17 Year Old Starts $1.9M/Month Trucking Business… HOW?!

how does an average 17-year-old build a 95 truck $1. 9 million a month Empire at 17 you bought two trucks how in the world does a 17-year-old accomplish that the problem with Trucking is that it's lucrative so the first customer absolute was was Amazon I booked 52 loads with them in one day you will find the work I guarantee you our highest paying customers can go up to $7 to $12,000 per week cuz at the time I didn't have the capital it's what kills companies those are your first three Avenues into success in the truing game well it all happened once he realized this one life principle and we're about to find out what it is what's going on Andrew how we doing good morning my friend tell us where we are Andrew this is a big massive LW but what's your relationship with these guys here right here I mean you're going to have a lot of uh Trucking yards that you know are basically yards where people don't want to sell their area just yet and because eventually they'll build multif Family Properties and so that's what allows us to take advantage of it is truck parking at this point I've leased about half of the entire place because we just go spot by spot which each one costs roughly around $100 $200 per spot by the time you get up in the the spots I get a little cheaper sometimes but it just depends on the owner how many spots do you have here uh roughly so I don't go by spots anymore we go by acreage which is roughly around 4 and A2 in regards to storage and and rent is basically roughly around 31,000 31 Grand just to park your yes and don't you wish you had your own property you can park it all that yeah absolutely and that that is the next stage for us I mean we're focused on uh trying to expand to the point where we see something sustainable and we create a terminal for ourselves and that's always been the next step for me all right so we're heading to the next lot which was what your original lot right yeah let's talk about the fact that at 17 you bought two trucks how in the world does a 17-year-old accomplish that found the first two units at my local Freightliner brand new no they were used at that point what I did was I figured out what are my best steps for financing I looked at a zero down zero down came with great terms but at the same time long term it was not going to be favorable but that's what I went with cuz at the time I didn't have the capital what did your business plan look like then Andrew it was a simple five-page document along with a call cuz they talked the the finance year the decision maker calls you as well but basically he looked at who I was working with Amazon and how much Freight that they had uh when it comes to the truck cost themselves you're looking at roughly around $1,700 for each truck um and then after that $1,700 you're looking at Insurance you're looking at Fuel and then you're also looking at driver okay and so overall you're looking at per month that unit's cost was around the 35 to 4,000 mark this guy Grew From two trucks 4 10 17 and now 95 in a matter of years if you guys want to know the secret to how he's scaling so quickly keep watching to find out what do I need to budget for to start a trucking business can you elaborate more on that and help our viewers understand that it is possible and here's what it looks like yeah absolutely and it definitely is possible with the right opportunity initially you have to budget for for the right truck I mean overall if you're going to buy used tread carefully a lot of times guys are going to put a lot of lipstick on some pigs and so you have to be wary of what to look for if you don't have that experience find drivers or find inspectors that can help you the cost for fuel is roughly around 60 to 70 cents per mile and that's just for fuel surcharge you also have to account for repairs initially this was back then 10 to 12% of any revenue is going to go straight back into the unit in some way shape or form if you already know how to drive you've had some experience doing that you have a higher success rate but if you're going to come in and you just want to own trucks the barrier to entry is definitely going to be the issue for you because the knowledge Gap is the reason why trucking companies fail so what was the biggest struggle in the first year year or two of you starting ajg so for me the biggest struggle in business right from the beginning was figuring out the finances because the problem with Trucking is that it's lucrative you're going to see that opportunities were there however one tire is your entire profit that week with a truck you have one to five trucks you're going to worry about fuel every single week and that's why we had fuel cards in place early and so one big key for me is right when you start have the opportunity first before you get into Trucking it's really hard whenever you got a truck it's brand new it looks great you have a driver but you don't know who to talk to and you go to a Load Board it's what kills companies so you got your first two trucks yeah right we talked about that on our way here how did you find your first two customers who were they if you can give us a quick story on that yeah absolutely so the first customer absolute was was Amazon so Amazon was big throughout that uh 2015 all the way to 2019 period before everybody and their mother got in we were able to to take advantage of that opportunity now after Amazon then we figured out we can't just keep our customer base at just