How to start your own shipping business. Freight forwarding company: how to open a business from scratch

A transport company is the most profitable and reliable business. The demand for cargo transportation services is constantly growing, so it will bring high stable profits. Before opening a transport company from scratch, a novice entrepreneur must carefully study this area and familiarize himself with all the nuances of this business.

Company types

Before you draw up a business plan for a transport company and proceed with its implementation, you must first determine the direction of activity.

There are several types of transport companies:

• Organizations that deliver small loads within the same city;
• Companies that deliver goods to warehouses, stores, etc. At the same time, they can transport goods both on the territory of our country and in the near abroad;
• Groupage cargo transportation. For these purposes, road trains are used that carry out cargo transportation to different countries;
• Companies that work with industrial enterprises. They transport different types of goods within the country. For this, dump trucks, tractors and other equipment are used;
• intermediary firms. Since such organizations do not have their own transport, they are looking for a carrier company, processing all the necessary accompanying documents and the financial component.

Activity registration

If you decide to open a cargo transportation company, first of all decide on the form of doing business. Most often, start-up entrepreneurs are registered as an individual entrepreneur or LLC.

If we talk about the form of taxation, the best option is UTII. Its main advantage is that in this case you can connect up to 20 cars to work. For an individual entrepreneur, the most profitable form of taxation is ZNDFL. Intermediaries, it is better to choose a simplified tax. Before you open a transport company and make a final decision on the form of doing business, carefully consider all the features of its future activities.

Another important point is this bank account. This is especially true for those entrepreneurs who open a company for the long term. Many clients prefer to work by bank transfer, so without a bank account, you can lose large customers.

Business Advantages and Disadvantages

Some newcomers are trying to increase the profitability of the business at the stage of formation, through dumping, that is, they greatly reduce the prices for services. Of course, their demand immediately increases, since it is much more profitable for customers to work with a new company than with its competitors. But in this case, financial costs increase significantly, and this can lead the company to bankruptcy.

To reduce the cost of transportation, the following actions should be taken:

1. Replace light vehicles with heavy vehicles;
2. Set limits on the purchase of fuels and lubricants;
3. Do not send half-empty cars on a flight;
4. Buy your own forklift to avoid downtime.

Clear control of spending money and competent organization of all business processes of a transport company will help you significantly reduce the cost of services. This will significantly increase the profitability of the business.

2005 year. Several years have passed since the end of my studies at the university, and I have not found a sensible application for myself. I am a historian by profession, but I was not interested in history. However, from his youth, he noticed more than once his interest in commerce, in managerial impulses and all kinds of financial schemes. Even while studying at the university, I created the Youth Public Organization “Our Choice” under the Committee on Youth Affairs of the city N (later they even prepared me for the position of Chairman of the Committee on Youth Affairs). However, something with social activities at that moment did not become full, and the desired "Mercedes" also did not appear (I had a very big predilection for the automotive industry since childhood).

And then one day, driving along the Moscow-St. Petersburg highway on an autumn day, I noticed an insanely large number of trucks flying along the road. So, apparently, at that moment the idea came to me to go into the automotive business, more precisely, the business related to cargo transportation. I immediately opened the Internet, magazines, newspapers, in short, I was looking for information about what kind of business it is and what it is eaten with! As a result, I realized one thing - that I didn’t understand anything, in addition, either the former heads of the “sovdepovskie ATP”, who fell into their hands during the “times of general division”, or criminal structures are engaged in this business. Something at that moment decreased my enthusiasm, but my interest did not disappear, I would even say it increased. I even had to take a ride on the track, talk to the "carriers", they say, too, here, I want to buy a truck. In the next two or three months, I studied the type of this business and calculated the mathematics of this project. I found out that there are two types of this “transportation” business. The first one is when you went, bought yourself a truck, put the driver behind the steering wheel, sent him on a flight and you sit for yourself, waiting for him to bring you a lot of money for well-trodden flights (this is how I told you in a simplified version). This option was somehow not suitable for me, since there was no money to buy a used Mercedes, which I dreamed about so much, not like a truck! But the second type of this business somehow immediately attracted me. I thought, this is my theme! It consisted in the following... All these truck owners, after all, turn to someone for cargo, look for cargo in order to load the truck and transport the cargo? That's right, they look for and find all sorts of different dispatchers (however, in Russia there were several tens of thousands of them). The task of the dispatcher is to find someone who needs to transport their cargo, and find someone who can transport it. True, there are many more details and subtasks for the dispatcher, but ... more on that separately sometime 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 ride back and forth, the more and more profit you get.

