Do you run a trucking company and want to promote it? If YES, here is a sample trucking business marketing plan template and ideas to attract clients..
Okay, so we have considered all the requirements for starting a trucking company. We also took it further by providing an in-depth sample trucking business plan template.
In this article, we will be analyzing and drafting a sample trucking company marketing plan backed up by actionable guerrilla marketing ideas for trucking companies. So put on your marketing hat and let’s proceed.
A Sample Trucking Company Marketing Plan Template
1. Our Present Business Situation
Presently we have incorporated Terry Granville Truck Service Inc, we have successfully secured all relevant license and permits to operate throughout the united states and Canada.
We have started testing running the business for the past 2 weeks and we will official kick – off the business on the 4th of January, 2016.
Our trucking company is based in 10548 SD Highway 32 Belle Fourche South Dakota and all the logistics required have been put in place so we can conveniently provide daily freight services (trucking services, moving services & supplies, and bulk material sales & supplies) on one skid to full truckloads to and from South Dakota, North Dakota, Southern Illinois; St Louis, Missouri; Southeast Missouri; Evansville, IN; Nashville, Tennessee; Memphis, Tennessee and Chicago land areas et al.
We will also provide cross docking, warehousing, lift gate and specialized van service in South Dakota, North Dakota, Southern Illinois, Southeast Missouri and Western Kentucky.
At the moment, we have concluded on the recruitment and training of all the employees that will kick start the business and we have 10 brand new trucks of different sizes, we have 10 experienced drivers with the required experience and valid commercial driver’s license (CDL) and we have the required structure in place that will enable effectively run the business.
2. Our Product and Services
Terry Granville Truck Service Inc. is a company that looks forward to deliver excellent services in terms of helping our customers move goods and equipment from one destination to another destination. We want to be known as the trucking company that truly care for her customers. Our business offering are listed below;
- Moving supplies
- All furniture quilt-wrapped for protection
- On-time pickup and delivery
- Home and office movement
- Local and long distance movement
- Heavy duty equipment movement
- Excavators movement
- Bulldozers movement
- Construction equipment movement
- Agricultural equipment movement
- Movement of oil and gas products
3. Our Mission and Vision Statement
- Our Vision is to become one of the preferred choices of individual and organization when it comes to the demand for trucking services in the whole of the United States of America.
- Our mission is to ensure that we build a trucking company that will operate in the whole of the United States of America and Canada; a company that will boast of having some of the best and reliable truck drivers in the whole of the United States of America.
Our Marketing Goals
As a trucking company, our overall marketing goal is to ensure that we build a trucking company that will operate in the whole of the United States of America and Canada; a company that will boast of having some of the best and reliable truck drivers in the whole of the United States of America.
We truly want to become one of the preferred choices of individual and organization when it comes to the demand for trucking services in the whole of the United States of America.
Here are our marketing goals:
- To generate a minimum revenue of 300,000 US dollars within the first 12 months of operations
- To generate a minimum revenue of 900,000 US dollars in our second fiscal year of operations
- To generate a minimum revenue of 1,500,000 US dollars in our third fiscal year of operations
We aim to achieve the followings from our marketing efforts:
- To build a trucking business that will compete favorably with leading trucking companies in the world and be listed among the top 10 trucking companies in the United States of America and Canada
- We aim to achieve a sustainable growth at the rate of 25% annual sales growth
- We want to build a self – sustaining trucking business that will contribute to the growth of the United States of America
4. Our Marketing Budget
We are quite aware that if we intend making impact as a trucking company and to achieve our goal of building a trucking company that will compete favorable with other leading trucking companies in the United States of America and Canada; we must be willing to invest in marketing our business. In view of that we have set aside a marketing budget of 30,000 US Dollars for the first year of operating the business.
Subsequently, we will budget between 5 percent and 10 percent of our annual income towards marketing and promoting our trucking business. In future, if there is any need to increase the budget in order to explore other means of improving sales, we will gladly do that.
5. MARKET ANALYSIS
- Industry Overview
Statistics has it that the trucking industry alongside warehouses and the private sector that patronize the services of trucking companies in the United States employs about 8.9 million people in trucking-related jobs; an estimated 3.5 million people employed in the industry are truck drivers.
