Trucking Business Plan Template

Trucking Business Plan

If you’re starting a trucking business or expanding your current fleet, a well-structured business plan is crucial for success.

The following trucking business plan template outlines the key elements to include in a comprehensive plan. This template can be used to create a business plan for any type of trucking operation, including but not limited to: long-haul trucking, regional delivery, freight logistics, and specialized hauling services.

You can download our trucking business plan template (including a full, customizable financial model) to your computer here.

 

How To Write a Successful Trucking Business Plan

I. Executive Summary

Business Overview

[Company Name] offers transportation services throughout the U.S. With a total of [x] trucks ranging from light to heavy, [Company Name] can meet any transportation need and works with small to large sized businesses. Timeliness, security, and cost-efficiency are the main driving factors for the success of [Company Name]. Through advanced technology, all transactions and deliveries are monitored to make sure that there are no delays or damages on the goods that are being transported. Every delivery is handled with the highest form of professionalism by a responsible and well-trained crew that strives to provide the best service and experience to every client.

Products Served

[Company Name] will be able to provide local and long-distance transportation services:

• General Freight
• Refrigerated Freight
• Dry Bulk Freight
• Bulk Liquids

Customer Focus

[Company Name] will primarily serve manufacturers and distributors within the U.S. The demographics of these customers are as follows:

• 300,000 manufacturing businesses
• 400,000 wholesale businesses
• 1.1 million retail businesses

Management Team

[Company Name] is headed by its founder, [Founder’s Name] who graduated from [University] with a degree in Business Administration. Prior to starting [Company Name], [Founder’s Name] worked as an operations manager at a freight logistics company [x] years when he was able to learn the ins and outs of the transportation industry. This experience will be the company’s most valuable asset.

Success Factors

[Company Name] is uniquely qualified to succeed for the following reasons:

• [Company Name] will fill a specific market niche in the growing manufacturing and wholesale industries.
• In addition, we have surveyed the target market and received extremely positive feedback saying that they explicitly want to make use of our services when launched.
• The U.S. has a robust business environment with a large number of businesses needing transportation services like ours
• The management team has a track record of success in the trucking services business.

Financial Highlights

[Company Name] is seeking a total funding of $230,000 of debt capital to open its trucking business. The capital will be used for funding capital expenditures and location build-out, hiring initial employees, marketing expenses and working capital.

Specifically, these funds will be used as follows:

• Headquarters design/build: $90,000
• Working capital: $140,000 to pay for marketing, salaries, and lease costs until [Company Name] reaches break-even

Topline projections over the next five years are as follows:

 

II. Company Overview

Who is [Company Name]?

[Company Name] offers transportation services throughout the U.S. With a total of [x] trucks ranging from light to heavy, [Company Name] can meet any transportation need and works with small to large sized businesses. Timeliness, security, and cost-efficiency are the main driving factors for the success of [Company Name]. Through advanced technology, all transactions and deliveries are monitored to make sure that there are no delays or damages on the goods that are being transported. Every delivery is handled with the highest form of professionalism by a responsible and well-trained crew that strives to provide the best service and experience to every client.

[Company Name]’s History

As the number of businesses grow in the U.S., the need for a reliable transportation vehicle also increases. In [year], [Founder’s Name] decided to meet this market need by investing in a small fleet of trucks to provide transportation services to small businesses. In [x] years, [Founder] was able to grow its business to a fleet of [x] trucks.

Upon incorporation, [Company Name] was able to achieve the following milestones:

• Found a business location and signed Letter of Intent to lease it
• Developed the company’s name, logo and website located at [website]
• Determined equipment and fixture requirements
• Began recruiting key employees

[Company Name]’s Products/Services

[Company Name] has over [x] freight trucks in its fleet available for local and long distance trucking services. Each truck is regularly maintained to ensure the clients that their goods will be delivered on time and in best condition.

