Wheels of Justice

Profit is an excess of income over expenditure

Question:
I want to buy my own truck and start my own business. Do you have any advice on how to start and run a trucking company? 

Answer:
Anyone can start a trucking company and even run it for a little while. All you need is a way to get a truck and a customer who will pay you to haul their product. I do not want to get into determining what type of truck you will need; you know the specific tires, gear ratio, engine, etc. You need advice for those issues from someone who has experience in trucking or someone who sells trucks to assist you in buying the truck best suited for your needs. I will suggest you forget how the truck looks and focus on reasonable power and fuel mileage. You will want a truck that will give you the most profit per mile.
     America is a capitalistic country and our focus is on profit. You don’t want to work long, hard hours for little or no profit, so you must make up your mind now to focus your work on making sure you have more income than expenditures.
     My experience as an entrepreneur and attorney taught me that making money is somewhat easy. Keeping the money you make is always difficult. Life’s lessons taught me to make sure I adhered to the advice of my attorney, my banker and my accountant.
     Operating a truck or a fleet will require legal advice on subjects such as incorporation, accidents and bankruptcy. I advise my clients to incorporate their business in order to protect themselves. Corporations were devised to limit the liability of the owners of the corporation (shareholders or members, depending upon the type of corporation), to protect them from total financial ruin.
     You also need a banker to assist you with cash flow. Listen to your banker, because he wants you to succeed so you can pay back the money you borrow.  Every business needs a banker at one time or another for a line of credit in a down market or to help manage your money in good times.
     Accountants and bookkeepers look at your business on a daily basis and are the first to know of any problems on the horizon. You will want to know as soon as possible if you are going to have trouble making any payments you owe so you can do whatever it takes to get that money paid on time.
     ATBS is a company offering accounting and tax services for drivers, fleets and carriers. I recommend them to assist you in keeping the money you make.  Call ATBS at 888-640-4829 or email them at info@attrucktax.com with specific questions you may have.

  Jim C. Klepper is president of Interstate Trucker Ltd., an organization that provides legal defense protection to commercial drivers. Jim is a lawyer who focuses on transportation law and the trucking industry in particular. He works to answer your legal questions about trucking, and he holds his Commercial Drivers License.