It's a Team's Life
Do the little things add up?
Who doesn’t like saving money? Our lives revolve around money and owning our business means watching what we spend and saving for the future. Right now, freight is good but as we all know it will not stay that way and those are the days I want our business to be prepared for.
There are all kinds of ways to save money that do not take a lot of time.
- o Don’t pay fee’s
- o Not paying fee’s is something I am always working towards
- o Bank Fee’s
- o Carry a minimum balance in your checking account to avoid a fee
- o ATM Fee’s – can you use Comdata to get an advance if you buy a certain amount of fuel with no fee?
- o Advances – Can you avoid getting an advance with a fee?
- o Saving Money
- o Interest rates are not the best but interest is better than nothing.
- o Fuel Mileage
- o When possible run the truck to get fuel mileage when short on time and another load is available the next load takes precedence. Fuel mileage is not always the best way to save money.
- o Buying fuel cheap
- o Look at the cost of fuel without the state taxes. Get the most fuel for the least money. If you are not sure of the taxes look at this website built by Greg Huggins. http://h.theapp.mobi/fueltaxmap
- o Preventive Maintenance
- o This one is tough as we are often replacing parts before they break but the cost of the parts is a lot cheaper than calling a tow or repair truck.
- o Cell Phones
- o Check with your cell phone provider as there might be a better plan than you currently have for less money. Do you really need the latest and greatest cell phone?
- o Book Keeping
- o For some keeping track of business receipts it fun and rewarding and for others, this is a chore and too often put off. If you are of the latter type than having someone take care of this for you will probably save you money in the long run as you will get all of your deductions when you send in the receipts. Sending in all of your receipts to someone like ATBS will allow you to do something in another area to improve your business.
When deciding to do something yourself there is a balance of how much time will it take and in the long run will it cost you more. Can you change your own truck shocks? Bob has done this over and over and knows exactly how to do it, has the right equipment, and in no time the shocks are changed and we are ready to go. If you don’t have the right equipment and hate doing things like this, take the truck to the shop and have it done. Use your time wisely to do things that will make you money and that you are good at.
Figure out your strengths and rely on others to do what you are not able to do or what you do not like to do and put off. Procrastination is not often a good thing when running a business.
Concentrate on what you are good at and let others do the rest.
Bob & Linda Caffee
TeamCaffee
Saint Louis MO
Expediters since January 2005
Expediting isn't just trucking, it's a lifestyle;
Expediting isn't just a lifestyle, it's an adventure;
Expediting isn't just an adventure, it's a job;
Expediting isn't just a job, it's a business.