I Need More Work

Whether you work for a trucking company or own your own truck, transportation jobs are hard to get. The competition out there in truck land can be vicious. Have you thought of ways to increase business? Or does the company you work for have a strong management team to lead the way to more work? If you are trucking solo, your success is in your hands. Keeping up with all of your certifications and licensing is a strong step. Also making sure you are trained for CPR and know how to handle emergencies and situations that can be very abrupt and chaotic.  This is easy to do when you buy or rent textbooks on safety. Your company will have safely meetings to make sure all the truckers can handle themselves on the road.

Time To Advertise

Advertising can be really intimidating if you don’t know how to go about it. For trucking, a smart plan would be to decide what types of loads you want to haul. Write that down on a list, all the different items you can haul around. Then, analyze this list and brainstorm who would need your service. Printing up brochures and flier’s is a very strong advertising step. Having a “runner” go around to all these potential clients and handing out the brochures/flier’s. Getting the word out about being a strong trucking company or individual will let potential clients know you are serious about your service and ready to work.

With the economy in such a terrible state, it is important to work every angle to get more business. Hard work pays off with lots of business.

Why Trucking Companies Need Merchant Accounts

• More ways to pay – Instead of accepting payments by check or over the phone, a trucking company can send their customer a link to their secure payment gateway so the customer can pay online.
• Paid instantly – With a merchant account, the business will be paid instantly and they will no longer have to wait for the payment or deal with the age old excuse that the check is in the mail.
• Easy to use – Merchant accounts are easy to use and will cut down on the expenses that other businesses have to deal with like postage etc.

How to Set Up a Merchant Account

Step 1 – Search online for a merchant processor that offers affordable rates.
Step 2 – Sign up online for the merchant account. Most processors typically take 5 days or longer to approve a business for new merchant accounts and internet merchant accounts. The approval rate for a merchant account is typically 98% or better so even if a business has bad credit they can still get approved for a new merchant account.
Step 3 – Once a business has been approved for a new merchant account they should set up their payment gateway or online shopping cart so they can accept payments online.
Step 4 – After the online shopping cart is set up, the business owner should email their customers to inform them that they can now conveniently and easily pay their bills online right from their trucking website.

One of the keys to success with surviving the recession is making the most of your income and there are a variety of ways to do that.

Medical Coverage

If you work for an employer who offers medical or dental benefits you should sign up for that coverage because, as the medical costs continue to rise it’s still more affordable to be part of a large group plan than to pay for your own coverage yourself.

You never want to go without medical insurance because one accident or injury can “wipe out” any family financially that doesn’t have coverage.

Filing Status

Has your relationship status changed from single to married? Did you just add another member to your family and now have another dependent? If so, don’t forget to change your filing status with your current employer. Many people make the mistake of not updating their employee records when their filing status changes and they continue paying more money per month than they should when they could be paying a lot less per month.

Pay Off Those Credit Cards

Credit cards can be a great asset when you need them but they can also kill you financially thanks to their high interest rates. If you have any credit card debt right now you should make the effort to pay those cards off ASAP because, thanks to interest, you’re actually paying a lot more money for simple things than you thought you would.

Make A Contribution To Your IRA

If you’re not saving or investing money, especially once you get into your 30’s, you’re in trouble. You should make an effort to invest more of your money into your IRA because; this will help you to save money on taxes and also improve your retirement “nest egg”. Finally, you can improve your potential for investment success with financial modeling training. The more you know, the better off you and your money will be.

An Accident is An Accident… Right?

An accident isn’t just cut and dried particularly when it pertains to truckers. They have so many rules and regulations that they must constantly keep in mind and updated that one missed tire check or weigh station could (no pun intended) weigh very heavily against them. They keep detailed records of hours, miles, safety checks and more. Should any of their paperwork be out of order and they become involved in an accident; chances are there will be hell to pay. If on the other hand, the trucker’s legal representation can prove that the trucker did everything in their power to stay within the law there will be a better chance for a favorable outcome as far as the trucker’s concerned.

A Lawyer is A Lawyer… Right?

Once again, even though all accident lawyers are probably capable of handling a trucker accident there are specialized lawyers that advertise specifically to be trucker lawyers. You can find them on the Internet, they are everywhere. Finding a trucker lawyer is only part of the battle however.

Do your homework with any Ft. Worth car accident lawyer that you choose and check reviews and word of mouth to see if they have been satisfactory in the representation of truckers in the past.

Uncle Sam Needs You (To Be Healthy)

At the same time their hours are monitored, truckers also have to keep their cardiovascular health at a certain high level, so says the Federal Motor Safety Commission. Their reasoning is that medical issues like diabetes, hypertension and high blood pressure can all lead to an impaired ability to operate a motor vehicle on a commercial basis. To make things even more difficult it’s extremely hard to follow basic good nutrition advice for optimal health when you have to eat most of your meals on the road, away from the conveniences of home.