As a result, I borrowed 50 thousand rubles from a friend. Registered "LLC" (7000 rubles), rented an office for a month (8000 rubles), bought a computer, fax and printer (20000 rubles) and, of course, connected to the Internet. He left the rest of the money for "provision", you never know what!

First work day. I'm sitting on the Internet rummaging. What I'm looking for, I don't know. On different sites I climb (profile, of course). By that time, I already had contacts of several carriers 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, so to speak, looking for clients. And suddenly, inadvertently, I get to a site in which there is a large list of these drivers themselves and the clients themselves, and even all the contacts are there, however, for money (the guys who came up with that site, thank you so much, I will never forget you!).

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

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 recaptured the "debt" 50 thousand rubles and was very pleased! With accounting and reporting, thank God, my mother helped, she is my accountant with experience.

I work, I work, and in the middle of the second month I go to one customer who ships a lot of cars a day with his products. I'm calling. I propose. I'm being "kicked off". Like, they say, “we have a cloud of our own carriers, you weren’t enough here yet!”. Okay, I think you are not alone in Russia. And I forget about them. Fortunately, this business allows you to cover a large geography, as long as there is a telephone and the Internet. Then I found a couple more small customers, and so little by little, “from the world by a thread”, it seems that the money began to appear.

A few weeks pass, and the New Year is approaching. And then the call. A representative of the plant that “kicked me off” calls and says that they do not have enough cars before the new year, and they began to deliver products to a new region and did not have time to develop contacts with local carriers. They ask to help. Of course, I'm not a vindictive guy! Agreed. But the representative says that we need to meet, discuss the nuances. I agree, meaning by this official acquaintance and conclusion of a written contract with a price agreement. In principle, everything happened just like that, however, in my office, and not at the customer's factory (which surprised me a little). And it was not in vain that I was surprised, because at the end of the conversation I was told that the cost of each transportation to 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. 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 delivered 8-10 cars a day to only 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 dispatchers and a secretary-operator. Work was in full swing. I am constantly on the road, meeting with new clients, carriers, constantly discussing directions of transportation, rates, resolving disputes, etc. In short, what I dreamed of, real business activity! Everything was going great, new lines of business were added, I even had to move the entire business to Moscow. Of course, with most of the staff. Moving 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 has improved!

Business also grew, the company became recognizable in its field. By that time, Wimm-Bill-Dann, Russian Alcohol, Rosstekloprom, Russian Aluminum, etc. were already among the main clients.

With "Wimm-Bill-Dann" in general, an interesting story happened. They refused to cooperate with us in the field of freight transportation for a very long time. And I got them so badly that they couldn’t see me anymore, except that I didn’t spend the night with them. As a result, I was very well acquainted with the logistics department and its boss, who would not mind working with us, but there are no instructions from above, therefore, there is no contract. As a result, after two months, I “enticed” almost the entire transport department with the boss to join my company. Of course, for very good money. And literally three days later I received a call from the management that almost the entire transport department had quit, and there was no one to deal with the supply of transport. As a result, now my guys were already engaged in supplying vehicles to their former plant. As you understand, I had no problems and now my employees had no problems with this. True, all this was revealed four months later, as a result, they were offered an even better salary, and they again changed employers. Although it 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 took a close look at the staff and their motivation, so that in the future, employees would not leave me so easily.

