Like I’ve done with my clients in the transportation industry, please sit down with your management team, CPA, business coach, or whoever handles your profitability and make sure of the following:

1. Every customer is profitable. You may find that your are running loads for customers at a loss, which is unacceptable. You much change this immediately either by changing your price structure or firing these customers that don’t comply.

2. Take a hard look at your fleet of trucks for expense reduction opportunities. Are there lease opportunities for your trucks that can reduce your exposure and overhead?

3. Look at your traffic management processes — are your dispatch processes the most efficient that they can be to minimize empty trips, wasted stops, etc.. Maximize each truckload and distance travelled on every trip.

4. Pricing, pricing, pricing — VOLUME does not make up for unprofitable pricing. Let the customers that are more of a hassle than the income you make on them ruin your competitors.

There are a lot of additional insights, but now is the time for leaders and owner-operators to seize the opportunity to be more strategic and simply, smarter than their competitors.

If you need to reach me to learn more, call my office at 513-234-0459 or go online to http://www.focalpointohio.com.

Regards,
Tom Breitenbach