It is important to note that United Parcel Services (UPS) employs 60,000 workers and 9 percent are owner operators. LTL shippers account for about 13.6 percent of America’s trucking industry.
An estimate of 15.5 million trucks operate in the United States of America, and of this figure 2 million are tractor trailers. There are well over 3.5 million truck drivers in the United States of which 1 in 9 are independent truck drivers (operators); they own their trucks. Canada has well over of 250,000 truck drivers.
Interesting Figures About the Trucking Industry
The United States economy depends on the trucking industry to deliver about 70 percent of all freight transported annually in the country. These activities accounts for about 671 billion dollars’ worth of manufactured and retail goods transported by the trucking industry in the United States alone.
Aside from transporting goods and equipment within the United States, most trucking companies in the United States are also involved in transporting goods and equipment to and from Canada and Mexico. The Trucking industry is a key industry when it comes to trade facilitator between Canada and the United States.
It is on record that more than two-thirds of United States – Canada trade is moved by truck, this include more than 80 percent of all the goods exported from the United States of America to Canada. The United States trucking industry generates well over 295 billion dollars annually in truck trade with Canada and well over 195.6 billion dollars annually in truck trade with Mexico.
Statistics has it that food and food products, lumber or wood products, as well as petroleum or coal account for 34.8 percent of truck traffic in the United States and by volume, clay, glass, concrete and stone, farm products, as well as petroleum and coal account for 35.6 percent of truck traffic.
The advancement in technology in areas such as computers, satellite communication, and the internet, has contributed immensely to the growth of the industry. The advancement in technology is responsible for increase of productivity of trucking companies operations, it helps them effectively monitor their trucks and their drivers and it helps driver save time and effort.
6. Our Target Market
The demographic composition of those who are in need or those who patronize the trucking industry cannot be categorically stated- of course merchants, industrialist, farmers, contractors and a host of other people who have need to move goods and services from one location to another location are considered to fall within the demography of those to be considered when mapping out marketing and sales strategies.
Our target market is basically every one (organizations and individual as well who have cause to move things from one location to another location. We cover both short distance (inter states) and long distance (intra states). We are in business to move stuffs and anyone who has stuffs to move within the United States or from the United States to Canada, can contact us.
In other words, our target market is the whole of the United States of America and below is a list of the people and organizations that we have plans to do business with;
- Merchants (importers, exporters, traders, suppliers, wholesalers, and dealers)
- Manufacturers
- Construction companies
- Household
- Corporate organizations
- Small business owners
- The timber industry
- Oil and gas sector
7. SWOT Analysis
Going by our vision, our mission and the kind of business we want to set – up, we don’t have any other option than to follow due process.
Following due process involves hiring business a consultant to help us conduct SWOT analysis for our business. Terry Granville Truck Service Inc. hired the services of a seasoned business consultant with bias for startups in the U.S. to help us conduct a thorough SWOT analysis and to guide us in formulating other business strategies that will help us grow our business and favorable compete in the trucking industry.
As a company, we look forward to maximizing our strength and opportunities and also to work around our weaknesses and threats. Here is a summary from the result of the SWOT analysis that was conducted on behalf of Terry Granville Truck Services Inc.;
- Strength:
Our areas of strength in U.S include; size advantages, cost advantages, supply chain, customer loyalty and strong reputation amongst domestic industry players.
- Weakness:
Our weakness could be lack of finance, high debt burden, cost structure, lack of scale compared to our peers who have already gained ground in the industry.
- Opportunities:
The opportunities that are available to us as a trucking company in the United States are online market, new services, new technology, and of course the opening of new markets
- Threat:
Some of the threats that we are likely going to face are mature markets, bad economy (economy downturn), stiff competition, volatile costs, and rising fuel prices.
Our Competitive Advantage
Our major competitive advantage is the vast industry experience and solid reputation of our owner, Terry Granville. Terry Granville Truck Service Inc. no doubt is a new trucking company, which is why we took our time to do a thorough homework before launching the business.
We were able to highlight some factors that will give us competitive advantage in the marketplace; some of the factors are trust, honesty, good network and excellent relationship management strong management, strong fleet operations, direct access to all Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports, our transportation network serves some of the largest population centers in the U.S., our size advantages, cost advantages, supply chain, customer loyalty and strong reputation amongst domestic industry players.