Taking Care of the Body on the Road

The usual bromides about a healthy (and reduced-calorie) diet apply here, but an exercise regimen has to be schedule-friendly. Taking a brisk 10-minute walk during a rest stop is helpful, and while stopping to hit the gym isn’t conducive to on-time delivery, a trucker can always keep a couple of dumb-bell weights in his (or her) rig.

Such activities will also serve to stretch the legs and increase circulation. As with “frequent flyers”, truck drivers are susceptible to thrombosis in the legs from remaining in the seated position for long periods of time. In all walks of life, we’re all finding there’s more to good health Brussels sprouts and muscle tone.

Over the last ten years it’s gotten easier for truckers to stay connected when they are out on the road thanks to wireless adsl internet which makes it possible for truckers to access the internet from anywhere they are in the United States.

Best Wireless Broadband Internet Providers

In today’s world, the best carriers for wireless broad broadband internet are those companies that have been leading the way in cellphone service for the last 20 years. Companies like Verizon, Sprint and AT&T all have excellent, nationwide, wireless broadband networks which will enable them to enjoy high speed internet on the road, just like they would at home.

Set Up Costs

Many wireless broadband internet carriers charge $30 to $100 for the USB wireless router that plugs into any laptop or computer and then $50 or more per month for the actual service. The price that you pay depends on the speed that you want. The average wireless broadband speed is 3G but many networks like Verizon and AT&T are claiming to offer 4G broadband speeds nationwide. Before truckers settle on a wireless broadband carrier, it’s important to verify the reliability of their network just to make sure that coverage will be available in the areas that the trucker is traveling in.

Satellite Internet VS Wireless Broadband Internet

For those truckers who don’t want to choose a wireless broadband internet service there is always satellite internet that they can choose from. With satellite internet, a computer user will no longer have to worry about not getting a signal if they are not traveling out of their network. Many truckers prefer satellite internet because, it offers them the benefit of an always on internet connection without having to deal with the hassle of downtime or slow connection speeds due to network unreliability.

Common Sense

The first thing that any trucker should start doing immediately is slow down. Backing off the accelerator has proven to save money on fuel and it’s something that every trucker should start doing immediately. If a trucker slows down from 75 mph to 65 mph they will be able to increase their fuel mileage by more than one mile per gallon.

Many LTL freight carriers have seen success with slowing down and also by using LTL Software and Internet based tools to calculate their routes more efficiently.

Under The Hood

Using synthetic lubricants has been proven to help increase gas mileage over traditional lubricants. Many truckers have found that switching to all synthetic lubricants helped them to see an 11% increase in fuel economy. If a trucker isn’t ready to switch to all synthetic lubricants they should consider using the 50/50 approach of using regular lubricants during the summer months and synthetic during the winter months because synthetic lubricants are more resistant to extreme temperatures.

One of the best things that any trucker can do to save money is investing in a more aerodynamic truck. By switching to a more aerodynamic truck a trucking company can get increased fuel mileage and save their company up to $50,000 per year.

The Basics: Your Background

The most basic thing to do is to obtain your GED or high school diploma. This is technically not a formal requirement, but most truck companies prefer it. Also important, which the employers will definitely be looking at, is your driving record. It is important to maintain a clean driving record, and excessive moving violations can disqualify you from trucking. Even worse are DUI convictions, so be a careful driver for when that interview day comes up.

The Extra Mile: Get Certified

There are several certifications and programs you can go through to make yourself a more desirable truck driving candidate. One is the Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) to drive trucks over 26,000 pounds, or any size truck that transports hazardous materials. This exam includes both written and physical tasks. There is also the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR) exam of the US Department of Transportation. This exam has a physical driving portion, which needs to be passed every two years to maintain your qualifications.

The first step is making yourself a desirable candidate to employers is to know what they are looking for. There is the basics, such as an education and clean record, which get you through the door. Then there are the others, like the certifications, nice cloths, well groomed and proper supplies (folders, good pen, note pad, and lexmark no 100 cyan that make you stand out and have you leaving that interview with an amazing driving job in tow.

As a business, getting your product or supplies from one location to another is vital.

Owning a trucking company is really a big dream of many drivers across the country. But in operating a trucking business on your own has many advantages and disadvantages, such as lack of company health insurance and paid vacation time. Trucking associations exist to lobby for those in the trucking industry, and to allow individuals to participate in insurance programs.

Trucking companies are the big YES today because it helps our life to work easier everyday than before.