Haulage Business – THIS BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY WAS HOT WHEN WHEN WE FIRST PUBLISHED IT. SEE IF, UPGRADED AND PROPERLY ADAPTED, IT CAN STILL WORK FOR YOU TODAY…

Are you looking for viable business ideas to launch your own business? Or are you a business owner who desires to expand his business? Look no further…

You are in the right place at the right time. For over 22 years and counting, SuccessDigest has published hundreds of practicable cash flow – producing business and income opportunities, which have helped our readers
take their lives to great new heights.

On this page, we shall be reproducing some of these winning business ideas which we believe are still very much valid money–sources today. Are they still profitable? That is for you to check out and determine for yourself if this is your chosen line of business.

Certainly, many people are still doing these businesses today. So, if this is for you, see if you can get into it today, and even find a way of improving on what is already out there, to make the business even more profitable for you. Just think of technology, disruption, reinvention, innovation, and re-engineering, etc.; and you could be on to a real winner! Good Luck!

Some years ago, the Nigerian railway system practically collapsed. The movement of goods from one part of the country to another became a big problem for manufacturers, importers/exporters, merchants, etc. Slowly and silently, more emphasis was placed on-road transportation. In no time, bulk movement of goods from one place to another by road became established, and the road haulage business boomed.

In recent times, road haulage has assumed a wider dimension with well-to-do individuals and companies engaging fully in the business.

Since the collapse of the rail system in Nigeria, the haulage market has grown to assume a national dimension. With a population of over 140 million people, an estimated annual national population growth rate of 3.2 percent, and an average economic growth rate of 6 percent in the past six (6) years, Nigeria has been experiencing a large,
expanding, and sustainable market for haulage business.

Goods usually conveyed include petroleum products, building materials, containers, solid minerals, agricultural products, and other finished products. In the northern part of the country, the products readily conveyed are agricultural produce and solid minerals while in the southern part of the country, the products readily transported are petroleum products and other finished products which are commonly moved through the commercial and economic nerve centers of Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Aba, etc.

There are three (3) basic ways of entering the haulage market and they include:

1. As an Independent Operator.
2. As a contractor or Subcontractor.
3. Leasing of trucks to Haulage companies.

Independent Operator: As an independent operator, you operate your truck and seek for contract from the multi-nationals and other interested parties on your own and getting paid for deliveries made.

As an independent operator: As an independent operator, you would do your own maintenance and repairs. You will also employ your own driver(s). You can decide to employ a manager who would scout for goods and also do the day-to-day running of the business.

As a Contractor or SubContractor: As a contractor with a multi-national or manufacturing company, what it simply means is that you have decided to place your fleet with the company and they would manage it for you, secure the drivers and undertake  the maintenance and repairs. The company will pay you an agreed amount every
month for drivers and undertake the maintenance and repairs. The company will pay you an agreed amount every month.

Leasing of trucks to Haulage Companies: Leasing out a truck to a haulage company is the s a m e a s being a contractor with a multinational. The only difference is that this time, you are going to be dealing with a haulage company instead of a multi-national, thought heterms and conditions might not be different. For first time operator with relatively small start-up capital, it is better to lease the truck to a haulage company.

However, if you have the funds to compete in the market, you can go independent and reap all the benefits accruing from your haulage business efforts.