Essential Partnerships That Will Propel Your Trucking Company Forward

The trucking industry is a low margin industry. When things go wrong, you need strong relationships to draw on (not to mention a healthy cash flow) in order to make corrections. Ideally, when you foster the best relationships, you won’t hit as many stumbling blocks. Which is a good thing because errors and issues can be expensive. Here are some of the essential partnerships that will propel your trucking company forward.

Your Mechanic

You cannot afford to have trucks waiting on repairs or having reliability issues on the road. While larger trucking companies may have their own mechanics, chances are if you are starting out you will hire an outside professional. The skill and availability of your mechanic will determine how soon you can get your equipment back on the road. And it should be more affordable to bring your equipment in to this mechanic (when possible) rather than get repairs or maintenance on the road. Look for a local, independent mechanic or a shop with experience serving the trucking industry.  

Your Invoice Factoring Company

The benefits of factoring for trucking companies are huge. Getting your cash in immediately after a load is completed helps you fund the next portion of your trip. Factoring can help you deadhead for longer to get a better load, invest in equipment to help you grow your fleet and even make sure you have enough cash for a down payment. But does your invoice factoring company offer you everything it should? In trucking, bad debt can sink businesses. Consider nonrecourse factoring, a process in which your invoice factoring company may cover your customer’s bad debt.

Your Drivers and General Manager

It might be odd to think of your staff as “partners” but taking that mentality will help you get the most from them. It’s true that drivers on the road have great insights into which loads might be a better fit for your business. And, when you have a strong general manager, you can worry less about how your drivers are managing their time.

Your Customers

Your relationship with your customers matters a great deal. You want repeat business from them, and for them to spread word of how reliable your business is. When managing your customer relationships, always consider if it is in your best interests to be working with them. Larger companies may help boost your reputation, but they also tend to pay slower, and waiting for their payment can create cash flow problems (unless you’re factoring).

Your Equipment Dealer

Especially when you’re buying used, having a strong relationship with the company you’re buying or renting equipment from is a huge advantage. When their salespeople will keep an eye out for the specific equipment you’re looking for, offer you better prices on things you’d like to purchase, or just help you make better overall equipment decisions, you’ll come out ahead. Remember that it is a big trap in trucking to get in over your head with debt for new equipment. Ideally, your dealer will help you assess how much you could actually benefit from a new purchase instead of focusing on what a sale means for them.

Interested in developing a new relationship to benefit your trucking business? Reach out to J D Factors to discuss your options for factoring.

Tips to Hire and Keep the Right Drivers

Businesses in the transportation industry and those that operate fleet vehicles are struggling to find qualified drivers. Keeping the qualified drivers that you do employ can also be a challenge, but it's an important one to manage. Low driver turnover will lower your hiring and training costs which helps reduce your operating costs. 

Even in the face of a labour shortage there are things you can do to hire more drivers and keep them, too. Here are our tips:

Offer Referral Bonuses

Your current drivers likely know other drivers. Plus, the connection between them means they may both be more likely to stay with the company. Motivate your employees to refer friends and family with a bonus.

Post to Multiple Platforms

Most people find jobs online, but you can’t be sure which platform your perfect driver is looking at. To increase your odds of success post to all of the online job platforms that people use in your area – LinkedIn and Indeed are good starts.

Offer Training Support

Sometimes your ideal truck driver isn’t a driver yet. You may have much more success when bringing people into the job and covering some or all of their costs for any government-mandated licensing or training programs.

Of course, you should also be conducting your own training for new drivers. Ensure this training is designed to create bonds within the company, which will help your new truck drivers transition to work more effectively.

On-Boarding Clarity

Different businesses have different policies for compensation, scheduling, and routes, all things drivers care a lot about. You can keep more drivers if they understand all of the relevant details of their job up front and agree to them, rather than being surprised and discouraged later on. Things you should be very clear about include:

• Routes, scheduling, and time at home
• Compensation including paid time off and benefits
• Specific relationship, as an employee not a contractor
• Specific vehicle or other equipment they will operate

·       You may find a few people do not agree to the employment after a very frank conversation about the position, but these are people who would not have stayed with your company anyway. Now you avoid the cost of losing them and can pick another candidate.

Work Quality

A few different factors of a driver’s work can encourage them to sign on with your company and to stay. Offering them more guaranteed “at home” time is a great way to ensure they stay motivated when they are driving. Ensuring that dispatchers cultivate a good relationship with the drivers can also help them have a positive attitude about work.

Compensation

One of the best ways to attract better drivers and keep them is simply to offer them more financial compensation. This includes a larger hurly rate or salary, as well as other financial benefits such as more paid vacation and sick time and better health benefits. You can also motivate drivers with bonuses for safe driving or for bonuses for being with the company for a certain period of time. 

Payroll Tips

For transportation companies, cash flow can be a problem and it can impact your ability to keep the best employees. Inconsistent and poor pay will reduce your ability to hire and keep the best drivers. You can use invoice factoring to get healthier cash flow and thereby provide better compensation to your drivers. Reach out to the team at J D Factors today to discuss how invoice factoring can improve your payroll and cashflow and reduce employee turnover.