Truckers and Travelers

Hello, Fellow Truckers!  I bet you’re wondering if that is really possible.  Well, it is.  The trouble comes in when you try to run your trucking business without a budget.  The budget starts by writing down what you make each week or month and what you’re spending.  There are several ways to do this, but I prefer the old-fashioned way of writing it down with pen and paper.  Another way to begin is to use any one of the computer software programs like Microsoft Money or Quicken.  You want to begin by writing down (or entering into your computer) everything you do in a month with your money, from bank deposits, to buying a bottle of water, to paying your truck payment.  Remember your goal is to pay cash for everything except your equipment.  Then you want to get that paid off and run it for quite some time so you can sock away your truck payment instead.  You may ask me, “but, Tonya, How do I pay for repairs and tires?”  There are programs that will allow you to set up accounts with them where you can pay for the expenses over a short period of time, like a few months with no interest.  I mentioned in my blog on tires, 6/11/09, a company called Magnum Tire Corporation allows for interest-free tire accounts to be set up.  For your repairs, there are places like the Flying J that offer discounts on repair services when you join their company association.

After you have written down all your monthly expenses from mortgage, gas, groceries, utilities, truck payment, trailer payment, diesel fuel purchases, quarterly tax payment, then add them up and subtract them from the total gross amount.  You will then see how much you have left over, if any.  Ideally your debt, both with the trucking business and household expenses, should not exceed 40-50% of your total monthly income.  If it’s more than this, you need to cut back on your spending. Are you spending too much on convenience purchases, or fast food or unnecessary purchases?  Look for the places in your budget where you are too extravagent.

Another thing you should do in your trucking business is to allot 5 to 10 cents per mile for maintenance of your truck and trailer.  The maintenance would include equipment repairs, oil changes, tire repairs and replacements.  Once you can start putting this amount of cash away for future maintenance, you will begin to reduce your dependence on credit for anything but equipment purchases.

Remember to start out slowly cutting back on expenses so you won’t feel deprived.  Remember your goal is to run your trucking business on cash not credit.  Keep your goal in the foremost part of your sight and visualize it till you begin to act on your goals rather then your impulses.  I like the saying, which is so true: If you can dream it, you can achieve it!”.  Remember, Fellow Truckers, I write these blogs to motivate you to success.  We have to support each other in the trucking industry.  Be safe out there!