one what's the fastest way to find business customers and and get those trucks busy getting to work and really looking at all the brick and mortar suppliers around you then after that focusing on asking other trucking companies if they have any uh overflow your usual brokerages and load boards are going to help you to an extent but I cannot stress it enough make sure that you find the opportunity first before buying the truck for me our a big goal of ours was to pair up with a couple Brokers find the shippers of of where they're at and make sure that we can service them well by the time we finished the end of our relationship I remember I booked 52 loaves with them in one day how many trucks do you have today today we have 95 trucks in our wow dude that's amazing how much does it cost to acquire a new one on average on average you're looking at a usual down payment of at least 5 to 10% usually it could be around 15 to 20,000 given we only buy brand new trucks okay I was going to ask so you're just new trucks you don't buy anything used why is that we need to make sure that those trucks are not breaking down the biggest thing with used trucks drivers and usually owners sell problems they don't sell their best trucks and so whenever it comes to finding different units out there when you're starting out it's so important for you to focus on the inspections and partnering up with a great repair shop that'll give you the actual answers to your truck what are they costing you these days my friend luckily for us we've been we've partnered up with several factories for quite some time and we try to buy ahead of time so I if I'm if I'm buying anything I'm buying something for next year at cost versus something that is at premium from a dealership at a dealership your your truck is usually look from for a Kenworth or a freight liner is looking at $195 $200,000 however for us we mainly focus on uh buying in bulk or we'll exchange what we have in order to make sure that we have the most efficient units which can average at about 174,000 so you're you're having some extreme savings but at the same time it's only available and when when you buy in groups gotcha look at this guy talking about buying trucks in bulk I mean I buy sour strips in bulk you know $3 pack of sourer candies and you're talking buying bulk 200,000 to pop that's pretty crazy in this industry what are the profit margins in general that you want to shoot for and where would you say your company is at aiming for absolutely so of course with the volume that we have profit margins get Slimmer and Slimmer because we care more about the volume in general usually we're looking at around anywhere between 6 to8 % net profit from from our total revenue and that is basically after I I take care of everyone in office take care of drivers and everything mostly all that profit net profit margin goes straight into developing the next nesc for the growth of the business or for a a wall that we can make to prevent any type of issues in the future from a financial perspective as you started scaling right you faced rough months long days constant struggle hustle I mean it was real yeah how did you weather that storm as a business owner nobody's going to tell you to get off your phone and figure the problem out and a lot of times we you're getting put in those scenarios where you really don't want to do it and there's another person just another little voice in your head that's telling you to go do it and it's developing that little voice and allowing it to grow inside of your mindset and let it become part of your identity when it comes to stress and when it comes to the long constant mental Marathon that is business one of the biggest keys that I had uh was uh basic basically treating motivation like brushing your teeth I mean every day I was not there ready to go all the ways at 100% but I really took mind of what I was ingesting from in information wise I wasn't focused on the Social Media stuff I was focused on stuff that was going to keep me sharp you know I would listen to Jim ran in the mornings you guys had bedro kolan on earlier and I listen to him all the time fervently because he's such an advocate for doing the hard things now and realizing that in today's world you can be pretty soft and that's something that I can really get behind and I can advocate for because it was not easy and most people will figure that out early and qu early yeah Blitz time with Andrew let's dive into it if you could go back in time and tell your younger self don't do this what would that thing be stay off your phone stay off your phone best part of being an entrepreneur the hustle and the grind worst part about being an entrepreneur the sacrifices and the time away from family any uh favorite podcasts or audio books for the road love the Jacko willink podcast I love the bedro cooling podcast a lot I mean BK does a lot for me when it comes to my mentality keeping me sharp and keeping me encouraged all right if you weren't Trucking or in trucking what would you be doing uh I'd probably be uh in Ministry I mean I think that uh for me my spiritual life is extremely important and reaching out to others and encouraging others is something I always wanted to do all right a couple more what price would you think about selling your business currently uh just throw a number out there give me about 75 mil 75 mil for my for my happiness cuz I I love this game I mean you can't you can't put a price on love but this guy knows his numbers yeah if