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Planning to avail a truck loan

6/19/18       
Sharon Foster

Hey guys,

I'm doing woodworking business for the past 6 months. It took almost 3 months to get everything in the right pace. I'm planning to take some works from southern London. If so, I must transport goods to the customers on time. I would like to purchase a truck for the same. But I don't have that much fund now. What about availing a truck loan? What's your opinion regarding this? I came across a truck financing company in London. What is the best truck loan interest rate as per now? KIndly help me. Expecting replies. Thanks in advance.

http://www.truckloancenter.com/truck-loa

6/19/18       #2: Planning to avail a truck loan ...
Charles Member

Here is an idea that I have successfully used in the past until I was able to purchase my own.

I hired a local moving service. They brought their own truck to my shop, blanket-wrapped all of the cabinets and furniture, loaded their truck, drove to the job-site, took all of the pieces into the building, and put them in the proper rooms. All I had to do was point and watch.

After using them for a few deliveries, I talked with the owner of the moving service. I asked if I could keep the crew for a few hours, or so, on each trip to help in the assembly of the large pieces. Many of the pieces are too heavy for one person to safely place in position. He agreed. I pay the service by the hour.

What we do now:
After a few years, and I was sure that I was going to continue to make a profit, I had another chat with the owner. We changed the arrangement a bit. I purchased my own cargo trailer that I tow with my SUV. 7x16' trailer with about 7' height clearance inside. I also purchased my own moving blankets, etc.

SIDE NOTE: I specified a 7' wide trailer instead of the 8.5' width. With the wider trailer, the wheel wells are inside the trailer. This makes it impossible to secure large pieces of furniture up against flat walls in certain areas. A lot of our pieces are quite tall. The narrower trailer is actually more useful. We never fill the entire trailer from wall to wall with the type of projects. But, we sometimes do cover both sidewalls. I also specified a V-nose trailer with the "side door" on the V-nose and a pull-down ramp door on the rear. This gives us 32' of usable wall space.

Now the crew (usually 2 men) meet me at the shop, blanket wrap everything, load the trailer including my toolbox, ride with me to the job-site, unload, assist with the install, clean up, and ride back with me. I pay the service by the hour. I get a crew that are trained, professional movers. They can handle the heavy stuff, are very careful not to harm anything, and seem to enjoy the change of pace working with me from their normal jobs.

It is a small, owner-operated moving service. I often get some of the same crew members who have worked with me before. Some have even learned how to perform some of the simpler tasks. I do the technical parts of the installation, as I am legally responsible if something goes wrong, of course.

I've been doing this for more than a decade with great results. A trailer does not have a motor to maintain. I do pay, less than $50 per year, for the state registration for the trailer. I do not have to pay insurance for a truck. Liability insurance is covered by vehicle insurance when on the road. The original cost of a brand new trailer was much, much less than the cost of any old truck that I could have found. The SUV also doubles as my personal vehicle. I did have to find one that had the proper towing capacity. I found a used SUV that has been working fine.

Bottom line:
For starters, especially since you only have 6 months into this business, I would suggest simply hiring a service. If something happens to the business (your fault or not), you are not burdened with a monthly payment. Cash flow in business is extremely important. I would advise to avoid any unnecessary recurring payments.

Best of luck!

6/19/18       #3: Planning to avail a truck loan ...
rich c.

No idea of your work output, number of employees, or renting trucks in London, but I would not recommend purchasing. Consider how many days the truck sits unused in a month, versus the cost of rental. Figure in cost, interest on the loan, taxes, license, and commercial insurance on the truck. Also calculate lost production time when delivering yourself. If you hire a professional white glove delivery, you would have a fixed cost to put on your quote for the contract. That keeps you working in the shop.

6/19/18       #4: Planning to avail a truck loan ...
Pat Gilbert

What Charles said

7/5/18       #5: Planning to avail a truck loan ...
chipbored

There are pros and cons to owning your own truck

Pros
- Can "turn on a dime" and load a job in the afternoon and deliver it the next day.
- Don't have the unrealized expenses of truck hire, getting someone to drive you to pickup the truck. Dropping it back at the hiring yard next day.
- Can load a job in the truck and leave it there for a number of days freeing up your factory floor

Cons
- The expense of purchase and maintenance
- Can end up being expensive using your own guys to load the truck and deliver jobs. For some reason even after years of cabinet making they cannot load a truck like you can or a removal company can.
- Your skilled guys are tired and grumpy when they have to unload a truck first thing in the morning then turn around and install the job.

Long story short. A truck is great to have once it's paid off. I have one and sometimes on the big jobs we still get our jobs picked up and delivered. The delivery guys are just amazing at what they do and it ends up being more cost effective. While they deliver a job my guys have put together the next one in the factory. We go to site fresh in the morning, the job is neatly stacked in the house/building ready for us to install.

It's early days for you. Don't put yourself into debt on a slow return investment. At this stage there are better ways for you to spend your money.


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