Wheels of Justice

It’s time for you to make more money!

Here’s a simple question: How are you going to make more money in 2007 than you did in 2006?

Here are a few things for you to consider as you drive down the road:

First, trucking industry profit margins are very thin. This means you have to do a lot of work to make a little profit, so making more money is probably the hardest thing to do. The best way to increase your income is to be in a position to get a better and higher paying job driving or, if you are an owner-operator, better paying loads. You can do this if you have driving experience and a clean driving record.

I’m willing to bet that a driver with five years of over-he road-driving experience, and no accidents or traffic tickets on his MVR can get a job just about anywhere. The best companies have the highest standards for their drivers and have the highest pay and best benefits, so it is worth your time and effort to keep your MVR as clean as you can.

Second, when you understand about how you can make your money work for you, then you know that saving money is much easier than making additional money. In order to save more money you need to understand about accounting and how you track your money. You need to be able to read and understand financial statements, you need a budget and you need a goal.

The easiest way to accomplish money tracking is to do it yourself, but that means you have to take the time to actually do it. The safest and most practical way is to hire an accounting group that deals only with trucking, and there are several out there. One that comes to mind is American Truck Business Services in Colorado (888-640-4TAX). Those guys can do everything for you from give you a monthly profit and loss to file your state and federal tax. They can show you how you compare with other drivers to see how you are doing and how you can improve on saving money.

The third way is to keep more of the money you’ve already made. The best and most cost-effective way to keep as much of your hard earned money as possible is to understand what government taxes apply to you as a truck driver, so you can make sure you pay all the taxes you owe in a timely manner and not have to pay the outrageous penalties and interest the Internal Revenue Service charges.

Here are a couple of age-old financial truths for you to keep in mind as we move into 2007: “The rich get richer” and “It takes money to make money.”