Many people dream of opening their own business and starting to work for themselves. But as you know, desire alone is not enough; many nuances must be taken into account. The crisis and unstable economic situation in the country lead to the fact that many enterprises cease their work and become bankrupt. Starting your own business in our time is quite difficult, but it is quite possible and they prove it successful entrepreneurs who earn well despite the crisis.

You can make money in almost any field of activity; alternatively, you can open your own, or start with something simple, for example, transporting goods.

In this article, I want to discuss a pressing question for many: where to start a cargo transportation business? How to open a freight transport company?

Cargo transportation is a popular and stable way of earning money, which does not lose its relevance even despite significant competition in the market. Therefore, it makes sense to think about such an attractive income option.

Cargo transportation: business plan

Profitability of the cargo transportation business. First, you need to determine the relevance of the idea. In other words, analyze the degree of competition, demand for the service and the amount of opening costs transport company. After that, draw appropriate conclusions about whether the cargo transportation business in your region is profitable or not.

Business registration

First of all, you need to legally register your type of activity. To do this, it is necessary to determine the material and legal form of the activity. At this stage, much will depend on your financial capabilities. If the starting capital is large and you plan to open a large transport company, then, naturally, you need to register as a legal entity. In this case, a suitable option is to register a limited liability company (LLC).

To transport goods on a small scale, it is much more profitable and easier to register as an individual entrepreneur.

Documentation process:

• Prepare a standard package of documents for individual entrepreneur registration;
• Pay the state duty in accordance with the law;
• Submit an application to the tax service and provide your passport data and activity code according to OKVED.

Collect and arrange the entire package necessary documents You can do it yourself or entrust this matter to an experienced lawyer.

Freight transportation scheme

At the initial stage, you need to analyze the market, determine the degree of demand for the service and competition in a given region. I would like to note that competition in the field of cargo transportation is quite serious. But, despite this, there is always a place for an honest, decent entrepreneur who provides high-quality cargo transportation services. Your main advantage is the provision of quality services at the best prices.

Rent or buy a vehicle?

As a rule, beginning entrepreneurs are content with little and, at the initial stage, personally provide cargo transportation services. Over time, naturally, it will be possible to open your own transport company and hire drivers.

Cargo transportation: types, conditions and features

Cargo transportation is divided into three types: movement of cargo within the region, throughout the country and international cargo transportation. The most difficult ones are international shipping. It will be necessary to prepare all documents for the transported goods, transportation permits, etc. But accordingly, the cost of transporting goods abroad is much higher. Therefore, choose the option that is most suitable for you, taking into account all the above nuances.

Conditions for moving goods

A contract for the transportation of goods is drawn up with each client. As a rule, this document stipulates the following points:

• Indication of the specific place of departure and exact delivery address;
• The name of all involved persons of the company that provides the cargo transportation service;
• Detailed characteristics of the product;
• Choosing a means of transporting cargo;
• Cost of the service with detailed calculations;
• The terms of delivery of the goods to the destination point are agreed upon.

In addition to the contract, you should have other documents available when carrying out cargo transportation.

Waybill. This document contains all information about the driver and owner transport company. Also, the make of the car, the driver’s clearance and assignment of the route, a note indicating that the driver underwent a medical examination on the eve of the trip.

Consignment note and order receipt;

Insurance in case of property damage.

Freight dispatch office business plan

If you do not have start-up capital to start a cargo transportation business, then you can use a simpler way to generate income.

A dispatcher is a person who finds shippers and negotiates the delivery of cargo with the owners Vehicle, forms a route, stipulates all transportation conditions and delivery times for goods.

You can work as a dispatcher even from home. This does not require education or any specific work skills. Communication skills, responsibility and literacy will be enough. Your task is to establish yourself as an honest and responsible person who will not let you down. And then with the help word of mouth you will gain regular customers and a good stable income.

Advertising

Trucking is a business that needs advertising, especially in the initial stages. Therefore, it is worth advertising your services in every possible way. Start with friends and acquaintances, tell them about your line of work and advise them to contact them if necessary.

Profit

Your income will depend on the number of orders. Therefore, it is incorrect to talk about a specific amount. Profit will depend on the type of services provided, transportation conditions and other important points.

I would like to wish you success in your business and quick profits.

2005 year. Several years have passed since I graduated from university, and I still haven’t found any meaningful use for it. I am a historian by profession, but history did not interest me. However, from his youth, he more than once noticed his interest in commerce, managerial impulses and all kinds of financial schemes. While still studying at the university, I created the Youth public organization“Our Choice” under the Youth Affairs Committee of the city of N (later they even prepared me for the position of Chairman of the Youth Affairs Committee). However, something with social activities At that moment I was not full, and the desired Mercedes did not appear either (I had a very strong passion for the automotive industry since childhood).