So 2006-2007 passed, then 2008 ended, and by the end of the year I felt something was wrong. Clients somehow strangely began to pay for services, or rather, I would say, they stopped paying at all. And .... here it is CRISIS!

Back in August 2008, our company created a new direction, more precisely, new relationships with financial institutions. Name of the direction: "Management of illiquid transport assets of banks and leasing companies". We were well aware that the problems in the banking sector, first of all, would affect our company. By that time, we were planning to expand the truck fleet and were preparing for a deal with the leasing company "N" to purchase 40 vehicles. The contract value was about 4.8 million euros. Preparation and verification went on for about two months, then the leasing company asked for more additional documents, the consideration dragged on for several more months. As a result, when everyone agreed, and we even received a positive decision from the credit committee signed by the management and stamped, 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 funding. It became clear that if everything is so vague with the leasing company “N”, what should we do with 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 sector, 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 mono-customers (where at least 30 regional shipments are made daily from a client), we were ready for harsh competitive conditions.

Leased property was seized 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 dealerships and dealers themselves cannot sell their equipment.

We approached banks and leasing companies with a proposal to manage these trucks. Our lawyers and financiers have developed several management options. Basically, we relied on the fact that when managing illiquid assets of banks and leasing companies, their balance of payments remains positive (we pay for debtors), arrears on payments are significantly reduced, and assets are redeemed at the residual value by our company for the year. These measures allowed many banks and leasing companies to get rid of illiquid (problematic) 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.

In short, this is one of the ways we solved the problem of lack of funds to increase the fleet.

Today, in the context of the protracted economic crisis that began in 2014, the expression “everyone survives as best he can” is more relevant than ever. Today, not having an additional source of income and having only one salary/pension/stipend/allowance means dooming yourself to vegetate in the backyard while life just passes by. Therefore, every second person tries to find some alternative ways of earning. For men, most of whom are drivers, this is much easier to do. What does it cost, for example, to organize transportation services? It is about this - how to open a transport company, or, if you want - the provision of cargo transportation services, that will be discussed today.

Without a doubt, this business today is in great demand, not only among individuals, but also among large companies that are unprofitable to create their own fleet, and therefore they prefer to use the services of third-party drivers with their own vehicles.

Brief business analysis:
Business setup costs: from 5 million rubles
Relevant for cities with a population: from 100 thousand
Situation in the industry:service market is saturated
The complexity of organizing a business: 3/5
Payback: from 1.5 years

It should be noted that the demand for cargo transportation is growing literally every day, but you should not be deceived by the seeming simplicity of organizing a business, and before you open a transport company from scratch, it will be quite useful to study this area in order to avoid annoying mistakes inherent in novice entrepreneurs. This publication is intended to help those wishing to start their own business in the field of logistics, and give the necessary minimum of knowledge that will allow you to enter this business without loss.

Types of transport companies

Although there are several types of classification of transport companies, for convenience we have made our division based on the provision of various types of transport services.

• Cargo transportation within one settlement, district, region. As a rule, such companies are engaged in the transportation of small-sized cargo, and specialize mainly in apartment and office moving, etc.
• Cargo transportation of goods for one company to chain stores, warehouses, etc.
• International cargo transportation of a wide variety of goods.
• Specialized cargo transportation. For example, only lumber, only food, etc.
• Cargo transportation using special equipment - dump trucks, tractors, etc.
• Cargo transportation of cars and special equipment.
• Transport companies engaged in the provision of intermediary services in the form of searching for orders for carriers and vice versa, preparing all the necessary documentation, drawing up routes and solving financial issues, controlling drivers and cargo security, etc.

You can, of course, try to "embrace the immensity" and position your company as providing services for all types of transportation, but for this kind of activity you will need so much money that it is not clear - if you have it, then why do you need to do business at all? Live to your heart's content!

Those who are serious about creating a reliable business will have to choose one of the directions before opening a transport company. At this link you will find a business plan for organizing cargo transportation using a conventional GAZelle or other similar light vehicle.

