Maintaining a profitable trucking company can seem like a challenge. Trucking companies of every size are always looking for ways to retain quality employees and maintain positive cash flow. We have put together two basic guidelines to help keep your trucking company profitable.
Hiring and Retaining Drivers
Driver turnover and churn are constant challenges in the trucking industry. It seems like there will always be a driver shortage that will vary by degree according to demand. Retaining quality employees starts with the hiring process.
Excellent employees are more likely to be serious about their careers, whereas drivers with spotty records are likely to change jobs frequently. By using the national Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse, trucking companies can hire quality drivers with clean records who are more likely to get shipments to their destinations on time.
Retaining good employees requires a bit of creativity. Some trucking companies offer unbeatable wages and benefits. Others create regular contests around things like compliance reports or spending on fuel to reward drivers. Whatever a trucking company can do to offer recognition will go a long way toward retaining drivers, which will pay off in higher productivity and profitability.
Managing Cash Flow
Maintaining a profitable trucking company can get even more challenging when we look at cash flow. Since payments from clients and brokers are typically staggered on 30, 60, and 90-day payment schedules, trucking companies can experience gaps in revenue. At the same time, bills, payroll, vehicle maintenance, and other expenses need to be paid, which can result in a cash flow deficit.
Trucking companies need to maintain positive cash flow to become profitable. To do this, trucking companies use factoring services. Factoring allows trucking companies to get fast access to revenue by converting unpaid invoices to cash.
By using freight factoring services, trucking companies eliminate gaps in revenue, build up reserves to cover payroll and expenses, and are able to maintain positive cash flow.
At Express Freight Finance, we help trucking companies stay profitable by offering fast and comprehensive factoring services. If you want to eliminate the wait caused by staggered payment schedules and boost your cash flow, contact Express Freight Finance today.