And then one day, driving along the Moscow-St. Petersburg highway on an autumn day, I noticed a crazy a large number of trucks flying along the road. Apparently, at that moment the idea came to me to do automobile business, more precisely, a business related to cargo transportation. I immediately opened the Internet, magazines, newspapers, in short, I was looking for information about what kind of business this is and what it is used for! In the end, I realized one thing - that I didn’t understand anything, besides, this business is carried out either by the former heads of the “Sovdep ATP”, who fell into their hands during the “times of general division”, or by criminal structures. Somehow at that moment my enthusiasm diminished, but my interest did not disappear, I would even say it increased. I even had to go to the highway and talk to the drivers, saying, well, I want to buy a truck. Over the next two to three months I studied the type of business and worked out the math of this project. I found out that there are two types of this “transportation” business. The first is when you went, bought yourself a truck, put the driver in the driver’s seat, sent him on a flight and you sit there, waiting for him to bring you a lot of money for the trips he has taken (this is how I told it in a simplified version). This option was somehow not very suitable for me, since I didn’t have the money to buy myself a used Mercedes, which I so dreamed of, let alone a truck! But somehow I immediately liked the second type of this business. I thought, this is my topic! It consisted of the following... All these truck owners, after all, turn to someone for cargo, are looking for cargo in order to load the truck and transport the cargo? That’s right, they are looking for and finding all sorts of different dispatchers (although there were several tens of thousands of them in Russia). The dispatcher's task is to find someone who needs to transport their cargo, and to find someone who can transport it. True, there are still many details and subtasks for the dispatcher, but... more on that later. It was in this simple formula “out of thin air” that a small but frequent profit was formed from each flight. And the more trucks you load and the more often they drive back and forth, the greater and greater the profit.

As a result, I borrowed 50 thousand rubles from a friend. I registered an LLC (RUB 7,000), rented an office for a month (RUB 8,000), bought a computer, fax and printer (RUB 20,000) and, of course, connected to the Internet. I left the rest of the money as a reserve, you never know!

First work day. I'm sitting and surfing the Internet. I don’t understand what I’m looking for there. I browse various sites (specialized ones, of course). By that time, I already had contacts of several drivers who agreed that if I had any cargo (for good money), they would be ready to transport it. So I’m sitting on the Internet, rummaging around, so to speak, looking for clients. And suddenly, I accidentally end up on a site in which there is a large list of these drivers themselves and the clients themselves, and even all the contacts are available, however, for money (the guys who came up with that site, thank you very much, I will never forget you!).

As a result, I paid a couple of thousand from my current account, received 30-day access to contacts... and off I went! This is where my work began. I call some, offer cargo, call others, offer transport. And so from 8:00 to 18:00 every day. And I’m not the only one, there are thousands of them online all over Russia. After 18:00 I make all sorts of lists (now these are databases) of drivers and customers who are at least somehow interested in my proposals. True, sometimes I had to fib, like the trucks were mine. Otherwise, who would work with me? You'd think it was just another intermediary! Even though I was like that at that time. Well, what to do, it was worth starting somewhere.

As a result, in the first week I shipped about 8 cars and earned 12,000 rubles, in the second another 12 cars, and so on... in a month I paid off the “debt” 50 thousand rubles and was very pleased! With accounting and reporting, thank God, my mother helped, she is an experienced accountant.

I work and work, and in the middle of the second month I contact one customer who ships a lot of cars per day with his products. I'm calling. I suggest. I'm getting kicked off. Like, they say, “We have a ton of our own carriers, we haven’t had enough of you here yet!” Okay, I think you’re not the only one in Russia. And I forget about them. Fortunately, this business allows you to cover a large geography, as long as you have a telephone and the Internet. Then I found a couple more small customers and so little by little, “one by one,” the money seemed to start appearing.

Several weeks pass, it is already approaching the New Year. And then the call. A representative of the plant that “knocked me off” calls and says that they don’t have enough cars before the new year, and they started delivering products to a new region and did not have time to develop connections with local carriers. They ask for help. Of course, I'm not a vindictive guy! I agreed. But the representative says that we need to meet and discuss the nuances. I agree, meaning by this an official acquaintance and the conclusion of a written contract with a price agreement. In principle, this is exactly what happened, although in my office, and not at the customer’s plant (which surprised me a little). And it was not for nothing that this surprised me, since at the end of the conversation I was told that the cost of each transportation for which I agreed should be increased by 1000 rubles, and this amount should be transferred to this representative personally and monthly as a reward for the contract and support provided For all questions. I took a couple of days to think about it. After consulting with “experienced people,” I came to the conclusion “apparently everyone works this way.”

The customer really turned out to be a very serious client; I supplied 8-10 cars a day to just one of his plants with a profit of 2,000 rubles. And there were three factories. By that time, I had already hired a deputy, an accountant, a couple of dispatch managers and a secretary-operator. The work was in full swing. I am constantly on the road, meeting with new clients, carriers, constantly discussing transportation directions, rates, resolving controversial issues, etc. In short, what I dreamed of, real business activity! Everything was going great, new areas of business were added, and we even had to move the entire business to Moscow. Of course, with most of the staff. The move to Moscow was accompanied by emotional joy. Buying an apartment, a car, renting a beautiful and spacious office in a modern business center. In short, life got better!

The business also grew, the company became recognizable in its field. Among the main clients by that time there were already Wimm-Bill-Dann, Russian Alcohol, Rossstekloprom, Russian Aluminum, etc.

