are expensive and may not be locally available. This might mean you have to import them which is expensive. Other variable costs to consider are fueling costs, lodging costs for drivers and tolls cost.

3. Trucking Regulations

Constantly changing laws and regulations in the trucking industry can cause you to incur more expenses than you had anticipated. Although different countries have different regulations, they are common and affect the businesses almost similarly. Some of these regulations are:

• Hours of Operating – Regulations, and laws can affect the hours which the driver is allowed to be on the road. This depends on factors such as the state of the roads or weather conditions.
• Minimum wage for truck drivers.
• Drug tests – Although this is important for the safety of all road users, it can increase the running cost of the haulage business.

To evade or manage all the legal setbacks in this industry, you need to hire a lawyer. In case of a truck accident lawsuit, you will be fully represented while you continue to run your business. A lawyer will help you understand and process all the legal requirements in trucking.

4. Shortage Of Drivers

The hauling industry requires you to hire professional drivers who have the knowledge and the ability to drive long distances over different types of terrain. Finding this type of driver is quite a challenge and can lead to the hiring of unprofessional drivers. Professional drivers require a higher paycheck which is expensive for the business, especially during its initial stages of growth. You can train your own drivers if it is possible.

5. Safety

Truck accidents lead to heavy fatalities. Truck accidents can happen due to fatigued drivers suffering from lack of sleep or tight work schedules, bad weather conditions, the poor state of the roads or distractions such as the use of smartphones while driving or multitasking while driving.

The trucking business is profitable but it involves a lot of challenges that you can overcome. Challenges are present for every business venture. You need to learn how to overcome them as your business grows.

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