trucking company for Sale

Drivers are the constraint, not trucks. The U.S. trucking industry has been short 60,000–80,000 drivers for years. A trucking company with 12 trucks and 15 trained, tenured drivers willing to stay is worth meaningfully more than one with 12 trucks and a revolving door of new hires. Ask for driver tenure data: how many drivers have been there 3+ years, what's annual turnover, what's the W-2 versus 1099 mix. Drivers who'll leave when ownership changes are a real cost.

Look at the customer concentration and the contract structure. Dedicated freight (committed lanes, weekly volume, multi-year contracts) is the stable revenue. Brokered or spot-market freight is volatile; rates can drop 30% in a quarter. A trucking company with 70% dedicated freight at predictable rates is a Tier 2 or 3 asset. One with 70% spot freight is a bet on the freight cycle, not a business.

Build the truck-replacement schedule into your model. A class 8 sleeper costs $150K–$200K new. Trucks typically need replacement every 5–7 years for an over-the-road fleet, longer for local. If the seller has been deferring replacement (average age of 8+ years), your first three years include a huge capex bill the P&L doesn't show. Walk the lot with a fleet manager and pull every truck's age, mileage, and maintenance history.

Pull the SAFER report. The FMCSA SAFER website shows every motor carrier's safety scores, accident history, and inspection results. If you buy the entity (stock purchase), you inherit the authority and the safety record — including any open investigations. If you buy the assets, you're starting a new authority, which takes months to establish and may affect your ability to bid on contracted freight (some customers require a minimum 2-year safety history).

Both are negotiable, neither is fixed. Fuel is typically 25–35% of revenue and depends heavily on whether you have a fuel program with discounts at major chains. Insurance is 5–10% of revenue and is heavily based on the safety score, driver tenure, and accident history. Both numbers can swing 20%+ based on operator skill. Look at where the seller is sourcing both and whether there's room to improve.

ELD, drug-and-alcohol, DOT — all of it costs money. Electronic logging devices (ELDs), random drug testing programs, DOT physicals, hours-of-service compliance, and IFTA reporting are the constant overhead of running a trucking company. A clean compliance shop runs smoothly; a sloppy one is one audit away from being shut down for a week. Verify the seller's compliance vendors and review the past three years of DOT inspections and audits.