With Wimm-Bill-Dann in general interesting story happened. For a very long time they refused to cooperate with us in the field freight transport. And I annoyed them so much that they could no longer see me, unless I spent the night with them. As a result, I was very familiar with the logistics department and its boss, who would not mind working with us, but there were no instructions from above, therefore, there was no contract. As a result, after two months I “lured” almost the entire transport department and the boss to my company. Of course, for very good money. And literally three days later I received a call from the management that almost their entire transport department had quit and there was no one to deal with the supply of transport. As a result, my guys were now busy supplying transport to their former plant. As you understand, I and now my employees had no problems with this. True, all this was revealed four months later, in the end they were offered an even more favorable salary, and they changed employers again. Although what was to be expected, since they came so easily, they should have left just as easily. But I drew a lot of conclusions from this situation. First of all, I was closely involved in the staff and their motivation, so that in the future employees would not easily leave me.

So 2006-2007 passed, then 2008 ended, and by the end of the year I felt something was wrong. In some strange way, clients began to pay for services, or rather, I would say, they stopped paying at all. And....here comes the CRISIS!

Back in August 2008, our company created a new direction, or rather, new relationships with financial institutions. Title of the area: “Management of illiquid transport assets of banks and leasing companies.” We understood perfectly well that problems in the banking sector would, first of all, affect our company. By that time we were planning an expansion truck park and were preparing for a deal with leasing company “N” to purchase 40 units of vehicles. The contract value was about 4.8 million euros. Preparation and verification took about two months, then the leasing company requested additional documents, and the review dragged on for several more months. As a result, when everything was agreed upon, and we were even given a positive decision from the credit committee with the management’s signature and seal, and we were ready to make an advance payment, this leasing company sends us a notice of suspension of financing, because the head office (in Europe) was not ready for financing. It became clear that if everything is so vague with the leasing company “N”, what can we do with the others! Then it was decided to start working with the banking sector under the program “Management of Illiquid Transport Assets”. By that time, the crisis had greatly affected the cargo transportation industry, and many companies that failed to prepare for cost optimization measures and develop an anti-crisis strategy began to go bankrupt. Since our company mainly works with single-customers (where at least 30 regional shipments are made from the client every day), we were prepared for the harsh conditions of competition.

Leased property was confiscated and returned to creditors on a daily basis. Banks and leasing companies had no idea what to do with it, sell it? And to whom? All car showrooms and dealers themselves cannot sell their equipment.

We approached banks and leasing companies with an offer to manage these trucks. Our lawyers and financiers have developed several management options. Basically, we bet that when managing the illiquid assets of banks and leasing companies, their balance of payments remains positive (we pay for debtors), overdue payments are significantly reduced, and assets are redeemed at the end of the year at residual value by our company. These measures allowed many banks and leasing companies to free themselves from illiquid (problem) assets.

This direction of “Management of illiquid transport assets” allowed our company to avoid risky investments, adapt to the crisis liquidity of transport assets and create the necessary fleet of vehicles, which is one of the most important competitive advantages in the field of road freight transportation.

Briefly, but this is one of the options for how we solved the shortage problem financial resources to increase the park.

Freight transportation as a business is a promising investment. It is impossible to imagine modern life without cargo transportation. Delivery of goods to stores, medicines to pharmacies, personal belongings and other objects requires specialized transport. If you organize a cargo transportation business correctly, you can make a good profit.

The main task of the company is to move cargo from one point to another. Depending on the specifics of the activity, services can vary greatly. Conventionally, they can be divided into several types:

1. Relocation of objects to various localities in Russia. The service is often required for enterprises that deliver manufactured goods from a warehouse to the customer, in outlet, to another warehouse, etc. The type and size of the cargo being moved will depend on the capabilities of the vehicles available in the company’s fleet.
2. Moving from one point to another. This could be a private, warehouse, office move, etc. It is necessary to transport furniture, personal belongings and other items.
3. Garbage removal. This service can be performed not only with special equipment, but also with small trucks. Customers can be manufacturing companies and private citizens.
4. Specific cargo transportation. They are carried out using special equipment. For example, timber trucks, manipulators, etc.
   Additional services

Freight company to receive more income and interest from customers can provide the following additional services:

1. Loader services. Often, along with the cargo moving service, loaders are required who can load objects at the beginning of the journey and unload them at the destination.
2. Packing of cargo. When moving, the service of packing things is relevant so that they do not become deformed during the move. This service can also be offered to clients.
3. Cargo insurance. With this service, customers will be able to compensate for losses if the cargo receives any defect during transportation, whether or not it is the fault of the driver.
4. Customs declaration. The offer is valid when transporting goods between countries. Here you will have to fill out a package of papers for the declaration and movement of goods through customs.
5. Auto forwarding. This is a door to door service. All transportation concerns are taken care of by the carrier company. It organizes delivery without the presence of the sender or recipient.

Registration of documents

The cargo transportation business is a type of small business, since the staff will be less than 15 people. This means you can open an LLC or individual entrepreneur. Each option has its own advantages and disadvantages.