Among other things, it must be taken into account that the business processes of a transport company are not limited directly to transportation. We also need to maintain our own repair and diagnostic auto repair shop, a staff of dispatchers, forwarders, security guards, accountants, and some other specialists. You will need repair boxes, office space, garages for cars, storage areas - without all this, any logistics company simply cannot work fully.

How to register your business activity

To facilitate the work with documents, it would be best to draw up a standard contract for the provision of specific services in advance - transport, storage, security, etc. Most often, everything is combined in one company.

The only thing you have to "tinker with" is obtaining a license for international cargo transportation. To do this, you will have to provide a solid package of documents to the Ministry of Transport:

• All documents for your cars that will travel abroad;
• Personal documents of drivers (starting from health books and ending with driver's licenses);
• Copies of company registration certificate;
• Information about the composition and qualifications of the driver's personnel;
• Declaration on the availability of its own parking lot, or places reserved for this purpose;
• Maintenance contract at the service center;
• Some other documents may also be required (due to the difficult international situation, the requirements of the transport inspectorate change literally every month).

By the way, another innovation that did not exist before is the requirement to provide a certificate of passing special driving courses for private carriers, that is, those who work as individual entrepreneurs.

Creating your own carpool

Of course, everyone once started small - with one or two trucks, gradually acquiring new types of equipment. Today, to compete in the chosen area of ​​cargo transportation with those who have been “boiling” in this “cauldron” for more than a dozen years, have their own client base, a huge fleet of vehicles, endless storage facilities, etc. It means dooming your business to failure from the very beginning. Be content with little, your time will come.

For a novice owner of a transport company, it will be enough:

• Domestic GAZelle in the amount of 2-5 cars;
• Medium-duty trucks such as GAZon, MAZ, Kamaz, or their imported counterparts - 2-5 vehicles;
• Refrigerator - 2 units.

The technical equipment of the car depot also includes the acquisition of:

• Tools for car maintenance and repair;
• Diagnostic equipment;
• Tire fitting equipment;
• The most "running" spare parts for each car.

All necessary expenses should be provided for in a business plan, without which starting such a large-scale business will be a waste of time, effort, and, most importantly, money. You can find out how to write a competent business plan. By filling out a special form in the "Contacts" section, you can order the creation of a business plan on our blog, adapted to your specific conditions.

Transport company staff

Creating a staff of qualified employees is certainly one of the priority tasks when organizing a transport company from scratch. The number of employees depends on the volume of cargo transportation performed. The staff of the transport company, as a rule, includes:

• Communications Manager;
• A dispatcher who takes orders and sends drivers on a flight;
• Accountant;
• Forwarder;
• Security guard (in many companies, in order to save money, the driver combines the last two positions, which in turn minimizes the safety of the cargo being transported);
• The director-administrator of the company, whose position at first may well be occupied by the owner of the business.

How to find clients for cargo transportation?

Finding clients is one of the most difficult tasks. While no one knows the new company, few can decide to entrust it with the transportation of valuable goods. How to make a name for yourself in a market crowded with offers of similar services? We suggest using the following “set” of marketing tools.

Separating your company from the crowd

Analyze your competitors. It cannot be that everyone works “smoothly”, “punctures” happen to everyone, and this should be used. Think about what you can offer your potential customers and what other transport companies do not have. Create a discount system for regular customers, hold various promotions, give "gifts" in the form of free loading operations, etc.

Drawing up a competent commercial offer

You can sit and wait until customers come to you for a very long time - you need to look for them yourself. Concisely, but very clearly state the essence of your proposal, position the types of services provided, designate the tariffs, describe the benefits that the client will receive when working with your company.

Internet monitoring

Now a lot of companies are looking for performers for their services via the Internet. There are special sites where ads are published for both those who need cargo transportation and those who are ready to provide these services. A huge plus for your company will be the creation of your own website.

