Business of Trucking:  It is in the details
by Tim Brady, Business Editor  tbrady@writeuptheroad.com

For eight months, we've discussed the essentials you need to make your business a success. Hopefully, this will provide you with a quick glimpse of everything we've discussed so far and how you can put your business on the path to success by utilizing these steps.
To move your business forward, you need to be keenly aware of your competition. What is the competition doing for customers? What can you do to lure the competition's clients away? And most importantly, what should you be doing to keep your customers happy so they won't be enticed into leaving?

Any company can beat the competition with lower prices, but the path to long-term success is to beat them without lowering rates, thus providing a positive cash flow. 
Focus on what you can do to improve your operation. Beware of your competitors, but don't focus all your energy on them. It's far more productive to improve your operation's efficiency and the services you provide.

choose your customers wisely
- Does this customer fit into your overall business strategy?
- Does their ability to pay invoices fit within your cash-flow needs?
- What is your risk-to-profit potential with each customer? Consider their financial situation. Are they on the verge of bankruptcy? If so, you may only get a portion of what's owed to your company or worse, nothing at all.
- Do you routinely reevaluate creditworthiness to ensure the customer isn't going to become a collection problem?
- Is it possible to take risky customers and put them on a COD basis rather than severing all business ties and losing the revenue altogether?
- Most of your customers and potential customers are under financial stress. What are you doing to help? Remember, it costs more to find new customers than to retain current ones.

know your customer's needs
- Highlight for your customers the efforts you are putting in daily, paying special attention to services you provide that your competitors either are not or can not.
- Are your communications with your customers providing them with valuable information in an efficient and timely manner?
- Are you demonstrating to them that you value their time, their employees and  their property?
- Are you working with customers by showing them you understand that these are tough times? Don't make any unnecessary demands or requirements that would increase their costs and cause them to start looking for alternative shippers.


Improve efficiency
- How do you communicate with customers and employees? Include all those who need to be in the information loop.
- Is there a quicker way of getting shipment information from the customer through the sales department, to the dispatcher and ultimately to the trucker?
- Improve the speed of billing. Find ways to receive  delivery confirmation quickly, prepare the load's invoice and then send it to the customer for payment in a timely manner.
- Develop a system that continuously tracks which customers have paid and which ones have outstanding balances.

Avoid sudden rate increases
- Know your costs. By maintaining up-to-date financial records and itemizing costs and expenses, you will know whether your rates are sufficient to maintain your business. If they're not, are there areas where you can cut back before raising rates?
- Are you assessing your time on individual tasks and looking for ways to reduce it?
- Do you know your break-even points for each piece of equipment in your fleet?
- Are you constantly evaluating ways to trim costs to avoid rate increases, or even to reduce your rates without harming profitability?
- Are you working with customers to find ways to cut their costs?
- Are you providing innovative ideas? For example, showing your customers  how they can help reduce your employees' unproductive time at their facilities?

Don't forget the Employees
- Each contractor and employee, just like businesses, is probably struggling in this economy. What are you doing to help them through these difficult times?
- Empathy and compassion don't cost you a dime, but to employees, they're priceless. A litle compassion produces an immeasurable return on investment.
- Even amid high unemployment, the cost of replacing an employee or a contractor is still more than many businesses can handle. What are you doing to keep your current employees and contractors? And what are you doing to improve their service to your customers?
- What type of training are you providing your employees and contractors? Better job skills? Time management skills? Money management knowledge? Safety?
Staying ahead of the competition is not always about having the lowest rates. It's about having the most efficient operation with the best equipment you can afford; the best trained employees and contractors who have pride in what they do; cutting costs without cutting quality; and working with hand-picked customers.
 By going the extra mile, you can outlast your competition.

Good loads and safe roads everyone.