[Company Name] will be able to provide these local and long-distance transportation services:

• General Freight
• Refrigerated Freight
• Dry Bulk Freight
• Bulk Liquids

 

III. Industry Analysis

The Trucking industry’s performance mostly follows the United States economy, so increases in consumer spending, manufacturing output and trade volumes have created high demand for industry services over the past five years. Further, increases in fuel prices positively affect the industry as revenue typically increases in line with fuel costs, as operators are dependent on fuel surcharge revenue. Higher manufacturing output and commodity prices have also presented another opportunity for operators.

Over the next five years, recovering manufacturing activity and greater retail spending are expected to ensure higher freight volumes for the Trucking industry, as retail inventory expands to satisfy growing consumer spending.

Further, rising trade volumes will likely increase shipments to and from US ports, requiring more trucking companies to move goods. These improvements are partially noted in the rise of the freight transportation services index, which is expected to increase at an annualized rate of 3.3%. As global and domestic shipping rates rise, the per-mile value of industry services is anticipated to rebound.

 

IV. Customer Analysis

Demographic Profile of Target Market

[Company Name] will primarily serve businesses within the U.S. that may need local and long distance transportation services for their products or supplies.

The business breakdown in the U.S. is as follows:

Customer Segmentation

We will primarily target the following customer segments:

• Manufacturing businesses are currently among the fast-growing sectors in the U.S. This means that the need for trucking services is increasing to assure speedy transactions between businesses.
• Wholesale Businesses – With the increase in manufacturing, wholesale businesses need reliable transportation to get goods downstream.
• Retail businesses – Retail sales are booming in the U.S. This sector requires reliable transportation to get the goods they need so they can consistently deliver products to consumers

 

V. Competitive Analysis

Direct & Indirect Competitors

T4 Trucking
T4 Trucking provides truckload transportation services across North America fueled by a fleet of some 1,500 tractors, 3,000 trailers, 100 straight trucks, and 45 flatbeds. Auto OEMs in the US and Canada (Ford, GM, Honda, and Toyota) are among the company’s major customers, as well as many Tier 1 auto suppliers.

T4 Trucking offers a slate of transportation and logistics services, from short- and long-haul to just-in-time, jointly with affiliates E.D.S. (expedited delivery), RayCan Transport (truckload service in Canada and the US), and Rush Distribution Service (logistics).

Reliable Transportation
Established in 1986, Reliable Transportation is a domestic and international intermodal and door-to-door truckload transportation company operating throughout the 48 continental United States. Reliable Transportation specializes in Intermodal Drayage to and from the Chicago, Detroit, Columbus, and Atlanta ramps, and also serves the port of Savannah.

The company maintains active interchange agreements with all the major rails, steamship lines, and equipment providers throughout its service areas, and is an active UIIA participant and a member of IANA, TCA, ATA and an EPA SmartWay Transport Partner. The company boasts over 300+ owner-operator trucks.

Chantham Trucking
Established in 1977, Chantham Trucking is a family-owned and -operated freight transportation company specializing in freight forwarding with a focus on air and expedited ground freight. It offers solutions for all industries, no matter the product commodity, size, weight, classification or deadline.

Their services include: Truckloads, Expedited Ground Services, Truck / Expedite Hotshot and Economy Shipping.

Competitive Advantage

[Company Name] enjoys several advantages over its competitors. These advantages include:

• Location: [Company Name]’s business is not limited to its location because it transports goods and services nationwide.
• Client-oriented service: [Company Name] will have a full-time customer service and sales manager to keep in contact with clients and answer their everyday questions.
• Management: [Founder’s Name] has been extremely successful working in the industry and will be able to use his previous experience to provide the best sales and customer service experience. His unique qualifications will serve customers in a much more sophisticated manner than [Company Name’s] competitors.
• Relationships: [Founder’s Name] knows many of the local leaders, business managers and other influencers within [location]. With his [x] years of experience and good relationships with business leaders in the area, he will be able to develop an initial client base.

 

VI. Marketing Plan

You can download our trucking business plan template (including a full, customizable financial model) to your computer here.

