It's a Team's Life

Numbers Review

Numbers Review

We are just over half way through the year. What do your numbers look like? Do you track your revenue? How about your expenses? Do you track your fuel economy? What about your rate per mile to the truck? All of these numbers will tell us how our truck is performing as well as how our business is doing. If you do not track any of these numbers, how can you know if your business is growing or about to go broke?

While this year has been a challenge for many of us, we can still make a profit. By knowing our numbers we can make sound business decisions to keep afloat during the lean years. Let’s break things down to see how this can work.

For most of us, we have a dollar per mile rate that we strive for in order to make a profit. What if that dollar per mile is not achievable? The reasons could be many such as slow economy or higher production costs. All businesses are meant to make money. A business will do whatever it takes to be profitable. As trucking businesses, we should try to do the same. So if we cannot generate an expected rate per mile in revenue, what must we do remain profitable? Well, there are several things we could try to do.

We could try to combine loads so that we attain the desired rate per mile. For example, we could pick up one load in Texas that is meant to be delivered in Indiana and then find that there is another load picking up in Oklahoma going to Ohio. As long as both loads fit on the truck and the customers are agreeable to sharing the space with another customer, we just found a way to increase our revenue. Do this several times a month or a year and see what an impact this strategy can have on increasing revenue.

Lowering expenses is another way to increase profitability. While this might seem impractical when costs of everything from fuel, to maintenance and food continue to rise there still are ways to lower costs. For example, buying food from a grocery store rather than buying a meal a day from a truck stop will help to lower our food expenses. Keeping our trucks maintained with timely preventative maintenance (PM’s) and doing pre-trip and post-trip inspections to catch possible issues before they become a major breakdown can potentially save hundreds of not thousands of dollars in maintenance costs. Finding less expensive fuel by using apps or websites to find these places along your route can also help in saving on expenses.

Finally, find the shortest route to save on miles driven can help to save on both maintenance and fuel costs.

Has this year been a challenge? Without a doubt. But, is your business still making a profit? For us, the answer is yes on both questions. Do you know if your business is profitable? Take some time to figure that out. Your business will be better for it.

Here’s to millions of safe and profitable miles!

Kelly Plumb