Another competitive advantage that we are bringing to the industry is the fact that we have designed our business in such a way that we can comfortably work with both individuals who may want to make use of small trucks to transport goods within the city and also big conglomerates who are involved in massive movements of goods and equipment from one part of the U.S. to another part.
Lastly, our employees will be well taken care of, and their welfare package will be amongst the best in the industry meaning that they will be more than willing to build the business with us and help deliver our set goals and achieve all our objectives.
8. SALES AND MARKETING STRATEGY
- Sources of Income
Terry Granville Truck Service Inc. will ensure that we leverage on our strength and the opportunities available to us in the U.S. market to generate enough income that will help us drive the business to stability. We will go all the way to explore every available sources of income in the trucking industry. Below are the sources we intend exploring to generate income for Terry Granville Truck Service Inc.;
- Moving supplies
- All furniture quilt-wrapped for protection
- On-time pickup and delivery
- Home and office movement
- Local and long distance movement
- Heavy duty equipment movement
- Excavators movement
- Bulldozers movement
- Construction equipment movement
- Agricultural equipment movement
- Movement of timbers
- Movement of oil and gas products
9.Sales Forecast
We are well positioned to take on the available market in the U.S. and we are quite optimistic that we will meet out set target of generating enough income / profits from the first month or operations and grow the business and clientele beyond South Dakota to other states in the U.S. and Canada
We have been able to critically examine the trucking industry and we have analyzed our chances in the industry and we have been able to come up with the following sales forecast. The sales projection is based on information gathered on the field and some assumptions that are peculiar to startups in the United States of America.
Below is the sales projection for Terry Granville Truck Service Inc., it is based on the location of our trucking business and our competitive advantage;
- First Fiscal Year-: $300,000
- Second Fiscal Year-: $900,000
- Third Fiscal Year-: $1,500,000
N.B: This projection is done based on what is obtainable in the industry and the nature of services that we will be offering.
10. Our Pricing Strategy
Terry Granville Truck Service Inc. has a lease arrangement with various companies and the company’s pricing is based on miles per thousands of tons of cargo transported. We have perfected our plans to charge competitive rates since we have minimal overhead compared to our competition in the industry.
We will ensure that we leverage on price to win over customers; our prices will be affordable and negotiable. The fact that our business door is open to both individuals and corporations means that we will have different price range for different category of clients. As the business grow, we will continue to review our pricing system to accommodate a wide range of clientele.
Our Unique Selling Point; What Makes Our Us Superior to Our Competitions
Our unique selling point as a trucking company is the vast industry experience and solid reputation of our owner and key employees.
So also trust, honesty, good network and excellent relationship management, strong management, strong fleet operations, direct access to all Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports, our transportation network serves some of the largest population centers in the U.S., our size advantages, cost advantages, supply chain, customer loyalty and strong reputation amongst domestic industry players.
Another competitive advantage that we are bringing to the industry is the fact that we have designed our business in such a way that we can comfortably work with both individuals who may want to make use of small trucks to transport goods within the city and also big conglomerates who are involved in massive movements of goods and equipment from one part of the U.S. to another part.
Lastly, our employees will be well taken care of, and their welfare package will be amongst the best in the industry meaning that they will be more than willing to build the business with us and help deliver our set goals and achieve all our objectives.
Benefits Our Client Stand to Gain When They Patronize Our Trucking Company
We are a trucking company that look forward to deliver excellent services in terms of helping our customers move goods and equipment from one destination to another destination. We want to be known as the trucking company that truly cares for her customers.
Before setting up our trucking company, we have done our homework and we know that one of the key factors that will help our business to grow and continue to thrive is to continue to meet and even surpass the expectations of our clients whenever they hire our services.
These are the benefits that a client stands to gain when they patronize our trucking services:
- Wider coverage of our services ( throughout the United States of America and Canada)
- Availability of various payment options and also flexibility in payment options
- Competitive prices and discounts based on loyalty and referrals
- Trust, honesty, good relationship management and of course timely and safe delivery.
- Professionalism and excellent customer service delivery of the highest order from our highly trained staff members.
