8 transportation companies you can start now

At Start Your Own Transportation Service, the Entrepreneur Media staff explains how you can launch a profitable transportation service, whether you want to start a long-distance operation or a city service. In this edited excerpt, the authors briefly discuss 8 ways you can get started in the trucking industry.

Below are many of the possible types of trucking companies you might decide to start. It all depends on what your interest is and what skills you want to employ in your business.

1. Taxi service

Despite its initial controversy and claims of unfair competition, Uber has bet all over the world, in fact in 400 cities and 65 countries. The appeal of Uber as a small business opportunity is that you are an independent contractor and have your hours. To register as a driver, start by going to the Uber website and clicking the “Become a Driver” button. A short questionnaire starts the process.

As a driver, you use your vehicle, so the start-up costs are relatively low. Uber handles all financial aspects of the trip. Payment to the driver is weekly. As independent contractors, the drivers bear the overhead costs (gas, maintenance, insurance, etc.) themselves. Financial analysis website SherpaShare says Uber drivers everywhere (except New York City, where fares are higher) earn between $ 8.80 and $ 11 per hour gross before the percentage of Uber.

2. Bicycle rental

Bike rental is a thriving business in certain areas. The two key environments where bike rental is natural are recreational tourism areas and cities. In tourist areas, you may choose to settle near a large hotel or resort where extended vacation stays create savvy clients. In this type of business, you will need a showcase, as well as a space to store all your rental bikes.

Another possibility for bike rental is a bike-sharing approach like Hubway in Boston. Bike stands around the city allow cyclists to rent a bike at a location, travel to their location, and leave the bike at a stand near their destination. Hubway offers annual or monthly memberships or day passes. Perhaps your city is ready for a mini version of this business.

3. Limousine service

You can provide limousine service to celebrities or ordinary people. We will focus here on limousine service for “normal people”.

As long as someone trusts you to drive them, a clean reputation is important. But in the case of personal limousine service, it will usually drive a group of people who are not paying attention to where you are going or how you are driving, but who enjoy the ride. The driver must be extremely reliable and the vehicle must be safe and well maintained.

You can operate the limo yourself, and your fleet of a limo will be relatively easy to maintain. You can provide the entire service yourself, from programming to driving. 

4. Owner / Operator Trucking

Although international trucking, including Canada and Mexico, is a huge sector of the trucking industry, here we will focus on trucking within the United States. The basic format of the trucking business is to bid and fulfill contracts. According to the SBA, there are two basic ways to operate, and the key difference is how you get drivers to honor those contracts (or accounts if you contract to do all trucking for a business):

• Outsource drivers. The drivers, in this case, are independent contractors who probably own their equipment. You’ll spend your time on two key pieces of coordination: getting the contracts and accounts with the manufacturers that need freight and then finding drivers who can fulfill those contracts on time. The advantage is lower costs: Independent contractors often not only have their vehicles that they maintain themselves, but also insure themselves and themselves. Insurance is a huge cost factor in the trucking business, so it’s a saving. However, you will also pay them a higher rate than if you paid your drivers, which reduces profits. The real deal here could be in fewer headaches, as long as you feel confident in the drivers you hire.

• Privately “owned” drivers. In this scenario, you are the owner of the trucks, and the drivers work for you. You are in full control and retain all profits, and pay all employee and equipment expenses, which means higher startup and higher operating costs. While your drivers will be at your service for the accounts and contacts you keep, the pressure is on not having downtime because you are paying for those drivers.

If coordination and scheduling are more of your forte, you may find that setting up your business using hired drivers is the best way to go. 

5. Moving van business

Starting a small moving business is relatively easy, which also means you should be aware that you are likely to compete with college students using a rented van. Your ace card will be one that will set up and professionally conduct your business, perhaps offering complementary services such as temporary storage space between movements.

Startup costs include purchasing one or more trucks in a variety of sizes to suit the type of move you plan to do.

You will need at least one employee; You can’t lift that couch alone! And you will have to train that employee on packing, Machinery Movers procedure, customer interactions, how to behave properly in a customer’s home, etc. so that his professional reputation is not damaged.

6. Specialized transport

Specializing in a specific type of unusual transportation – extremely large items like airplane parts or modular homes or refrigerated perishable goods, blood, or human organs – can provide a healthy income. You likely have fewer clients, but you may charge higher fees for the experience you have or for the specialization. Depending on where you are located (for example, a medical transportation company in downtown Boston, where there are numerous large medical facilities across from a small town in southern Indiana) will determine if you can do this business yourself or need employees.

7. Transportation of livestock

Although you do not need any specific licenses to transport personal horses for clients, unless you get on commercial-size vehicles that contain many animals, you will need equine or bovine experience for potential clients to be confident in your ability to transport their animals and yourself. You need to familiarize yourself with the livestock transport regulations to cross state lines.

Although the livestock owner will be responsible for having his animal ready for transport to its final destination, he will want to know the livestock regulations of whatever state he enters. Most states have at least minimum requirements for certain infectious tests (including a health exam) and/or vaccinations to enter their state.

Don’t let horse or cattle owners know about these regulations; While they may be the ones to line up and pay the vet who will perform these tests, you will want to be well informed to advise them. It is beneficial for you to make sure they have the proper documentation for you to show at the final destination or anywhere along the way that is required.

To make sure the trip goes smoothly for the animal, you should be knowledgeable about livestock or hire someone who is trained to carry out the transport. Note that if you are transporting any distance and you need to do it overnight, you will need to get the animal up and down from the trailer several times. how to treat or bandage a wound if necessary, you also need to know the basics behind driving carefully while towing a live animal. Obtaining a vet tech license or bringing a certified vet tech with you can go a long way and give you a head start in earning clients and word of mouth accolades.

8. Boats

Boat transport is another specialized business that can be lucrative and interesting if you are in a maritime area. Keep in mind that this will be an extremely busy and seasonal business during the pre and post-boating season as everyone will want their boat to be on the water or taken out of the water in the same general time frame.

You will need to decide what type of boat you want to transport. A speedboat for the lake has a very different towing requirement than a large sailboat with a mast and keel. Although speedboat transportation is probably a higher volume business, it is also something that many boat owners can do for themselves. But if you keep your prices reasonable and become known for taking very good care of the boats you carry, you might find people who will hire you to take care of this for them anyway. Motorboat owners will likely have space in their yard to store them, but if you can provide covered storage, it can have a value-added component to your business. You can also add the shrinking service of the boat before storage.

The initial funding for boat transportation is modest, but perhaps surprisingly higher than you might think, especially given the cost of the vans. You will need an appropriately sized track and perhaps two or three different-sized trailers. Liability insurance is also important to cover the boats you carry and the chances of things happening when you transport them. That storage option is a good expansion aspect for the boat transportation business.