As you can see, in organizational terms, there is nothing complicated in creating a transport company. The only difficulty for a novice entrepreneur is the financial issue. In this source - you can find out how a loan for a small business in a bank, and here -

Here you will learn about a business in cargo transportation, how to open it, start it, you can download an example plan for organizing this business.

Having your own business and working for your own profit is an idea that everyone can enjoy. But just what kind of business to do? If you have the right to drive a car of category "C" and "B", then the answer suggests itself. You can organize a service that specializes in cargo transportation. In order to open cargo transportation, you need to draw up a detailed business plan for your future enterprise, an example of which is presented below.

Where to start and how to open your own business

For many, the expression “I want to do trucking” is a key moment in starting a business, but it’s not enough just to wish, because you still need to know how to start trucking from scratch and open your business the right way.

Your "Jedi" path should look like this:

1. Drawing up a business plan.
2. Drafting of all necessary contracts and agreements.
3. Purchase of transport and, if necessary, special equipment: gazelles, trucks, kamaz trucks, etc.
4. Registration of a cargo transportation business - we open an IP.
5. Office rent (if needed).
6. Hiring labor force (if needed).
7. Advertising your business.

How to open an IP

Of course, if you have some kind of large organization, then you will already have to open an LLC. But if you decide to do small cargo transportation, i.e. have a small number of trucks, gazelles and staff (or even do everything on your own), then you need to register as an individual entrepreneur. It's very simple.

How to open an IP for cargo transportation:

1. It is necessary to prepare a standard package of documents:
2. Pay state duty.
3. Submit an application to the tax office, in which you need to indicate passport data, contact phone number, OKVED activity code - code 60.24 for cargo transportation. Depending on the number of activities, there may be several codes. They are all located nearby.

You can do all this either yourself, or provide a power of attorney to your representative, which he did for you.

Business plan

Overview section of the project

This section indicates the purpose of the project, which refers to the creation of the enterprise itself, which will be engaged in the provision of cargo transportation services on medium commercial vehicles.

The scheme of work of the organization includes the acceptance of an order by the dispatcher for the implementation of cargo transportation, then the transfer of the order to the driver and, accordingly, its execution by the latter. The enterprise should be focused on the demand from the consumer, i.e. of people.

Description of the enterprise

Cargo transportation will be carried out by a separate entrepreneur. In this case, this is the most optimal option, which allows you to reduce the tax burden on the organization and minimize accounting. In the event that an entrepreneur carries out cargo transportation in less than 20 cars, then a single tax on temporary income is applied to him.

Freight market analysis

Before you start your own business, it is worth doing a market segment analysis. Is no exception here and cargo transportation. Opening the local press, you will see that there are not so many ads offering this kind of service. Therefore, you should first find out:

• who is your future competitor;
• on what machines he carries out cargo transportation;
• who are his clients, what cargoes he transports;
• what is the cost of their services.

After analyzing all this data, you can find out how you should proceed.

If, after analyzing the cargo transportation market, you have not abandoned the idea of ​​​​opening your own business, then next you need to develop an action plan for marketing and attracting customers. It must necessarily include the development, placement and distribution of advertising of the enterprise and cargo transportation services in the media. It will not be superfluous to distribute flyers, distribute business cards in those stores that sell building materials, household appliances, and furniture. You can think of a system of discounts for regular customers.

Enterprise production plan

Before the full functioning of the enterprise, it is worth buying several cars, on which cargo transportation will be carried out. You can take, for example, 1-2 GAZelles. You will also need to rent boxes for storing and parking your cars.

When you are just starting your business, you can fill up cars at a retail price at a gas station. If things go well and you want to expand your trucking fleet, you can conclude an agreement with gas stations, according to which fuel will be purchased at a better price.

As for the personnel, 1 driver, 1 dispatcher will be needed. The entrepreneur himself can act as a second driver. Freight accounting can be done by a company specializing in this. You will also need two or three loaders. It is better to negotiate with them about a piece-rate payment.