The [Company Name] Brand

The [Company Name] brand will focus on the Company’s unique value proposition:

• Client-focused trucking services, that treat each client individually and get the job done right the first time
• Service built on long-term relationships
• Thorough knowledge of our clients and their varying needs

Promotions Strategy

[Company Name] expects its target market to be individuals working and/or living within [state]. [The Company’s] promotions strategy to reach these individuals includes:

Publications
[Company name] will announce its product launching several weeks in advance through publicity pieces in multiple newspapers and publications. Regular advertisements will run to maintain exposure to relevant markets.

Commuter Advertising
We will drive attention toward [Company name] by renting billboard ad spaces along routes or highways that hold heavy traffic. Advertising on heavily traveled commute routes are an opportunity to alert large numbers of businesses of our opening.

Client Referral Programs
[Company name] will create an aggressive client referral program that gives discounts to existing clients for every successful referral.

Direct Mail
[Company Name] will blanket businesses with direct mail pieces. These pieces will provide general information on [Company Name], offer discounts and/or provide other enticements for people to use our services.

Online Marketing
[Company Name] will maintain a website and publish an update on ongoing promotions, discounts and new feature upgrades on our fleet of trucks. It will invest resources in two forms of geographically-focused internet promotion—organic search engine optimization and pay-per-click advertising. The Company will develop its website in such a manner as to direct as much traffic from search engines as possible. Additionally, it will use highly-focused, specific keywords to draw traffic to its website.

 

VII. Operations Plan

Functional Roles

[Company Name] will carry out its operations at its headquarters in [Location]. The business location will be used for sales, customer service, client meetings and bookings. It will house [x] full-time staff.

[Founder’s Name] will work as the primary salesperson for the company’s services, although the assistant manager and administrative assistant may be trained in sales activities over time.

The Company intends to employ [x] admin staff, [x] mechanics for the trucks’ maintenance, [x] drivers and [x] security personnel. In order to execute on [Company Name]’s business model, the Company’s employees divide the following roles:

Service Functions

• Assistant Manager
• Mechanics
• Drivers
• Customer service representatives
• Security personnel

Administrative Functions

• General & administrative functions including marketing, bookkeeping, etc.
• Delivery scheduling

Milestones

[Company name]’s long term goal is to become the most reliable and cost-efficient trucking company in the U.S. We seek to be the standard by which other providers are judged.

The following are a series of steps that lead to our vision of long-term success. [Company Name] expects to achieve the following milestones in the following [xyz] months:

 

VIII. Management Team

Management Team Members

[Company Name] is headed by its founder, [Founder’s Name] who graduated from [University] with a degree in Business Administration. Prior to starting [Company Name], [Founder’s Name] worked as an operations manager at a freight logistics company [x] years when he was able to learn the ins and outs of the transportation industry. This experience will be the company’s most valuable asset.

Hiring Plan

[Founder] will serve as the Manager of [Company Name]. In order to launch, it needs to hire the following personnel:

• Sales and customer service: 3 full-time employees to manage the day-to-day operations and customer service
• Truck mechanics: 2 on-call experienced mechanics
• Drivers: Skilled, responsible drivers who are willing to travel locally or long-distance

 

IX. Financial Plan

Revenue and Cost Drivers

[Company Name]’s revenues will come primarily from transportation services.

The lease and maintenance of the fleet of trucks and labor expenses are the key cost drivers of [Company Name]. The major cost drivers for the company’s operation will consist of:

• Salaries
• Truck leases and maintenance
• Lease on business location

Ongoing marketing expenditures are also notable cost drivers for [Company Name].

Capital Requirements and Use of Funds

[Company Name] is seeking a total funding of $230,000 of debt capital to open its trucking business. The capital will be used for funding capital expenditures and location build-out, hiring initial employees, marketing expenses and working capital.

Specifically, these funds will be used as follows:

• Headquarters design/build: $90,000
• Working capital: $140,000 to pay for marketing, salaries, and lease costs until [Company Name] reaches break-even

Key Assumptions

The following table reflects the key revenue and cost assumptions made in the financial model:

5 Year Annual Income Statement

5 Year Annual Balance Sheet

5 Year Annual Cash Flow Statement