11. Strategic Marketing Alliance with Our Competitors in the Trucking Industry
There are opportunities for trucking companies to form strategic marketing alliance with other competitors in the industry due to the fact that some trucking companies may lack the capacity to handle certain freight contracts. So also, a trucking company can form strategic marketing alliance with truck manufacturers or manufacturers of various goods et al.
For example, a trucking company can decide to form a strategic marketing alliance with a haulage company that deals in airlifting goods from one location to another.
What is expected of the trucking company is to be responsible for moving the items to be airlifted from one location (it could seaport or factory et al) to the airport and also from the airport to the location where the goods are supposed to be transported to (it could be warehouse or sites et al).
Another example of forming strategic marketing alliance in the trucking industry is between a trucking company and a manufacturer of a product. The trucking company can become an official marketing partner of the manufacturing company; they will be responsible for helping the manufacturing company move goods equipment from one location to another location.
Our Client Retention Strategies (Ways to Improve Our Customer Experience)
Part of our retention strategies as a new entrant into the trucking industry is to ensure that we leverage on price to win over customers; our prices will be affordable and negotiable. The fact that our business door is open to both individuals and corporations means that we will have different price range for different category of clients.
We are in business simply because we want to make money and we know that we cannot make money without having customers to patronize our trucking services hence we have been able to map out strategies not only to win customers, but also to ensure that we retain them and make them our loyal customers.
These are the ways we intend utilizing when it comes to improving our customer experience so that we can create a good impression and generate repeated businesses from them:
- We will make provisions to give out discounts to our customers from time to time whenever they patronize our services
- Aside from rendering our services at a highly competitive prices in the trucking industry, we will also make available flexible payment options
- Make use of effective customer relationship management (CRM) software to effectively manage our clientele base.
- Ensures that we carry our clients along when making decisions that directly affect them.
12. Possible Ways We Intend Offering Incentives to Our Customers/Clients (Bonus, Discounts, etc)
From our feasibility studies and market research, we were able to pin point some of the strategies that will help us secure and retain clients as a new entrant into the trucking industry; one of such strategies is to offer mouth – watering incentives (bonuses, discounts and rebates et al) to our loyal customers from time to time.
In view of that, we have documented some of the possible ways we intend offering incentives to our customers in our business plan document and we hope to review them in order to continue to outsmart our competitors in the trucking industry.
We will ensure that we give out up to 50 percent discounts to loyal customers who are known to spend a certain amount as determined by our management team annually in patronizing our trucking services. We will organize promos at regular interval with various prizes to attract new customers and also to gain the loyalty of old customers.
We will also give out gifts/souvenirs to corporate clients and individual clients during special celebrations such as Christmas seasons, New Year, Independent celebrations, Thanksgiving celebration and Easter celebrations et al.
- After Sales Service or Customer Support
The nature of trucking services does not give room for after sale services which is why we usually go all the way to provide excellent services to our clients whenever they patronize our services. However, whenever we deliver any goods/equipment et al, we will ensure that our clients confirm that they goods / equipment are delivered in good shape and within the agreed time and day.
As regard customer support services, we will ensure that we maximize our customer relationship management software applications so as to keep in touch with all our customers to make sure we carry them along when we have any promo that we know will benefit them and also to make sure they are satisfied with our services and to give them the opportunity to lodge their complaints if they do have any.
Possible Questions We Intend Asking Our Clients During Our Market Survey
These are the 10 possible questions we are going to put forward when conducting marketing survey on our customers/clients:
- Have you ever engage the services of our trucking company to help you move goods from one location to another?
- Are you comfortable with our contract terms and conditions?
- If you are not satisfied with our contract terms and conditions, what areas would you want us to work on?
- Aside from our trucking company, have you ever engaged the services of another trucking company?
- If yes, what is the name of the trucking company?
- Are you comfortable with our price structure and the flexibility in our payment options?
- If you are to change one thing about our trucking company, what would that be?
- How would you want us to communicate to you when we want to pass useful information about our trucking business that will be of great benefit to you or someone you know? Through letters, text messages, e – mail, or via mobile apps (BBM, twitter, 2Go, WeChat, WhatsApp et al)
- Can you comfortably recommend our trucking company to your organization, family members, friends and colleagues?
- Are you satisfied with our customer service delivery? If no what areas would you want us to improve on?