Enterprise expenses

Below is a list of estimated costs (in rubles):

• Purchase of cars - 1000 000
• Office space rental (per month) – 10,000
• Box rental — 10,000
• fuel and lubricants - 40,000
• Payroll Fund - 30,000
• Advertising - 10 000
• Other expenses - 20,000
• Total — 1,120,000

It can be seen from the data that in order to organize a cargo transportation service, an initial capital of 1,120 thousand rubles will be needed.

Income

On average, a cargo transportation service earns about 150 thousand rubles on two cars per month. Net proceeds will be about 50 thousand. It turns out that self-sufficiency can be reached in 2 years. In the event that cars are rented, the payback period is reduced to 3-4 months.

How to open a transport company - business features + step-by-step project implementation process + financial plan + how to attract customers.

Capital investments: from 9,340,000 rubles
Payback period: 3 years

Now in many areas there is quite tough competition, which forces many entrepreneurs to look for new directions for investing their own funds.

But it is important to find a stable and popular niche that will not let you down even in times of crisis.

And a vivid example of this is our own.

This area is relevant at any time, as many manufacturers and consumers need transportation and delivery of goods for various purposes.

It is best to start such a business if you have experience in a similar field, as well as if you have and are willing to invest large amounts of money.

If you are interested in implementing such an idea, then let's find out.

Consider the main nuances of conducting such a business and calculate how much investment you need to prepare.

Features of the transport business

To organize a competitive and profitable business, you need to plunge into the idea with your head.

Here, as in any other area of ​​entrepreneurship, it is important to have certain knowledge.

First of all, the activity is connected with logistics, that is, with the construction of an optimal route for the movement of goods.

And for this it is necessary that these 6 indicators are reunited:

• cargo;
• time;
• place;
• quantity;
• quality;
• minimum transportation costs.

For this reason, any transport company must have a forwarding department, whose specialists will be able to build a route and then track it.

It is also worth highlighting the key points related to how to open a transport company:

• first of all, it should be said that the chosen direction of activity does not fall under licensing;
• among companies revolving in this area, there is the smallest number of bankrupts;
• when choosing a forwarding scheme, capital investments will be relatively small;
• business is associated with many risks and force majeure - weather conditions, traffic accidents, possible vehicle breakdowns.

Types of transport companies

At the first stage of how to open a transport company, you need to decide on its type.

And only then, depending on the chosen format of activity, it is necessary and.

So, you can provide cargo transportation:

for individuals.

Most often they operate within the same locality and suburb, and work with medium and small cargo;

for legal entities.

Such companies serve wholesale companies and deliver goods throughout the country and even neighboring countries;

for various manufacturers.

They work with the industrial sector, so they must have a specialized fleet with dump trucks and tractors;

specialized direction.

Some carriers may only transport food, water, building materials, or anything else;

groupage cargo.

This direction involves the joint sending of several goods, which should be received by different addressees.

As a rule, transportation is carried out over long distances and can go beyond the borders of the country.

Choosing a scheme of work for a transport company

Regardless of which type of cargo transportation is chosen, transport companies can operate according to two schemes:

have your own car park

You can organize the work by buying a truck or taking it on a long-term lease.

To realize this idea, you need to have large amounts of money.

offer forwarding services

The point of running such a business is to be an intermediary between the customer and the drivers of the transport.

For the provision of dispatcher services, the company takes its percentage, from which profit is formed.

You can implement this option with minimal investment, because you do not need to buy cars.

What to choose from this?

The first option is suitable for those who do not want to depend on anyone: you have your own cars and hire drivers, thereby dictating the working conditions yourself.

It is advisable to implement the second option if there are connections with drivers who have personal vehicles.

But in this case, you will have to adapt both to customers and to the owners of trucks themselves.

Step-by-step process of how to open a transport company

Now you can proceed to the answer to the question of how to open a transport company.

In this case, it is necessary to follow a clear sequence of actions.

