It’s no secret that trucks are expensive vehicles to buy, own, and maintain. That’s why most businesses don’t actually own any trucks, but rather rent them as and when they need them.

photo credit: Earthswell / Unsplash

However, the word “truck” doesn’t necessarily have to refer to a massive, eighteen-wheeler truck. A pickup truck is also a type of truck, so you can always opt for that. Both options have their pros and cons. There are various trucks to suit your business needs – even international trucks. But the big question remains: is it really necessary? Which businesses need trucks and which can go without?

Keep reading to find out what types of businesses would benefit from investing in a truck.

Suppliers

If you supply anything to anyone, you’re going to need a way to get the supplies to the client. Whether the client is another business, or you sell directly to the customers, you’re going to need a reliable, affordable way of delivering your supplies to them. While many suppliers opt for hiring courier companies to do this, the costs of it can add up over the years.

Of course, if you’re only starting out as a supplier, you’ll likely have no other choice than to hire someone, as you probably won’t have the funds to buy a truck. However, once you’ve starting earning a decent income, you should look into getting a truck even if it’s just a small one. An added benefit of this is that you have way more control over deliveries if you have your own truck instead of hiring another transportation company, meaning you can ensure your clients get proper service.

Maintenance or construction companies

Once again, there’s no reason to rush out and buy the biggest, most expensive truck you can find, but even a small truck will be of more use to you than a normal car would. Whether you’ve just started your own construction company or have been in the game for years, you’re most likely more than aware of the fact that any form of trade requires quite a lot of tools, and over the years, your collection will only grow. Not to mention the fact that you’ll often need to transport parts to and from customers, or even transport faulty items to fix them and then bring them back. What this means is that you’re going to need a vehicle with enough space to transport all of these things.

While it is true that you could probably fit it all into a car with some effort, you don’t want to appear unprofessional by having to dig around just to find a screwdriver. You want all your necessities to be easily accessible, which is where a truck comes in handy.

Moving companies

Of course, if your business relies solely on helping people move items, you’re going to need a vehicle that can fit a lot of their furniture and possessions in, since you want to complete the move as quickly and effortlessly as possible, which isn’t a possibility if you need to make a million trips due to not having enough space to move everything in one or two trips.

As mentioned, a small truck is beneficial for many businesses, but sadly, this isn’t one of them. You’re going to need a pretty big truck in order to run a successful moving company. Bigger trucks will likely also cause less damage to items moved in it, since items can be packed tightly to minimize shuffling and thus breakages.

Furniture companies

There are a few options for furniture companies when it comes to getting the furniture out of their shop or warehouse and into the customer’s.

• One: they can hire a moving company to do it.
• Two: they can tell the customers that they need to arrange their own method of transportation.
• Three: they can deliver it themselves.

While option two is certainly the cheapest, customers are more likely to buy from a company if they know that they don’t need to worry abut arranging their own transport and delivery.

If you want to save money and still have happy customers, you should definitely consider buying a truck for your furniture company. While a small truck may suffice for smaller pieces of furniture, such as chairs or bedside tables, you’ll definitely need to shell out some extra money and invest in a bigger truck if you want to safely and reliably deliver furniture to your clients. This can also mean some extra income, since you can charge extra for delivery. Just make sure that all of your employees are aware of how to safely transport heavy furniture.

Businesses that deliver a lot of products

Most businesses have an online as well as in-store buying option. At least, that’s how it used to be. With the current situation, more and more businesses are operating solely online. While online shopping has a whole host of benefits for both businesses and customers, one negative for businesses is that when customers order online, they usually expect shipping or delivery.

Similarly to suppliers, you can always hire a courier company to pick up and deliver your products, but if most of your products require delivery, this will be quite expensive and you may actually be losing more money than you make. If this is the case, you might want to consider investing in a truck, even if you just use it for deliveries in a smaller radius and still use a courier company for long distance deliveries.

Restaurants and other businesses in the food industry

With the pandemic currently taking over the world, more and more people are opting to have their food delivered straight to their door, instead of going to the grocery store to buy their food. While it is possible to deliver food in a normal car, there are trucks specifically designed to transport food and ensure it doesn’t spoil or defrost.

Now is definitely a good time to get a truck if you’re in the food industry. Another option is to use a truck for a food truck, as food truck sales have been increasing!