Financial Fitness for Truckers: Empowering Independent Operations

Like police officers and doughnuts, truckers are associated with artery-clogging roadside diner fare. Whether it’s physical fitness or financial fitness, truckers get a bad rap. Have you ever seen a Charles Schwab commercial featuring a truck driver? That could change soon. TrueNorth is rapidly improving independent owner-operators’ financial fitness with its trucking accounting software for trucking businesses.

The Warning Signs: Three Signs that Your Business Needs a Financial Fitness Checkup

“If you’re currently a company driver but are considering getting your own authority to run your own business, make sure you know what you’re signing up for,” a Truckstop blog said. “Getting your authority gives you all the freedom of making your own decisions, but it also requires business savvy and all the responsibilities of owning and running a business.”

It pointed out that owner-operators “are responsible for everything that goes along with running a small business, from finding freight to hauling loads to bookkeeping and paperwork, and making financial decisions.”

TrueNorth’s trucking accounting software can take that burden off your shoulders. Our all-in-one financial dashboard empowers small owner-operators with the business intelligence needed to operate with certainty.

Not sure you need TrueNorth? Here are three signs that your business needs a financial fitness checkup.

1. Lack of Financial Clarity

With steep operating costs, thin margins, and very few (or, at times, no) employees, small owner-operators are often caught in a sort of financial survival mindset, a doom loop of sorts, in which:

• Revenue comes in and is immediately allocated to high-priority operational costs, all with the purpose of getting assets back on the road to continue making more money.
• While there’s nothing wrong with “the grind,” the in-then-out nature of revenues leaves owner-operators struggling to know precisely how much revenue their business actually generates.
• While owner-operators have traditionally used manual technologies — think difficult-to-navigate Excel sheets — this introduces yet another suck on their time and is prone to oversight when things get busy.
• Without direct visibility of historical revenues from past loads, owner-operators struggle to prioritize and structure their business around the greatest revenue-producing opportunities.

“As an owner-operator, you don’t have the built-in resources of working for a large company,” the Truckstop blog said. “Be sure you’re ready to take on the responsibility of driving and running a business, from keeping the books to regulation compliance.”

2. Complex Paperwork Processes

Owner-operators often lack the back-office administrative workforce necessary to stay ahead of the mountains of paperwork. An extra zero here or a missing zero there can throw a wrench into a carrier’s operations, as can a lost paper invoice or missing proof of delivery.

Ensuring you and your drivers are compliant with all Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and Department of Transportation regulations adds further complexity — and paperwork — for owner-operators. Then there are the required documents associated with company equipment, including truck titles, registrations, and proof of payment of highway use taxes. It’s a lot to handle.

3. Survival Mindset

Between juggling complex operational tasks and a lack of insight into existing revenue and cost flows, owner-operators are often left with a survival mindset. This takes a toll on businesses and makes it difficult to build a stable work-life balance.

Our data shows that only 10% of carriers make it to their fifth year of business. But carriers that manage their businesses through TrueNorth have a success rate of 90%.

We started as an owner-operator carrier ourselves, and the TrueNorth app is a product of the hard-won lessons and relationships built. We now help other small carriers take charge through our all-in-one mobile app, which gives you access to resources normally reserved for large carriers.

Financial Fitness: Maximum Financial Health Through a Single Trucking Accounting Software Platform

Achieving financial fitness requires training. TrueNorth provides tutorials and training videos designed specifically for new trucking authorities. We also have loads of broker intelligence, providing new owner-operators with all the information needed to build relationships with key freight brokers and run profitably.

TrueNorth’s trucking accounting software provides full-cycle load management. You can search, book, and invoice loads all in one place, and no app juggling is required.

Build Financial Clarity

“The most common and biggest mistake owner-operators make is not constructing a budget or cash flow projections for their trucking business,” a Smart Trucking article said, noting that recordkeeping and reviewing the numbers should be of the utmost importance. “Yet, it’s surprising just how many truck owners consider this a low priority in their business. It’s a given those operators will find themselves out of business eventually.”

TrueNorth brings a wealth of financial resources into a single trucking accounting software platform, providing precise clarity around revenues and costs. That single platform:

• Shows carriers how profitable a load is, given their personal costs.
• Shows carriers how they’re tracking toward their annual revenue goals.
• Shows carriers their overall profitability per mile, per week, per month, and per year.

Trucking owner-operators often must navigate a maze of vendors and systems that don’t talk to one another. TrueNorth has changed the game by providing a single app to replace all other apps, giving owner-operators one place to manage their entire business and taking the guesswork out of financial strategies for success.

We enable owner-operators to make faster decisions with personalized data, including whether a load is profitable and how you stack up against the competition. We’ve even got a breakeven calculator.

Time-Saving Paperwork Strategies

“Being an owner-operator is much more complex than most people realize,” Smart Trucking said. “It takes money, planning, and constant attention to your business to make it work, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.”

Small owner-operators may not have the time or bandwidth to focus on the back office. By moving traditional back-office processes to a trucking accounting software and platform, carriers can streamline their entire operations — and get paid faster.

TrueNorth manages all load documents for owner-operators and their drivers, sending rate confirmations, proof of delivery, and invoices directly to freight brokers or factoring companies.

Growth Mindset for Empowered Operations

“Your business plan should be based on research and analysis of the specific market you’ll be entering,” a DAT Freight & Analytics blog said. “Do you know how you’re going to find freight, for instance, or whether you plan to use a load board? Do you have an established relationship with brokers? Are there areas to avoid? Understanding how your business has to operate in order to be successful and then putting it in practical, on-the-ground terms is an important first step.”

TrueNorth can help you grow your business. We partner with top-tier brokers, including Newtrul, Ryder, C.H. Robinson, and Loadsmart, to offer more than 100,000 loads daily.

Ready to Empower Your Operations?

TrueNorth’s trucking accounting software and platform also gives owner-operators access to VIP freight before it hits the load boards. Our AI works in the background, sending owner-operators the best suggestions based on their preferences and history. Through TrueNorth, load documents and invoices are sent instantly.

Spend more time driving and less time searching and keeping track of your loads. TrueNorth empowers owner-operators to manage their businesses right from the palm of their hands.

With TrueNorth’s trucking accounting software, small carriers can access the same level of business intelligence as their larger competitors and see how they stack up against the market.

With True North, owner-operators can book better loads, get paid faster, and track their profits. You can also get started fast — in under five minutes!  Download TrueNorth today.

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