First of all, you need to take care to come up with a memorable name for the future company and properly arrange the business.

At the same stage, it is worth deciding on the scheme of work, because both directions are fundamentally different from each other.

When deciding to have your own fleet, you need to purchase freight transport and equip a garage.

For solidity, it is worth renting an office where you can receive clients who want to conclude long-term contracts.

Then you need to select the staff who will take orders and build traffic routes.

An important stage is the search for customers, because without them the business will simply “burn out”. The larger the customer base, the higher the income. Plus, it will expand over time.

Formation and registration of business

The choice of legal form in which you can open a transport company is influenced by many factors:

• format of work: IP is suitable for creating a dispatch service, - if you have your own fleet of vehicles;
• number of founders: IP for one person, and LLC - for several;
• provision of services for individuals or legal entities: in the first case, an individual entrepreneur is suitable, and in the second, an LLC, since organizations want to cooperate with VAT payers;
• desire to expand< : if it is not there, then it is enough to open an individual entrepreneur, and if there is, then only the creation of a legal entity.

I would also like to focus your attention on the compilation of a unique name.

It is important that it contains something that will indicate the transport company: "auto", "express", "trans" and the like.

To open a transport company in the form of an individual entrepreneur, you will need to provide the following documents:

• statement;
• passport;

But with the creation of a legal entity you will have to tinker:

• statement;
• name confirmed by Rospatent;
• founding documents;
• copies of documents of the founders;
• bank account opening certificate;
• receipt stating that the state fee has been paid.

To open a transport company engaged in international transportation, you must obtain a license.

If the traffic routes will be carried out within the country, then this is not necessary.

Otherwise, you will need to provide:

• documents for vehicles that will travel abroad;
• driver's documents - driving license and health books;
• a document confirming the registration of the business;
• a contract concluded for the maintenance of vehicles;
• having its own parking lot.

If a decision is made to open a transport company based on its own car depot, you will have to purchase several trucks.

Of course, many start small, and at first you can provide services for individuals and have only a couple of vehicles in your “arsenal”.

But if there is a desire to compete with such organizations, you will have to spend money.

To get started, you can purchase the following trucks:

Vehicle name	Qty	The cost of one vehicle, rub.	Total cost, rub.
Total:	7		RUB 8,280,000
GAZelle with a load capacity of 3 tons	2	740 000	1 480 000
GAZelle with a load capacity of 8 tons	2	1 400 000	2 800 000
Lawn	1	1 600 000	1 600 000
Refrigerator	2	1 200 000	2 400 000

For maintenance of the car depot, special equipment is also needed:

Office space and car park

Recruitment for opening a transport company

Cargo transportation service is provided not only by the fleet, but also by numerous staff.

It can be conditionally divided into three categories:

• drivers;
• office workers;
• servicing transport.

Moreover, all of them must interact with each other, because the success of the business will depend on how they work together.

Drivers

To ensure the smooth operation of the transport company, it is necessary to have 2-3 drivers per vehicle.

For long distances, two people can ride on one vehicle at once, who will replace each other.

If transportation will be carried out locally, then there is no need to have too many drivers.

Sales department

The following specialists should work here, each of which should perform their functions:

• dispatcher - takes orders and sends drivers on a flight;
• logistician (forwarders) - develops the optimal route of movement and calculates its cost;
• marketing specialist - is engaged in attracting customers;
• accountant - keeps records and prepares reports;
• administrator - he is entrusted with the functions of management and control (at first, the owner of the transport company himself can do this).

It is not worth saving on personnel of this category, because if one specialist combines the performance of several duties, this will lead, at best, to a decrease in efficiency, at worst, to improper performance of work.

As a rule, the work schedule in the office is 6 days, with a day off on Sunday.

Transport service


For a garage, two auto mechanics are enough to carry out diagnostics and repair and maintenance work.

Also, it will not be superfluous to hire two security guards who will look after the fleet.