you could have dinner with anyone Dead or Alive who would it be definitely Jim Ron I'd want to see how we would have outfitted what what I've done so far and be able to you know help me in my journey gotcha every business today needs a website and durable makes creating one easy durable is the fastest way to build your business's online presence generate a website in 30 seconds done customize it done AI website builder with zero coding and design skills required done with just a few clicks you can add Google reviews chat Bots integrated contact forms social media forms and a ton more here's the kicker durable is more than just a website builder every durable account comes with invoicing marketing tools and an AI powered CRM everything you need to manage your business online there's a reason more than five million small business owners have built their websites with durable not only is it the fastest way to grow your business from idea to revenue but it's free to publish your website and start booking jobs click the link below to set up your free account and create your business website today do you ever regret the sacrifices the long days the hard work the hustle uh for you to get to where you are today any person in this stage would say not at all but will I say that there are some things that I wish I didn't miss absolutely I think that one decision that I had to make especially when I put my name on the door was hey you are going to make those sacrifices and now it allows me to really take in those simple things and really be excited about them you know you go to the movies I hadn't gone to the movies in years and so going to our our local movie theater one weekend because I finally had some time a couple years back it felt the world to me and then of course things the little things start to matter and that's really what highlighted a lot for me now I want to spend as much time as I can with the people I hold dear and also I want to be able to lift other people up and encourage others uh whether spiritually or whether from a philosophy standpoint that's what's important for me did you guys know that only 19% of you who watch this channel frequently are subscribed do us a huge favor and hit that subscribe button it not only helps up flip but the bigger we get the bigger the guests get what are the steps you took to go beyond Amazon as the initial client overall we understood very early um that this was not going to pay the bills for very long and so what we've did was we we started talking to people we started talking to different Brokers but we also we started talking to different shippers and those shippers whether in the uh mail space which we have good uh good relationships with people in postal mail and also in other uh UPS Etc so we started to realize that we need to go out there and get it and what we did the first thing I remember I was 20 years old I had gotten the suit that I got for free cuz I bought a tux at prom and I I went out there no hair on my chest into Nashville Tennessee area I met up with these Executives um who didn't expect us keep in mind you know we did a couple loads for them they saw my Rinky Dink website because I tried to have it as exposure early in in trucking a Google Business listing at the minimum they thought I was applying for an internship but actually I was instead uh telling them hey I'm here to H your Freight I've done work with you in the past and I can do it cheaper and that started uh to you know to where we are today growing into a consistent relationship that we had through thick and thin where we can find those direct contracts we did and we saw the potential one other important aspect that I want to touch on is the revenue that each truck adds can you help us understand what that looks like as well so when you're building out the revenue what we really have to understand is the cost right so basically how we do it is cents per mile in our calculations cents per mile our cents per mile and and dollar per mile it it cost me exactly I'd say around a dollar a do25 a mile to run a unit at any given time now after that if you have any type of profit you're going to we call our 22 90 money which is basically for your insurance for all of your registrations for all the upkeep of the unit and also making sure that you're all right with Uncle Sam and so when by the time you get to that point you're going to have maybe 2 to 5% in regards to profit margins from that point but the revenue itself per week it depends on the unit and the customer our highest paying customers can go up to $7 to $12,000 per week on an average but at the same time you have your lower paying customers that are also going around 5,000 per week it all depends on the average for us and that's usually where you're going to see it got it so at which point answer that now you've been in a number of years did you ever feel like you know what I've made it like we're on to something the company's operating it's making money describe that feeling that day that moment in life and any takeaways you want to share I will say that as a business owner uh those feelings are few and far between because there reality there's just always something that that you're worried about that is going to to happen especially in trucking and and for me uh what what made me feel like I had something going on and we got something is uh just basically whenever I see my team working uh a couple and this was only uh quite a i' say six months ago where I see my team all working in