A limited liability company (LLC) is a legal entity that will be responsible for the company’s property and authorized capital. An individual entrepreneur is an individual. He will have to answer with his personal property. But an individual entrepreneur is easier to open, close and maintain reporting.

To register an individual entrepreneur, you need to visit the tax office at your place of registration. Applications are written there in form P21001. It includes information about the future businessman and OKVED codes. Before submitting an application, you need to pay a state fee of 800 rubles.

After registering a business, perform the following tasks:

• registering as an employer with the insurance fund;
• printing production;
• opening a current bank account;
• ensuring the availability of accounting.

If as legal form If LLC is selected, it is better to choose the UTII taxation system. During registration individual entrepreneurship there will be a choice between five tax regimes. To determine the appropriate one, you will need to take into account the number of pieces of equipment and many other factors. The most acceptable forms for individual entrepreneurs are the simplified tax system and UTII.

Selecting a room

After completing the paperwork, organizing cargo transportation consists of searching office space and vehicle fleet. The first premises can be rented in a large business center. It will house dispatchers and receive clients. You can rent an office in a call center for less money. Dispatchers will be able to comfortably accommodate themselves on 20 m2.

When choosing a vehicle fleet, preference should be given to fenced and guarded areas that are located close to transport interchanges. You can even pay attention to warehouses and hangars, which can accommodate a fleet of vehicles and premises for office workers.

In the presence of Money You can buy your own commercial space for an office. A large trucking company must have its own garage with a mechanic to repair and maintain vehicles. You may also need a warehouse where customer cargo can be temporarily stored.

Arrangement of the control room

You need to purchase furniture and office equipment for the control room. Here you will need to purchase chairs, tables, laptops or computers, phones and printers according to the number of workers in the office. Be sure to connect to the Internet, telephone line, and buy stationery.
To receive clients, you need to install a small sofa in the office. You will also need a filing cabinet. The office must have electricity. Setting up the control room will cost about 100,000 rubles. Every month you will have to buy additional stationery, pay for electricity, telephone and Internet.

Purchase of transport

When purchasing equipment to start a cargo transportation business from scratch, the size of the starting capital and the nature of the services that the company will provide are important. You can have just one Gazelle in your fleet, or you can acquire a number of heavy-duty vehicles. Used foreign cars are convenient and rarely break down, but Russian cars are cheaper to repair.

Gazelles are suitable for transporting goods within a populated area. They are maneuverable, so they quickly solve assigned tasks in an urban environment. They can be driven by a person who does not have a truck license category. This machine is inexpensive to maintain and has low fuel consumption. To save money, you can install gas equipment on it. Buying a used Gazelle will cost approximately 300,000 rubles.

For transportation of products, tilted vehicles are chosen. For large loads, transport with a trailer is suitable. Perishable products must be transported in insulated vans or refrigerators. “Zil-Bychok” is perfect for moving, as it has good cross-country ability.
For 800,000 thousand rubles you can buy a Mercedes/MAN car that can accommodate up to 5 tons of cargo. But with such an amount, you can only count on a used model, since a new car costs 10 million rubles. To drive a 5-ton truck you need a license with an open load category. When purchasing such transport, there is a wider range of services, the ability to transport larger masses and volumes, so the profit will be higher.

To purchase 10 and 20-ton trucks you will need more than 2 million rubles. The highest quality brands are SCANIA and Volvo. The main purpose of such vehicles is to transport goods over long distances.

Trucks “Gazelle”

A full-fledged vehicle fleet for the transportation of goods consists of the following units of equipment:

• small-sized machines up to 8 tons;
• large-sized machines up to 25 tons;
• cars with a thermal booth;
• special equipment, including lifting equipment;
• container ship;
• tow truck.

Recruitment

Conventionally, cargo transportation company employees are divided into two categories:

1. Operator-dispatcher, manager, accountant.
2. Drivers, auto mechanics, loaders.

Support staff

The operator-dispatcher must communicate with customers, take orders, contact drivers, and help other office workers when there is no workload. Main requirements for a dispatch service operator:

• correct speech;
• sociability;
• ability to multitask;
• good logic and memory.

The approximate salary of an employee is 20,000 rubles.

A good manager is needed to manage an organization, draw up contracts, reports and other responsibilities. He can also handle the marketing affairs of the company. Main requirements:

• experience;
• higher education in this profile (for example, logistics manager);
• literacy;
• responsibility.

His salary will be 45,000 rubles.

Depending on the size of the company, an accountant and lawyer may be required. You can contact an outsourcing company for their services. Large organizations have staff medical workers who inspect drivers before starting their shift.

Vehicle fleet for cargo transportation

Drivers

The number of drivers will depend on the number and type of vehicles. It is advisable to have 2 drivers per heavy truck to increase the speed of cargo delivery. If the company operates daily, then for each car it will have to hire several drivers and schedule working days with weekends. What is required from the driver:

• open category for the required transport;
• driving experience;
• experience.

The driver's salary is based on the work performed. For example, for an employee driving a Gazelle it can be 30,000 rubles, and for a worker from 70,000 rubles. The salary of each employee is average. The exact amount depends on the region.

