• Successful small businesses separate the industry into manageable market niches.
• A company’s market niche should be what they are familiar with or have been successful at.
• Understanding and determining a company’s market niche is important because it relates to the business plan and how the business will market their company.

The trucking industry in its entirety is too broad in scope for any but the largest companies to tackle successfully. The best strategy for a smaller business is to separate the industry into manageable market niches. This is easily done in trucking, as niches can relate directly to types of freight and methods or modes of delivery.

A company’s niche in the trucking marketplace should be what they are familiar with or have been successful at. For example, if a business owner used to be a company driver and hauled mainly flatbed freight, as a new company owner, their niche quite possibly should also be flatbed freight. If a farmer or rancher is new to trucking, their niche may be livestock hauling. This is where their knowledge base is and where they can probably promote their best business practices and develop a solid customer base.

Equally important to keep in mind when determining a market niche, is where the company’s trucks will go and the freight unique to the niche. For example, a business needs to decide if they are going to be a nationwide hauler, or if they’re going to concentrate on local or regional opportunities. They’ll need to determine if they’re going to specialize in certain types of flatbed freight, such as construction material, military vehicles, or time sensitive deliveries, or if they’re going to haul all types of general flatbed freight to all areas of the country. Again, it’s important for the business to go with what they know.

Understanding and determining market niche is very important as it directly relates to the business plan and how the business will market their company. Knowing where a business fits in the “transportation chain” and what the company can “sell” to their customers go a long way toward the continued success of the company.