unison and synchronicity and they're able to handle things and they tell me hey Andrew don't worry about it we got it and that that made me feel great because I I finally figured out hey I I made a team they're doing great and they're able to automate a lot of this this process that I never thought I could do and you get those in business and they make all the struggles worth it that's [Music] awesome how did you prepare for the meeting with the executives in the automotive industry I mean you're young at that point yes you had a suit yes you looked good but give give our audience the gold nuggets a really what had to happen for you to break through to that point so with me I try to find things that we can relate on that's a really big thing because of course we're both people we both have loved ones we both have passions and so when you start to find those things that you both have common knowledge about hey this guy likes to play poker during the conversation find those things outside of the business outside of closing that you can relate to and you can just talk about as people because that really humanizes you and keeps you out of being a number for them because a lot of times these Executives they're being talked to from a to from a bunch of Yes Men from a bunch of people who want the business and they just want some human contact it's real life in regards to Logistics Trucking can be fun and it has a lot of stories but at the same time it's a grueling process to get to that yeah you won't know until you ask exactly what's been the lowest point for you so far in the business whether it was mentally financially overall I mean talk about Rock Bottom I want to quit what am I doing so I think very early on you have a couple of those moments you know Trucking is not something that's going to be on the up and up at any given time it's something that you have to be resilient you have to expect problems and you have to adapt to that harsh environment sometimes though at the same time you look and you look across the corner and you see people who are who are very successful or you see people enjoying their work life balance and it hits you and that's what hit me probably around 10 15 trucks I remember a specific time where it was brand new it was New Year's uh I was at the yard it was 1:00 a. m.

I I was not at New Year's with my family uh I was getting ready for the new the new year the rush that we had for R units and I looked up at the sky I said why am I here and there has to be a purpose for this and at the same time uh I kept on telling myself that there has to be a purpose for the type of work that we're putting in there has to be a purpose and at that point I knew for a fact I could you know the thoughts of going back to school figuring something you know you think about it and and and it's not all just sunshine and rainbows that's a guarantee quick stop if you're juggling responsibilities but still have that entrepreneurial Niche make sure to make it a pit stop at UPF flip. com we've got that perfect game plan for you to start your business without dropping other commitments check it out show us what you got on the screen we got our emails open of course you have your uh samsara so samsara Fleet is the one of the biggest reasons for success and scaling in my opinion uh we we really leverage samsara to build our system uh and allow us to to focus on um just adding in units and knowing exactly where they're at so whenever we see different units you'll see the front of the unit uh each unit has a forward facing camera only uh and then also you'll see that there are diagnostics for each unit if there's ever an issue and it allows my technicians to really get down and understand exactly what they need to repair quickly we'll do a u more in-depth dive into the systems but um what else you got where you got the the to-do list yeah we got the to-do list I use to-do list a lot for everything it keeps everything outside of my head and into a platform that way I can when I spend time with family I can do that when I spend time at work I know exactly what I need to cover at the very beginning of the day I recommend it it's really tedious and hard initially but it it helps those guys who analyze and think a little too much what about Zoom what's going on there so this is my zoom uh overall for for Zoom we have a 24-hour Zoom with my entire team you'll see people who will have screens all patched up and they are all in different workstations and areas whether they're uh working remotely whether they're working from around the world um they are helping me with my Logistics and tracking and tracing and communicating in this distinct area at all times and it helps me keep a finger on the pulse but also it helps them solve problems as a team cuz in in my system in my culture they win as a team or lose as one you've had a lot of success building a strong team what's your secret to managing folks managing people and then here's the other thing you're 26 and you've got somebody that's 50 working for you there's a a dynamic shift there and what are you learning through that experience to become a better leader even in that situation I think being an example is one of the most important things that you can do when it comes to being a leader inside of your workplace there are things that I do that uh you know I stay in late or I'm I'm so focused on my company that my teammates my associates and all my employees they try to strive to being and that's what also allowed me to create