It will be possible to save on auto mechanics if drivers know how to repair the car themselves. If not, then you will have to hire him. You will also need to hire loaders who are sufficiently qualified and do not drink alcohol. They must be able to perform loading and unloading operations manually and using special equipment.

The selection of employees must be approached responsibly. You can stand out among other cargo transportation companies with the help of quality service, which largely depends on the literacy of your employees.

Advertising for a cargo transportation company

Where to start a cargo transportation business in order to provide the company with work and clients - with advertising events. To find clients, use the following steps:

• posting notices on special boards;
• advertising the company in Internet resources visited by city residents;
• advertising in print media;
• handing out leaflets near salons household appliances and furniture;
• advertising in local media;
• distribution of business cards.

It is necessary to conclude a contract with dispatch services. If you intend to cooperate with legal entities, then you need to send them commercial proposals. You can offer competitive conditions and participate in tenders. Customers must be issued discount cards. Or order a batch souvenir products or stationery with company logos.

Correct marketing strategy is capable of making the company a leader among similar cargo transportation organizations in the region. We need to try to attract more clients, and offer regular customers profitable terms cooperation in the form of bonuses.

Is it possible to expand the business?

If the company has reached the stage when all cargo transportation resources are fully loaded, then you can think about expansion. It will be used to purchase new cars and develop new markets. You need to purchase new cars based on the workload of a particular type of equipment. Market development is carried out in the following way:

• opening an office in another city;
• following new routes;
• provision of various additional services.

To open a full-fledged cargo transportation company, you will need a large start-up capital. If it is not there, then you can start working independently at Gazelle and strive to further expand your small business.

A freight transportation company can provide a wide range of additional services to generate more income and interest from customers.

The detailed business plan for cargo transportation presented in this article will help outline a clear path for the implementation and development of this business.

Capital investments: from 1,185,000 rubles.
Payback: 1.5-2 years.

Not always cargo transportation business plan will be made up of those who really understand this area thoroughly.

More often, entrepreneurs simply see the potential and high profitability of this direction.

And those who themselves worked as a loader and suddenly decided to earn money without any plan are making a mistake.

It is absolutely necessary.

Otherwise, it is impossible to obtain credit funds or investments for opening and development.

And even if you use exclusively your own capital, only a plan written on paper will allow you to outline a clear path for implementation and development.

Objectives of a cargo transportation business plan

The cargo transportation business plan should be “opened” by information about what the company will do in general.

At the moment there are several main services:

• support for relocations of private and legal entities(houses, apartments, offices, cottages);
• cargo transportation of commercial products;
• sending large cargoes;
• provision of personnel to perform loading and unloading operations;
• A less popular service than the above is cargo storage.

The list of services provided depends on the company’s staff, the number and types of company cars, as well as the amount of potential revenue.

Of course, the more choice you give your customers, the better.

Marketing section of a cargo transportation business plan

Marketing strategy is an important section not only of a cargo transportation business plan, but also of business in general.

As a rule, they start with researching the relevance of the chosen direction.

We can confidently say about the transportation of goods: it is relevant and in demand.

The service is ordered by individuals, enterprises, and corporate networks.

It is important for customers that cargo is delivered as quickly and accurately as possible.

The relevance of business will disappear only when the need to transport goods from point A to point B disappears.

Can you imagine such a situation?

Even if essential goods (bread, medicines, etc.) need to be brought to stores from factories.

All this indicates that developing an enterprise in this area is a current idea.

Competitive advantages of your cargo transportation

Of course, the entrepreneur himself determines strengths enterprises.

But potential options include:

• extensive vehicle fleet – it is possible to select a vehicle for a specific task or customer’s wishes;
• servicing any clients – both individuals and legal entities;
• additional bonuses - for example, free packaging;
• tracking system for transported goods;
• 24-hour opening hours;
• introduction of related additional services and others.

How to advertise cargo transportation?

In this area we are talking about people of average and high class, age category 25-45 years.

In your freight transportation business plan, you must highlight advertising methods that will attract this audience to use your services.

These could be the following methods:

• print a batch of business cards with a good design;
• distribute business cards or leaflets among your friends in crowded places potential clients, give to those who have already used your services;
• order website development (as a rule, a one-page website is quite enough for your needs small company cargo transportation);
• promote your website using contextual advertising.

And the best promotion method for any business is word of mouth.

Cargo transportation opening plan

Let's consider step by step everything that concerns the organization of a cargo transportation company.

Registration of a cargo transportation business

You can open a cargo transportation business after you register an individual entrepreneur.

This is a simple process, for which it is enough to contact the tax office at your place of residence, having your passport with you.

If it is not possible to do this yourself, you can realistically do everything with the help of intermediaries.

However, if you are afraid of the complexity of the procedure, do not worry!

It’s really simple to register an individual entrepreneur, and such experience will clearly not be superfluous.

You will also need to choose one of the tax options:

• a simplified system is the most popular option for small businesses;
• the general system is too ruinous for a start-up trucking company to pay all taxes in full;
• a single tax is an option for large cargo transportation organizations with extensive staff and a fleet of vehicles.

Choosing office space

However, one thing is for sure - there must be an office.

Working as a dispatcher in your own apartment may be convenient.

