Haulin Assets

#114. September 2022 Financials

Another month has come and gone and it's time for a financial episode. It's a pretty interesting market right now and we start off the episode talking about that. I also mentioned a Soldier I work with who had an accident that is likely to leave him paralyzed from the waist down. If you are able to donate to help him and his family, it would be greatly appreciated. He has a Go Fund Me page you can access here.

What To Expect From Episode 114

BLUF (Bottom line up front), we lost money in September, it wasn't much, however we also had a lot of one off expenses that skewed our numbers a bit. We also had two trucks sitting for some of the month so revenue wasn't quite as high as it should have been. This month's P&L was pretty chaotic, Craig and I dive into the details and explain it all.

• Total miles ran – 78,386 (New record, but still not where it should be for 8 trucks, should be closer to 90k)
• Deadhead miles – 4,094 (5.2%)
• Total revenue - $187,637.46 (Record, but should be over $200k)
• All-in rate-per-mile - $2.39 (Drop from last month, but it is still better than average over the last 6 months)

Haulin Assets realized a loss of $5,326.76. This month was really just one of those months that was a sacrifice to the gods of the up and down trucking industry. A lot of things kind of came together, in not such a great way, this month and we lost money.

Here is a few of the things that impacted the P&L that we talk about.

• Bank charges, $2.5k in loan origination fee
• Damages, $12.5k
• About $10k in repairs and maintenance, a bit on the high side, but not crazy high
• $4.5k in HVUT (2290)
• $500 in travel, refer to the incident that has not yet been named.

Impact Tip

Try to manage time off. October through December typically have the best freight rates of the year. Avoid taking time off during these months. I would much rather as an owner operator work hard through the holidays, and then take time off in January and February when rates are often at their worst. Same thing for drivers, try to work with them to limit time off in the 4th quarter and take it in the 1st. With that being said, don't sacrifice relationships for a few extra bucks.

#113. Are We Staying True To Our Purpose?

Every once in a while it is good to be called on the carpet. A couple of months ago a listener did that and I really appreciate the time and thought he put into his comments. He put a bit of a novel into a Facebook comment about episode 105. You can find his original comment here. He had some nice things to say, suggested some things he thought we should do better and made some general comments about the podcast. Craig and I spent most of this episode addressing most of the points of his comments. I think that makes this episode another listener questions episode. Eric, this one's for you!

#112. August 2022 Financials

I feel like my head won't stop spinning. There has been a lot going on and to be honest, I think that is going to be the new normal for us until we can bring on another admin employee. At our size, we are on the cusp of being big enough to justify someone to help us out in the office, but we just aren't quite there yet.  We'll probably be redlined until we get there.

What To Expect From Episode 112

Profitability has improved, but we are still struggling with cashflow. The loss we had last month and catchup from adding trucks 6, 7 and 8 in such a short period of time have really stressed our bank account.

• Total miles ran – 67,773 (About 10k less than our record last month, kind of low for 8 trucks)
• Deadhead miles – 3,095 (4.6%, really good)
• Total revenue - $170,655.41
• All-in rate-per-mile - $2.52 (Best month since March)

Haulin Assets realized a profit of $29,840.34. Our best bottom line number since March. I am hoping this trend continues. I think we are probably going to have some up and down months over the next couple of months, but I am hoping we have our cashflow smoothed out by the beginning of the year because I think the first quarter of 2023 is going to be tough.

Impact Tip

Always monitor your cashflow. Cashflow is different than profitability. A profitable company can still have cashflow issues. Any time you add a new unit to your fleet, it is going to have an impact on your cashflow, and you need to take that into consideration. Have a backup plan incase things don’t go as you planned.

#111. Managing Challenges

Typically, you can make more money working for yourself than you can working for someone else, but doing so comes with challenges most people don't want to deal with. It it was easy, more people would do it. Growing a business is never easy and we have dealt with some pretty big challenges over the last couple of months. I want to share some of the experiences we have had and hopefully some of the lessons we have learned to help you manage some of these challenges as smoothly as possible.

What To Expect From Episode 111

Here are the challenges we will discuss in detail:

• We had to let a driver go, he is a great guy, but was just costing us too much money
• Fuel prices are really hurting the bottom line when freight rates, especially on the spot market, don't leave much wiggle room
• We have struggled to get financing for our next trucks, although we think we have it worked out through a lot of work
• Rates have dropped, we are working on direct shipper loads

#110. July 2022 Financials

July was a crazy month and this episode is jam packed with lots to talk about. In true trucking fashion, there were lots of ups and downs. Driver challenges, unexpected expenses, mistakes, a new revenue source and we'll talk about it all.

What To Expect From Episode 110

We lost money in July. July must be a tough month, out of curiosity I wanted to see when the last time was that Haulin Assets lost money, it was July of last year. There are a lot of factors that contributed to the loss and we'll talk all about them during this episode. There is a lot to cover, so buckle up.

• Total miles ran – 77,238 (The most we have ever run)
• Deadhead miles – 4,419 (5.7%, pretty good)
• Total revenue - $182,752.07 (Another record)
• All-in rate-per-mile - $2.36 (A little better than last month and I am pretty sure we will see it go up in August too.)

Even with all the records, Haulin Assets realized a loss of $17,562.75, this is why we saved money early this year and last year when we were making really good money.