Thus, personnel costs are a significant cost item when opening a full-cycle transport company.

Labor costs will look like this:

Job title	Qty	Salary, rub.	FOT, rub.
Total:	17	-	RUB 254,000
Drivers	9	15 000	135 000
Dispatcher	1	15 000	15 000
logistician	1	20 000	20 000
Marketer	1	18 000	18 000
Accountant	1	18 000	18 000
Auto Mechanic	2	15 000	30 000
Security guard	2	9 000	18 000

How to find clients for a transport company?

Advertising is a mandatory expense item when deciding to open a transport company.

For any chosen format of work, you need to use the following advertising tools:

• creation of a website and pages in social networks;
• outdoor advertising;
• Internet advertising;
• placement of information on own cars;
• distribution to construction, industrial, food companies;
• offer of cooperation to online stores.

If it is decided to open a transport company that will be individuals, you can also do the following work:

• put up ads around the city;
• distribute flyers;
• place ads on the social networks of your city;
• order advertising on local radio.

If the transport company is focused on working with legal entities, in addition to the above, it is necessary:

• engage in direct mailing with a proposal for cooperation to manufacturers and wholesale buyers;
• participate in tenders.

Note: do not enter into oral agreements with customers, they are not legally binding. In the contract, prescribe all the conditions of transportation, as well as actions in the event of force majeure.

How much does it cost to open a transport company?

“As a rule, sustainable success is achieved not through a desperate (“hang yourself with shoelaces”) one-time (“now or never!”) jerk or feat, but as a result of everyday decision-making and their implementation.
Stephen Covey

After a detailed study of how to open a transport company, you can proceed to the calculation of capital investments.

So, starting investments in order to work according to the first scheme will be presented in the form:

For the work of a cargo transportation company according to the second scheme, the costs will be reduced to registration, advertising and office equipment, and will amount to approximately 240-260,000 rubles.

Monthly expenses will consist of:

Payment for services can be hourly or per mileage.

On average, when transporting a cargo weighing 3 tons, the cost of one hour is 600-700 rubles, 8 tons - 800-900 rubles, 10 tons - 900-1000 rubles.

Thus, when deciding to open a transport company, you can receive revenue in the amount of 700 -800,000 rubles.

To do this, it is necessary to organize work when cars will make at least 20 trips per month lasting 7-8 hours.

We subtract expenses and get a profit before tax of 240,000 rubles.

With such indicators, the business will pay for itself in 3 years.

This period can be reduced to two years if the cars will always be in flights, and for this you need to actively deal with the customer base.

A few tips for the successful operation of a transport company are voiced in the video:

Possible problems when opening a transport company

There is no business that is not exposed to risks. And transport companies are no exception.

Therefore, in the end, I would like to talk about possible problems for which you need to be prepared:

The occurrence of theft.

The human factor in such a business plays an important role, so you always need to control the entire process: installing CCTV cameras and alarms, compiling and submitting reports at the beginning and end of the journey.

Bad service.

Again, the main emphasis is on the human factor, as well as on the occurrence of unforeseen situations.

Poor quality shipping.

In the process of delivery, the cargo may be beaten or receive traces of impact.

To prevent this from happening, it must be packed in accordance with all the rules, and vehicles must not be overloaded.

You can also set a limit on the "battle", and if it is exceeded, drivers must pay a fine.

Inability to resolve conflicts and repair damages.

As mentioned above, it is necessary to conclude contracts only on paper, where all the conditions for cooperation are prescribed.

The last point regarding how to start a shipping company, this is the time of her start.

Thus, we can say that the transportation business is a rather demanded and profitable business that requires huge investments, and throughout the entire activity.

If successful, it is possible to open new points and expand, reaching the regional and even state level, which also requires additional costs in the form of buying new vehicles and equipping the fleet.

And if you succeed, then you can claim the title of leader in this industry.

Useful article? Don't miss out on new ones!
Enter your e-mail and receive new articles by mail