But if you are planning a serious business, then you also need to approach implementation seriously.

It is not necessary to purchase premises.

It is enough to rent square meters.

Theoretically, for telephone conversations it is enough to choose an office in some call center.

But if you plan to serve corporate clients, it is worth renting a separate room.

After all, they may come to you to discuss any details or sign papers.

Business plan for cargo transportation: what equipment is needed?

The business plan needs to show the equipment without which you can’t start a business.

This includes office equipment, and most importantly, a car.

The choice of vehicle for cargo transportation depends entirely on what services you plan to provide and what cargo to transport.

The most popular choice for regular cargo transportation is the familiar Gazelles.

Although ZIL is more often used for furniture and other large-sized transportation.

But some products require availability special conditions transportation in the back (for example, perishable products).

Freight personnel

For a small start-up organization, it is enough to hire 2 drivers, a dispatcher and a loader.

Accordingly, if you want to scale your business, your staff will increase.

Financial section of a cargo transportation business plan

The financial section of a business plan is the most important part.

Organize without analysis or preparation profitable business very difficult.

But without understanding how much money you will need, you can’t do any freight transportation at all.

Moreover, if you are going to attract credit funds or seek the assistance of investors.

Investments to start a cargo transportation business plan

In this example of cargo transportation, a mini-format will be considered using one truck, two drivers working in shifts, one dispatcher and a loader.

And to be successful in the trucking business,

Payback on a cargo transportation business plan

The section of the business plan dedicated to calculating start-up capital investments considers a working scheme using one car.

This allows you to organize a business at relatively low costs, and recoup them in 1.5 - 2 years of work.

Moreover, if you do not purchase a car, but use it for rent, the payback period will be shorter.

If you have a larger amount of capital investment and expect to put several cars into operation, the amounts and timing will be different.

When making calculations, it will be necessary to take into account not only the financial section of the business plan, but also the location of the office, the advertising strategy used, and other things.

Freight transportation is a truly profitable and promising idea.

Services are in demand both in big cities and small towns, regardless of the time of year and other factors.

However, such conditions have led to the emergence of high competition, both among companies just starting out and among market “giants”.

To get ahead of others, you need to be able to stand out competitive advantages and organize the work correctly.

This can be dealt with easily if you think about it seriously. cargo transportation business plan and follow it.

If you think that you won’t be able to compose it yourself, you can delegate this task to specialists.

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Any person sooner or later is faced with the need to transport any cargo. For individuals, this type of service usually accompanies moving, purchasing furniture, building materials or large household appliances. Manufacturing enterprises require regular delivery of raw materials, semi-finished products or finished products, A trading companies- filling retail stores with your goods.

When considering where to start a cargo transportation business, you can find that this niche in large cities is almost filled, and therefore entrepreneurs working here cannot boast of super-profits. On the other hand, studies show the presence of free demand in this industry, which even numerous offers from transport companies are not able to satisfy.

This need is associated primarily with the low quality of services and insufficient responsibility of individual market entities. It is logical to assume that an entrepreneur who successfully avoids such negative factors can provide his company with a constant high income.

Business Features

Road transport companies account for about 4% of the total volume of cargo transportation in Russia. Of course, this industry cannot compete with railways in productivity, but for citizens and small businesses there is simply no alternative way transporting things, goods, equipment or raw materials over short distances.

Moreover, 80% of all motor carriers are small firms and individual entrepreneurs with a fleet of three to five cars. This fact is explained by the availability of light-duty vehicles to the population: for example, a business plan for cargo transportation on a Gazelle requires an investment of only 1.1 million rubles, even when purchasing a new car.

When starting to organize a business, an entrepreneur must conduct some analytical work and assess the saturation of the local market transport services. The easiest way is to use local newspapers and other media: just count the number of classified ads from other organizations to imagine the scale of the upcoming competition. Then you should find out how many cars the companies operating nearby have at their disposal, find out the tariffs for their services and the most popular areas of activity.

Finally, you need to consider the pros and cons of the trucking business so as not to miss the opportunity to take advantage of the advantages and avoid possible risks.

Listing the main advantages, it should be mentioned that:

• An entrepreneur can choose one or more of dozens of available areas and cooperate with both legal entities and individuals;
• The business has enormous development potential - as the vehicle fleet expands, the profitability and profit volumes of the enterprise increase;
• Unlike the transportation of passengers, transportation of goods in any volume does not require licensing;
• To reduce the initial investment, equipment can be rented or arranged under a leasing agreement.

Of course, the transport business is also characterized by certain disadvantages that further complicate the activities of the entrepreneur. So:

• The level of competition in this market segment is quite high;
• The operation of transport is accompanied by the need for constant repair and Maintenance;
• The carrier is responsible for any damage to the cargo received during transportation.

Types of services

1. Companies delivering small cargo for private clients within one city and nearby settlements;
2. Companies that cooperate with trading enterprises and transport various consumer goods from city to city, as well as deliver distributor products to Retail Stores and to warehouses;
3. Enterprises serving industrial or mining production, transporting various types of raw materials, semi-finished or finished products;
4. Intermediary companies that do not own their own fleet of vehicles and use the services of third-party carriers to service clients.