a more lean culture uh a more lean group of employees where usually you'd have guys who' have 45 employees doing a whole bunch of different things you'll see us actually working with 15 to 20 people and and those 15 to 20 guys I've recruited them personally because I see a specific characteristic and that is their drive and ambition to be successful what's your advice to business owners in general entrepreneurs people who currently own small trucking companies but want to scale and or future wannabe owners as well what what do you want to tell them the thing is when I see uh people who are going to come into Trucking you're either in 100% or you're in and out and you're going to sell the truck and so me being transparent uh if you're going to be uh 100% uh in for the for the for the long run let's make it happen and then you can start developing systems you can start focusing on finding the right drivers for you or if you're driving or you can finally start to focus on finding those new shippers and customers those are your first three Avenues into success in the trucking game the second piece which would be managing your truck in general make sure that you're doing your due diligence uh times 15 why because that truck is going to pay for your family's food and you need to make sure that that truck is going to sustain the length of time that you're going to finance that unit if you find a good opportunity and you feel like you can execute make sure that you have the work before you get the truck if you already have a truck and you're trying to look for work make sure that you go out and talk to a hundred different Brokers shippers people make a goal quickly because then you will find the work I guarantee you some guys out there are just asking for you to come in and help them it may not be for the rate that you want but eventually you will be successful and find the things that you need at the beginning of this video I said that there was a moment in your life when you realize this one life principle well it all happened once he realized this one life principle right that that you realize not only can make you money but really was a game changer the trajectory that you took from then can you elaborate on what that was when that was and what do you learned from it yeah it's definitely workers mentality a lot of times we're going to be put in Grass Is Always Greener scenario I know for sure that I did oh he made it it's easier for him exactly you see the cars you see the lifestyle you see all this stuff you see the the parties and stuff and it's going to say why am I not there that's the wrong question it's saying hey what can I do right now in my situation what is in my control that will allow me to be better and and that is putting my nose down on the grindstone and just getting to work that was my answer until I found out that hey there's potential here I think this all this work put me to this point let me take advantage of this opportunity and so on and so forth let's head out back to the lot say how to mechanics take a look at the operations of you know taking care of your Fleet and so on and uh ABS you'll see some you'll see some great stuff out there we got different types of trailers so it'll be it'll be good awesome let's do it you've got guys working on your own trucks but which point in the business did you realize I need to handle service myself right what did it cost you to get all this going do you own it do you lease it elaborate on all of it so of course with just the land overall we've leased it I mean you're looking at consistently $6,000 a month and and just here in general for the yard and also for the repair shop and we've we've outfitted it ourselves a little bit we added some concrete where we needed to so that our guys can work safely and then of course for the shop itself whenever you're starting out you know you're only starting out with a couple tool boxes and that's stuff that we did ourselves or also we had additional servicemen would come in and they would come in with their own tools a lot of guys have their own tools if they're mechanics that have been inside of dealerships for some time if you pay them well they bring their own tools initially and and of course if you take care of them it helps a lot is there anything cool that uh you want our audience to see at this particular location trucks cars where do we want to go next so I got my newest truck 747 probably my favorite number cuz of course you have your usual Boeing 747s we got a few other specific trailers out here we have also my mobile repair unit these guys love to take pride in it um and then yeah that's basically my shop overall let's go let's go check it out awesome what are some of your tips with the experience you have now to land bigname companies as you know contracts and so we talked a little bit about you know your presentation with the other CEOs but any other experiences that you really learned from and gotten better to to secure those kind of deals uh I would say number one is face-to-face contact is far more successful than a phone call because then it allows you to say hey I'm Above the Rest in regards to you know my competition maybe I might provide the same amount of service maybe mine is better you won't know but you will know that I am willing to go the extra mile because I'm willing to come and meet you the second bullet is actually being about that work and when I say that I mean Hey whenever you're going to say to a CEO hey call me at 2: a. m.