My New Business is Almost Open

Things are moving along nicely (seemingly) with my qwest to get my own federal Authority to conduct interstate trucking commerce. In fact, all I need to do is write (another) check for my insurance to get that in place and the deal should be done. At least the feds part. I will make the decision by mid-week on who gets my money so that the policy can go "in-force" on July 1.

The state is another story. The 'point-of-contact' for the Illinois Commerce Commission (who oversees trucking in IL) has yet to return my phone call. Nothing unusual there. My tax-dollars hard at work. (Note to Self: future blog topic - "Big Government = Big Headache" another example of bigger NOT being better!)

I have been able to glean info from other sources tho and I think I can complete that part of the process with-out guidance from the ICC. I have been peppered with fees and permits and filings and licenses and postings yada-yada-yada! With-out exception they have all required some sort of payment ranging from $11 to register my business dba with the county since I'm a sole-proprietor to hundreds of dollars for insurance filings. Money-money-money! If you have ever opened a small business you understand.

But I still think that in 10 days - by July 1 - we will be legit and driving down the road with MY name on the side of the truck. THAT'S kind of exciting. And financially I should recoup my start-up costs in two months - pretty amazing. Why didn't I do this two years ago? Oh ya, the compliance thing! The trucking industry is one of the most regulated industries in this country. I WILL get a safety audit from the feds with-in 18 months. My concern is that I will miss some requirement - for example you must have an accident log. Mine is real simple - it's blank after the headline! But ya gotta have it. And the list of requirements is many-many pages long. If you are suffering insomnia some evening, check this out: Federal Motor Carrier Rules & Regulations.

I am still in Belleville getting this all done. My business 'garage' address is here. There are many reasons for this - as opposed to having a FL based biz - but suffice to know, that's the way it is for now. We can 'move' later if we want.

I have been very busy working here, I'm happy to say. I had two very excellent days this past week which made for a good week. My bottom-line guide is $$ per mile. And I use the actual miles driven as opposed to just the loaded-miles. This number includes the dead-head miles and I think gives me a much better picture of my financial health. I'm burning fuel; spending time; and wearing-out tires, brakes and oil on my truck while driving empty so that's an expense. The norm in this industry is to consider your loaded miles and then just keep your dead-head miles at 10% or less. I prefer having 1 number to look at.

The nice thing about having a direct customer - as opposed to picking loads up off the internet load boards - is they usually pay much better. There is no middle man (or two or three). I have averaged more than $2/mile for the last three weeks. And I sleep in a real bed every night. The bad thing - besides NOT being in FL - is that we only have one customer and their work load is down significantly with the economy (they are a construction-related business). So the jobs have been inconsistent - feast and famine!

Part two of my business plan, after getting my authority, is to add more drivers and then add more customers. If you were a shipper, would you prefer to deal with a middle-man (broker) or directly with the carrier? I'm counting on folks picking "B". Of course, you had better be able to deliver when they call.

My time here in Belleville is a little bit depressing, probably because I miss not being in Paradise. I have to hang-out in the mornings waiting for the phone to ring, which it doesn't do every day. On the days it does ring, I work. Sometimes it's just a couple of hours and occasionally it's 16-18 hours - like yesterday. On the days it does not ring - I'm usually bored out of my mind! In a couple of weeks, I will be able to go out in the afternoons and solicit new business.

So that's the latest. Oh, except one small sidebar. Thursday nites around here is Bike Nite at several places. This past Thurs I went to the Pasta House in Fairview Hgts - 5 miles away. I ran into so many old friends! I was very involved in the Harley Owners Club (HOG) many years ago - both on a national level and locally. One of the local chapters, which I was the Asst Director for at one time, sponsors the Bike Nite here. Many, many familiar faces that I haven't seen in several years. In fact, I did not get to talk with all the people I saw that I wanted too. (Sorry Butch, Cheri, Marty, et al) Guess I'll go back next week.