In the process of considering the question of how to open a cargo transportation business from scratch, you need to pay attention to the fact that the main service of the company in any case remains the movement of any objects over short or long distances. Depending on the type of vehicle, type of cargo and distance, all activities included here can be classified as follows:

• Transportation of goods. Includes delivery of furniture, household appliances, building materials and other goods for legal entities and private customers;
• Transportation of passengers. This type of activity involves servicing regular routes, transporting tourists and vacationers, as well as delivering employees of any enterprises to their place of work and back;
• Moving. The service is in demand among citizens and companies transporting things from one place to another - for example, to a country house, to a new apartment or to an office;
• Garbage removal. Most often, special transport is required to provide this service, but ordinary trucks can also be used to remove industrial, construction and household waste;
• Special transportation. This implies the delivery of specific, oversized, perishable or dangerous goods. For these purposes, tank trucks, truck cranes, refrigerators, low-loader trawls, tow trucks, timber trucks, etc. are used.

You can increase the profitability of your cargo transportation business and win the favor of customers by providing additional services allowing customers to save money, time and resources. This includes:

• Loading and unloading of goods by the contractor;
• Dismantling and packaging of things, furniture;
• Goods safety insurance;
• Customs declaration for international transport.

Documentation

Where to start a cargo transportation business? To work legally and safely, an entrepreneur must register his activities with in the prescribed manner by contacting your local tax office. For a company with one owner, it is better to choose an individual entrepreneur, and when organizing a business with partners, it is better to choose an LLC.

Registration is carried out on the basis of an application, which should indicate the passport details of the individual, his registration address, the desired types of activity according to OKVED and the preferred taxation system. After issuing the certificate, you need to open a bank account for non-cash payments, order a stamp for documents and register with various funds.

For any entrepreneur, it is logical to want to save on tax payments. Considering existing systems taxation and the criteria that companies applying for their use must meet, we can distinguish two schemes that are most loyal to cargo carriers:

• USN. The simplified system is used in two versions: payment of 6% of the company’s total income or transfer of 15% of net profit (after deducting expenses). Since 2018, the use of the simplified tax system has been permitted for enterprises whose turnover for the previous year does not exceed 120 million rubles, and the value of fixed assets - 150 million rubles;
• UTII. In this case, there are no restrictions on turnover, however, the number of transport units at the enterprise should not exceed 20, and the number of employees - 100 people. The rate is calculated based on the base profitability of one car (6,000 rubles) and the actual number of cars. The advantage of UTII is the possibility of deducting insurance premiums of individual entrepreneurs and transfers to funds for employees from the tax amount.

Before you open a cargo transportation business, you must also order lawyers to develop standard contract for the provision of transportation services. When concluding an agreement with a client, this document indicates:

1. Exact addresses for loading and unloading of goods;
2. List of company employees involved in organizing transportation;
3. Dimensions, weight and other parameters of the cargo;
4. Type and characteristics of the vehicle;
5. The final cost of the service and the payment procedure;
6. Delivery terms.

In addition, each individual transportation process requires filling out a vehicle waybill, a waybill, as well as an insurance policy in case of any damage to the cargo (if such a service is available).

Car park

In the process of implementing a business idea for cargo transportation, the question of choosing between new and used cars may arise. There is no clear solution to this situation, since new models are much more expensive, and used cars require additional repairs and maintenance. However, practice shows that it is better to purchase any domestically produced vehicles in a showroom or at a factory, and foreign trucks - when they are no more than three years old. The fleet of a logistics company may include:

• Light vehicles. Among domestic models, the most popular trucks and minibuses are “Gazelle Business”, “Gazelle Next”, “ZIL Bychok”, capable of transporting from 1.5 to 3 tons of cargo. The cost of a new Gazelle is from 1,100 thousand rubles, with low mileage - from 810 thousand rubles;
• Isothermal vans. A sandwich panel body with thermal insulation properties is most often installed on five-ton trucks. Such vehicles can be used to transport both regular and perishable goods. The cost of three-year-old Hyundai HD65 and Hyundai HD78 cars belonging to this class is in the range of 1.9–2.2 million rubles;
• Truck tractors. Designed for long-distance transportation of long cargo semi-trailers with a carrying capacity of 20–30 tons. The cost of Scania, Mercedes, Volvo, and Man trucks starts at 4 million rubles;
• Trucks with open body. Various models “MAZ”, “KAMAZ”, “ZIL”, “FAW”, “Tatra” are used for transporting bulk and large cargo - sand, earth, building materials, agricultural products. This category also includes dump trucks and vehicles with trailers;
• Special equipment. To transport non-standard cargo, special-purpose equipment is used - food tank trucks, fuel trucks, refrigerators, manipulators, tow trucks, low-loader trawls, car transporters.