#109. Listener Stories, August 2022

This was another really cool episode for Craig and I. We got to talk with some of our listeners and hear about their experiences.

What To Expect From Episode 109

We asked each guest a version of the 8 questions listed below.

1. Tell us about your story.
2. What was the tipping point for you? When did you decide to take the plunge into ownership?
3. What has been the biggest impact of listening to Haulin Assets?
4. What has been your biggest challenge of starting and owning a trucking company?
5. What has been the most rewarding?
6. What is your favorite episode?
7. What would you like to learn more about?
8. If you could turn back time, would you do it all over again?

#108. Listener Questions part 2

It's another listener questions episode! This is another fun one, where we let listeners ask questions that we answer for them. You probably have some of the same questions, so give the episode a listen. Everyone who had a question that was answered on the air got a free Haulin Assets T-Shirt. If you want one, you can order one here.

What To Expect From Episode 108
Here are the questions we answered:

Barry
"Are there avenues to produce the same amount of income in a local delivery situation as opposed to over the road?"

Eldwin
"Is it possible to buy or transfer someone's authority if they're retiring or getting out of their business?"

Darron
"How does the timing of buying your first truck affect your success in starting your own company. Is the timing important?"

Kevin
"The hiring market is extremely tight. Most of us out here are struggling with hiring drivers. What other tips do you have for hiring drivers?"

Tony
"I've had my class A CDL since 1992 [been working construction since then], and I wanted to try find another way to feed my family. So I wanted to buy a rig, but the rigs are really expensive nowadays. What kind of advice can you give me?"

#107. June 2022 Financials

June 2022 made for the third tough month in a row for financials. With that being said, I am a bit more optimistic about July than I was about May or June. We also have a pretty exciting development that we are going to talk about. Listen to the episode and Craig and I will talk all about it.

 

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What To Expect From Episode 107

There is a lot going on in June's numbers that are not really apparent just by looking at the raw data. This is a good episode to listen to so you get a full picture. For starters, we had two new trucks come online in June and that impacted the numbers in several ways.

• Total miles ran – 64,759 (More than the last several months, because we had two new trucks run part of the month, but we also had a couple of drivers take a bit more time off than normal, summer vacations)
• Deadhead miles – 4,102 (6.3%, creeping up a bit)
• Total revenue - $142,631.51 (about the same as last month, but that includes about $22k in revenue from trucks 6 & 7)
• All-in rate-per-mile - $2.20 (Lowest it has been in a long time, so far July is feeling a little bit better, but that is just what my gut is saying, we will see the truth when the numbers come out)

Haulin Assets realized a profit of $7,207.19.

 

 

June 2022 made for the third tough month in a row for financials. With that being said, I am a bit more optimistic about July than I was about May or June. We also have a pretty exciting development that we are going to talk about. Listen to the episode and Craig and I will talk all about it.

What To Expect From Episode 107

There is a lot going on in June's numbers that are not really apparent just by looking at the raw data. This is a good episode to listen to so you get a full picture. For starters, we had two new trucks come online in June and that impacted the numbers in several ways.

• Total miles ran – 64,759 (More than the last several months, because we had two new trucks run part of the month, but we also had a couple of drivers take a bit more time off than normal, summer vacations)
• Deadhead miles – 4,102 (6.3%, creeping up a bit)
• Total revenue - $142,631.51 (about the same as last month, but that includes about $22k in revenue from trucks 6 & 7)
• All-in rate-per-mile - $2.20 (Lowest it has been in a long time, so far July is feeling a little bit better, but that is just what my gut is saying, we will see the truth when the numbers come out)

Haulin Assets realized a profit of $7,207.19.

 

Impact tip: Be careful out there ... or something!

#106. Listener Stories, July 2022

This was a really cool episode for Craig and I. We got to talk with some of our listeners and hear about their experiences.

What To Expect From Episode 106

We asked each guest a version of the 8 questions listed below.

1. Tell us about your story.
2. What was the tipping point for you? When did you decide to take the plunge into ownership?
3. What has been the biggest impact of listening to Haulin Assets?
4. What has been your biggest challenge of starting and owning a trucking company?
5. What has been the most rewarding?
6. What is your favorite episode?
7. What would you like to learn more about?
8. If you could turn back time, would you do it all over again?

#105. May 2022 Financials

April and May are almost mirror copies of each other. We'll break down the numbers and talk about what went well for the month and what didn't. Trucking is a good business, but like every industry there are ups and downs and this month is a good example of that.

What To Expect From Episode 105

I don't think we have ever had two back to back months that look so similar. I don't think we could have replicated a month so perfectly if we had tried. The fact that things are so similar leaves me optimistic that we are near the bottom of the drop in freight rates. The main numbers are below. Listen to the episode and check out the P&L below for the details.

• Total miles ran – 58,859 (About 400 more than last month)
• Deadhead miles – 3,489 (5.9%, same percentage, 19 more miles than last month)
• Total revenue - $141,998.48 (491.02 less than last month)
• All-in rate-per-mile - $2.41 (.03 drop)

Haulin Assets realized a profit of $12,052.12. About $1,700 less than April.

We talk some more about fuel prices and the percentage of revenue that fuel is an expense. It has been interesting to track that way for the last several months.

Impact Tip

Be kind, it's good business. I have had an experience over the last several weeks that has really made me reflect on life. Listen to the episode to learn more. In honor of Grace G, who was an example of love and kindness towards all she met.