All that comes to mind when someone mentions truck driving is the semi-trucks and drivers they see on the road. But behind it all are the individuals in charge of managing the business and maintaining order. You don’t need to drive or obtain your own CDL to start your own trucking business. You may manage your own trucking business without ever operating one of your vehicles, albeit it does come with its own set of obligations.
Below we will go over 3 tried-and-true strategies for starting a trucking business without actually driving any trucks.
Investing in a FedEx Delivery Route
Purchasing FedEx routes is one option to launch a trucking business without having to drive.
This is how it goes. You purchase a FedEx route that runs through a specific region. The ability to deliver in that region is then yours. Daily delivery requirements will be handled by your supervisors and drivers, and you will be compensated for each delivery you make.
The FedEx routes for sale frequently include the trucks as part of the package, so you often don’t need to bother about buying your own.
You can buy one of two different types of FedEx routes:
1. FedEx linehaul routes, which would be much longer routes made using semi-trucks.
2. FedEx Ground Pick-Up & Delivery (P&D) routes, which are local deliveries conducted with vans or box trucks.
FedEx’s daily constant supply of deliveries makes P&D routes fantastic as you will never have to stress about where your next work will come from. The only real duty you have is to see that the deliveries are always made on schedule.
The ability to run this business using vans and box trucks rather than semi-trucks could be less complex and expensive. That is another benefit of FedEx P&D routes.
However, FedEx Linehaul routes may be more lucrative.
The typical profit of a FedEx route owner is $1.5 million, according to FedEx. That sum does not include operating expense deductions. It is the total revenue for all routes owned by a single business owner (the majority of owners have several routes).
Buying a Bread Route
You can buy a bread route if you wish to launch a trucking company easily. You can purchase bread routes that span a specific area, which is somewhat similar to a FedEx route.
In essence, you profit from every loaf of bread you sell to stores and retailers in your region.
We are referring to selling well-known brands to big box stores like Target and Walmart, including Nature’s Own, Wonder and Sara Lee. Furthermore, many of these distributorship contracts are exclusive. So if the local store wants to stock your brand of bread, they have to purchase from you.
The majority of bread routes are trustworthy, well-established enterprises that can start off by earning a steady income.
How much ROI can you anticipate from a bread delivery service?
These bread routes have an astounding 46.0% ROI on average. You should now be realistic about your expectations because the majority of these routes are probably run by the owner operator (which means they are the driver).
You must employ drivers to operate the routes if you want a more passive source of income. Naturally, in that situation, the ROIs will decrease, but you should still have a lot of flexibility.
Getting a Truck and Leasing it Out
The final strategy is easy to understand. You purchase a semi-truck and rent or lease it.
The pros and cons regarding this can be found fully explained in the topic Should i buy or lease my truck.
By “lease out” your truck, what we mean is that you should “lease on” to a carrier and fill their orders. As a result of the fact that you won’t be doing the driving for these loads, they are very passive. Naturally, if you have your own operating authority, you are not required to lease to a carrier.
In that option, you are able to start producing money on your own. Which is without joining a carrier by purchasing your own trucks, hiring your own drivers, and finding your own loads. Although it is simpler, there are significantly more administrative, paperwork, and licensing requirements.
If you didn’t know, a carrier is basically a trucking company with the necessary permits and licenses. Some carriers may rent a truck when they require one, and they’ll also let the vehicle owner employ a driver to handle the actual delivery of the load (single freight shipment).
Now it’s different to rent out your truck. At that point, you essentially rent it to someone, much like a car rental company. As you may expect, this tactic is much more passive. Another appealing option is to rent the trailer like you would rent a truck.