Staff

Running a trucking business on your own is quite difficult. An entrepreneur who owns a single vehicle can still cope with administrative work, but expanding the fleet inevitably entails the need to hire additional employees, including:

• Drivers. The number of drivers is determined by the vehicle load. For example, with a standard eight-hour workday, one person per vehicle is enough, for long-distance transport, two are needed, and for trucks operating around the clock, three;
• Mechanic. Of course, for a vehicle fleet consisting of two cars, it is not advisable to hire a mechanic, but if the number of vehicles exceeds 5-6, you need to invite an experienced specialist to work. His responsibilities will include routine repair and maintenance of trucks, inspection before leaving the line and other measures to prevent and eliminate technical faults;
• Dispatcher. As a business, cargo transportation requires constant coordination of transport operations and monitoring of the current situation in order to process orders in a timely manner. If the number of cars exceeds 2–3, the entrepreneur will need the help of a dispatcher, whose list of responsibilities will include accepting applications from clients and receiving information from drivers in the process of completing them;
• Accountant. An outsourced specialist can easily handle accounting for a company that owns two trucks. If the number of vehicles exceeds five or six, it is better to hire a part-time accountant. If an entrepreneur considering how to develop a freight transportation business plans to expand the fleet to ten units or more, he cannot avoid hiring a full-time employee;
• Loaders. A company providing a full range of services will definitely need loaders - qualified specialists without bad habits, who can work quickly and accurately. To create a positive image of the enterprise, they should be given a new uniform with corporate symbols;
• Managers. On early stages organizing a cargo transportation business can be done without office workers, however, in the future, the entrepreneur should hire a sales manager who searches for clients and a logistics manager who compiles and optimizes transport routes.

Production area

Providing transport services is considered a space-friendly activity, since you can start a cargo transportation business from scratch even in your own apartment, using a home computer and telephone. However, some clients negatively perceive this format of the company, and therefore all entrepreneurs sooner or later realize the need to rent an office.

A large area is not needed, since a maximum of five people will be at the workplace at the same time - the director, accountant, managers and dispatcher. Location is also not particularly important, since basic issues are resolved over the phone. Rent such an office even in a large regional center possible for 230–250 rubles/m² per month.

Let's assume that an entrepreneur starts a cargo transportation business from scratch and has two or three cars. At this stage, he will not need the help of other support personnel except the dispatcher: drivers and loaders will be constantly on the routes, and accounting will do outsourcing company. Therefore, the office equipment can be represented as follows:

Office equipment

The second important issue that must be resolved when starting a cargo transportation business is finding a place to park trucks: leaving them in the yards, the entrepreneur risks causing dissatisfaction with residents, while parking for passenger cars They are simply not able to accommodate vehicles of this size. The ideal option is to have own garages However, searching for a box more than 12 m long and more than 4 m high, as well as its construction, is not always possible. Therefore, businessmen rent space in the territories of motor depots or in specialized parking lots for trucks: the cost of one parking space here is in the range of 100–150 rubles per day.

Search for clients

As a small business, cargo transportation is of interest to many beginning entrepreneurs who have the required capital, as a result of which the level of competition in the transport services market remains quite high. To find your client, the owner of the enterprise needs to pay constant attention to promoting and finding clients, spending a significant part of the budget on this.

Most effective for attracting individuals are considered:

• Contextual advertising in search and on thematic sites;
• Advertising on social networks, maintaining your own group;
• Offers of services on the Avito service;
• Searching for customers and publishing proposals on portals;
• Advertising and notices in free newspapers;
• Posting advertisements at bus stops, near construction materials markets;
• Collaboration with furniture stores, supermarkets of household appliances;
• Cooperation with intermediary companies;
• Your own website in a one-page or full-fledged resource format.

When working with corporate customers and other entrepreneurs in the business plan of a cargo transportation company, you need to consider slightly different channels for organizing demand, including:

• Participation in tenders held by large public and private companies to find performers;
• Cold calls to managers of enterprises potentially in need of cargo transportation or forwarding;
• Mailing to customers commercial offers indicating the list of services, price range, terms and conditions of delivery;
• Registration on popular cargo transportation portals.

Investments

For an enterprise that does not involve the construction of its own office building or warm garage boxes, the main investment will be related to the purchase of cars. Below is an example of a business plan for a freight transport company whose fleet consists of two cars - a one and a half ton Gazelle and a five ton Hyundai with an isothermal body. The presence of such trucks will allow the entrepreneur to provide a wider range of services in the transportation segments of both regular cargo and food products, as well as simultaneously work with private and corporate customers.

Initial Investment

Analyzing the structure of the current expenses of an enterprise, it should be noted that many variable costs depend on the mileage of the cars, while others appear once a year. So:

• The cost of compulsory motor insurance for vehicles of the specified carrying capacity is 5880 rubles. Insurance is paid annually;
• The cost of technical inspection for vehicles weighing up to 3.5 tons is 1,100 rubles, for vehicles weighing up to 12 tons is 1,900 rubles. Inspection is carried out annually;
• When operating at 75% load (six hours a day), the average vehicle mileage is 120–130 kilometers per day;
• The average fuel consumption in the combined cycle is from 12 liters per 100 kilometers, and the cost of diesel fuel is 30 rubles per liter;
• The cost of maintenance for trucks of this class is up to 10,000 rubles per 15,000 kilometers.

Monthly expenses

About how to open similar company and organize its work, you can learn from video lessons on doing business in the field of cargo transportation:

Video on the topic