While it might seem to be appealing to own your own vehicles to transport your goods from A to B, especially if you are a small business, it is important that you know the downsides of taking on your own transport.

There are unexpected delivery costs, personal vehicles or even small commercial ones are not designed for the frequent wear and tear that comes with constantly delivering. By using them for this, you will lead to accelerated breakdowns and higher maintenance costs. Regular repairs and replacements will eat into your top line quickly.

A standard personal or commercial vehicle insurance might not fully cover the risks of transporting your products. If you were to be in an accident whilst transporting goods your insurance company might not pay out, which means you will have to.

By using your own vehicles you will have fixed capacity for carrying. This might be ok for smaller orders, but for bigger orders and shipments it is a major problem, or even in periods of increased demand, it can be a restraint on your ability to fulfil customer expectations.

If you use a standard car or vehicle, it may not give the professional impression you want to your customers, if you are serious about your brand professional vehicles are a better option.

Are you driving the vehicles yourself? if not, that means you will be hiring and  managing a team of drivers. This means there will be added complexities; HR, payroll, scheduling and making sure your drivers all have the correct licenses and training. 

You can potentially miss out on other opportunities for your business, if you are focusing so much attention on managing a fleet and delivery schedule. You could be using your time t focus on sales, customer service, or product development.

You do have options, third party logistic services, who handle all the aspects of your transportation, this will save you time money, and hassle. A local courier service, these are a great idea for smaller deliveries, that are within your local area, especially if they need to be same day or are urgent.

Don’t forget to carefully assess and understand the true costs of using your own vehicles, the time you will spend managing them, and the loss of opportunities for the business, it’s time to consider the alternatives.