What You Need to Know About Trucking Service
Trucking service is an industry that transports goods and products from a manufacturer or production point to the consumer. The industry is a multi-billion dollar business and employs thousands of people in the United States, as well as abroad.
Every company, from the small family-owned factory to the e-retail giant Amazon, relies on trucking to deliver supplies and products. Whether they are shipping a new piece of tech to the customer or taking delicate china teacups to the museum, trucking services are vital for every business.
The trucking business is a complex operation and often requires special equipment, software and specialized knowledge to run. It can also involve a high degree of risk. In addition, it requires extensive insurance coverage in case anything goes wrong.
There are many different types of trucking companies, and each has unique needs and challenges. However, there are certain things that you can do to ensure your trucking company operates smoothly and effectively.
Obtaining the right licenses and permits is an important first step in ensuring your trucking business runs safely and efficiently. Depending on your business’s service and where you operate, you may need to get a variety of licenses and permits.
A motor carrier operating authority (MC number): Most state, county and local governments require that all trucking companies have an MC number before they can begin operations. This is used by law enforcement agencies to verify trucking businesses’ compliance with safety regulations.
BOC-3 filing: Each trucking company, broker and freight forwarder must designate a process agent that can file Form BOC-3 on their behalf with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. This form is required for all trucking companies that transport goods in interstate commerce and must be kept at the company’s main office.
Route planning: Efficient routing can help a trucking company increase efficiency, decrease time and fuel costs, and enhance delivery reliability. A good route planner will enable users to choose the best routes based on vehicle dimensions and weight, HazMat levels, toll preferences and more. Some platforms even allow flexible last-minute order modification, diverse reporting and analytics capabilities and real-time GPS tracking.
Marketing objectives: Creating specific objectives can make your marketing efforts more focused. For example, one objective for a trucking company might be to increase its marketing efforts so that freight brokerages and manufacturers for whom it already provides trucking services know it has more capacity than they are using.
Keeping your drivers happy is another critical objective for trucking companies, since job turnover is high and it can be difficult to find experienced, reliable employees. Having a set of objectives to meet the goals of finding, hiring and managing your drivers can reduce the amount of time spent on these tasks and make them more productive.
Setting up an LLC: An LLC, or limited liability company, is a type of business that provides flexibility and robust personal protection in the event that something goes wrong. An LLC can be the ideal initial structure for a trucking company that is just getting started.