Are you a fleet builder? Do you dream of having just one more truck… by the end of the month? Do you read the postings for drivers and wonder how you can hire those truck drivers away for your trucking business? Being a fleet builder isn’t just a job, it’s a state of mind.
Just what state that is, we’ll let your significant other decide. In the meantime, here are our
Top 3 ways to know if you’re a fleet builder.
1. Tire Count
You know multiples of 18 like everyone else knows how to count by fives. If you’ve got three trucks, you not only know how many tires there are but how old they are, where they were installed and what brand you wish they were . When a driver calls and starts to say, “Hey, boss, I lost a tire” you know exactly which one it was and how.
Your truck maintenance isn’t a joke to you, but as a fleet manager, you’ve seen jokers in your drivers’ seats. Our founder Allen Campbell told us about one of his drivers who ended up on the side of the road because the engine was overheating.
“Did you check the water level?” Allen asked.
“Of course I did.” (He may have sounded a little offended.)
“What was it?”
“It was full!”
When the driver said that, Allen had no choice. He sent for an emergency repair vehicle to come out to the rig. When the maintenance tech opened up the hood, do you know what he found?
The coolant system didn’t have any water in it.
$600 for the repair for a guy to pour water.
(It wasn’t funny at the time.)
2. You know where your rigs are (or should be. Even at 2 AM)
We don’t want to accuse anyone of being obsessive, but fleet builders either have this sixth sense to know where their truckers are at any moment, or at least where they’re supposed to be. Or they’re spending maybe a little too much time on their tracking system.
We don’t think it’s obsessive to be checking GPS data from the ELD systems to know where a truck is. (TruckingOffice ELD lets you do that.) Do you? Of course not. When it’s your fleet on the road, you want to know what road they’re on and when they’re going to deliver.
3. You have a favorite truck _______.
You can fill in that blank with almost anything – favorite engine, favorite brand of diesel, favorite shade for the pinstripes. There are choices to equipment that fleet managers make. Having a favorite makes the choices so much simpler, right?
It’s when the favorite goes out of production that fleet drivers get upset.
But everyone is like that. We all have our favorites – truck stops, fuel cards, brand of wax for the best finish on our rigs. Why shouldn’t we?
In the end, we appreciate you, Fleet Builders. And we’re here to tell you that you’re why we’re here.
A Fleet Builder Builds Trucking Businesses
Trucking businesses are taking it on the chin right now. Fleet builders are reconsidering their trucking business plans because of the low rates and unreasonable expectations on their drivers. Maybe now isn’t the time to expand, but it isn’t time to give up, either.
There are a few things that a fleet builder should be doing right now.
- Supporting their drivers’ safety with equipment that’s ready for the road, not the dump.
- Knowing how much money a load costs to haul – and how to make sure that your trucking business is making money.
- Discover the best trucking software at a price you can grow with.
TruckingOffice makes it easy! Our complete trucking business management software package is here to help fleet builders as well as independent owner-operators to manage their dispatches, routings, invoices, and maintenance.
We’re here to help. Got a question about how your fleet can grow with TruckingOffice? Try our free trial! We’ll be with you on the road – and hopefully stop that driver from needing an emergency road repair – as well as track deliveries, overdue invoices, and driver’s records.
That’s how TruckingOffice PRO makes it easy for you.
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