Trucking: Owning a trucking company, trucking company, trucking companies

Question
Dear Mr. Ramos,

I see by your bio that you have owned a company. My question is this. I'm looking into starting my own company and I guess a lot of drivers eventually think about that and what is better, starting from scratch or maybe buying a small company? My reason is that I have done some research and there are small one or two trucking companies for sale and maybe buying the business and equipment. If that is a road to take, what should be the most important things to look for? Contracts first, see what kind of business they already have set up? Then equipment? Any assistance would be great. Thank you for your time Mr. Ramos.

Manuel

Answer
Do you have experience in trucking or business management? Look at the P&L statements for the companies and research the longevity of the companies. Are you going to change the core of the company, or keep it the same? what about the employees? having an owner without experience will scare them into leaving. Ask about their customers, if you are serious, have a transportation lawyer set up a meeting with the owners and get the talks going, give your lawyer look at the numbers and try to pick the best one to suit you. Do you have partners or are you going alone with capital? let me know. Mike