What Is an MC Number? An Owner-Operator’s Guide (2026)
An MC number — short for Motor Carrier number — is the identification number the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) assigns to your interstate operating authority. Think of it as the license number of your trucking business: if you haul regulated...
IFTA Report Basics
Looking for a simple explanation of IFTA reports? Let’s start with Not sure whether your bookkeeping program can handle IFTA? See how QuickBooks compares to trucking software for IFTA, IRP, and per-mile reporting. Because an integrated TMS and ELD captures...
TruckingOffice announces the TruckingOffice PRO Driver App
What Is the TruckingOffice PRO App? The TruckingOffice PRO app is a mobile trucking app that connects drivers to TruckingOffice PRO trucking management software. From an Android or iOS phone, drivers can view dispatch details, update stop statuses, upload BOL images...
Revenue Billed and Revenue Paid: Two Numbers Truckers Need to Know
Trucker Stats™ show truck owners and independent truckers the importance of analyzing their data. Two statistics – revenue billed and revenue paid – sound like they should be the same thing. Unfortunately, they aren’t. The attentive owner-operator...
Trucking Cost Per Mile Explained: The Most Important Number in Your Business
Click here for Table of Contents Table of contentsThe Key to Successful Trucking BusinessWhat Is Cost Per Mile?Fixed Costs and Operational Expenses Included in CPMConverting Time FramesVariable Costs Included in CPMFuel Cost and IFTAWhen To Calculate Cost Per MileHow...
3 Reasons Why Integrated TMS and ELD Work for Independent Truckers
For independent truckers, the purpose of trucking management software (TMS) is to keep the business organized. The purpose of the electronic logging device (ELD) is to track hours of service (HOS) and stay compliant. Is there a reason to have integrated TMS and ELD? A...
What is Telematics?
What is telematics? What are telematics? We’re not sure which is right – but what we do know is that telematics are a big topic in the trucking industry now. Does it matter to the average trucker what telematics is measuring? Before your next roadside...
Check Your ELD Before a DOT Inspection
A couple of weeks ago, we got a call from the Minnesota Department of Transportation after a DOT inspection. The agent asked if a specific trucker has an ELD account with us. We want to make it clear that we gave no private data to the agent, just confirmed the...
Developing Customers for Your Brokerage
Freight brokers develop customers by being ready the moment a shipper suddenly needs a truck. That means building a network of reliable truckers, knowing each driver’s equipment and endorsements before the load appears, and staying organized enough to match the right...
Maintenance and the Roadcheck
When was the last time you did a full inspection, not a pre-trip inspection, of your rig? The upcoming CVSA Roadcheck isn’t far away. Instead of skipping the week, why not prepare now for your rig’s inspection? Looking ahead and getting ready now will...
Check Your DOT Medical Card
With all the news about DOT inspectors putting trucks and truckers out of service, let’s take a look at one that a truck driver has the most control over (other than his flip flops.) DOT regulations about medical cards is a simple set of requirements, but some...
Struggling With Costs and Chaos? Efficient Trucking Software Transforms Your Business
Running a trucking business is complicated. Juggling money, routes, invoices, pre-trip inspections, and HOS, managing a trucking business isn’t about driving a load. That’s the easy part. The business costs and data chaos have to be managed – and...
Avoid ELD Fraud: How Owner-Operators Can Choose a Reliable ELD
The bots on social media platforms have been slamming anyone who expressed a mild interest in trucking with posts about truckers being pulled from the roads because they can’t read a children’s book and an increasing number of reports about ELD frauds. If...
Owner Operators Need to Consider Regional Trucking
Many truck drivers start their careers by working for a corporate trucking company. For them, loads were assigned with the back-office paperwork managed. They clenched their teeth when dispatchers give impossible instructions. Saved money for the whole time until they...
Is It Time to Buy Trucking Equipment?
Is it wrong to think about growing your trucking business right now? There are always people willing to take risks even when the economic signs look questionable. This contrary mindset might be the start of growing an independent owner-operator trucking business into...
To Lease On or Not? Part 2
In the last post, we discussed the pro side of the decision for a new owner-operator to lease on to a trucking company. In this post, we take a look at the reasons why the driver would turn down the option. The short answer: leasing on to a trucking company trades...
To Lease On or Not? Part 1
Should New Owner-Operators Lease On with a Trucking Company? Should a new owner-operator lease on? For most drivers buying their first truck, yes — leasing on is the middle step in a trucking career. The carrier finds the loads and handles the majority of the billing,...
Expand Your Trucking Revenue Stream
Have you ever thought that you might be leaving money on the table in your trucking business? Maybe you’re looking for a way to expand your trucking revenue stream? Growing capacity is one way to grow revenue. If the new driver is a spouse, son, or daughter,...
Don’t Drive Angry at Your ELD: Choosing a Reliable ELD
Same problem, different day. Your ELD crashed again. Not sure which device to replace it with? Start here if you need a new ELD. Not every ELD on the market is trustworthy. See how to avoid ELD fraud when choosing your device. You get the same sinking feeling that...
Build a Family Trucking Business
A family trucking business is a carrier operation owned and staffed by members of the same family — most often an owner-operator who expands to a second truck driven by a spouse, son, or daughter. Building one is a financial decision before it is a family one: the...
Start Your New Truck Brokering Business With the Right Software
Truck brokering has great potential for making a good living. After getting thorough training (and some experience), to start a new truck brokering business is a challenge. Like starting all new businesses, the key to starting well is by getting organized. Three major...
Need a New ELD?
Did you just find out your electronic logging device (ELD) has been removed from the FMCSA list? Are you looking for a new ELD? An electronic logging device (ELD) is the FMCSA-registered hardware and software that automatically records a commercial driver’s hours of...
Intro to Freight Factoring
Cash flow may be one of the biggest issues for trucking companies. The upfront costs of hauling freight won’t wait until the shipper sends the payment – if it’s sent on time. Before you sell an invoice at a discount, check whether the real problem is...
Your End of Year Trucking Business Plan Review
Every year, reviewing a company’s business plan is a key step to growing an independent trucker’s business. What a thorough review will show can be the difference between no growth, slow growth, and sustained, scalable success. A trucking business plan...
Merry Christmas from TruckingOffice
We hope your holidays are at home with your family and full of joy. We’ll see you back next week!
Truckers: Stop Letting Past-Due Invoices Hurt Cash Flow
It sneaks up on an owner operator with no warning. Business is good. And then the truck owner realizes that there isn’t any money to pay for fuel. What happened? Everything looked good – on paper. But past-due invoices haven’t been paid, and the bank...
How ELDs Help Truckers Get the Detention Pay They Deserve
No trucker wants to be stuck in a dock for hours on end. It can take money out of a trucker’s pocket to keep them waiting to be loaded or unloaded. Deadlines and commitments can go out the window when a trucker is detained. Then to add insult to injury, the...
Gifts for Truck Drivers: The Best Gift for Independent Truckers
The best gifts for truck drivers are the ones that fit a life lived in a truck cab: small, useful, and tied to the job. Cab space is limited, so for an independent trucker or owner-operator the most valuable gift is usually something that saves time and money running...
Smart ELD Buys During Black Friday Deals
Looking for an ELD for your truck? Right now, if your internet is like ours, Black Friday and Cyber Monday special sales are slamming the feeds. Is this the right time to buy a new ELD? Still shopping? Our guide to the best gifts for truck drivers covers ideas that...
How Profit and Loss Statements Make Trucking Businesses Grow
When a trucker has a dispatch route and map, they know where to deliver a load. But what if that trucker wants to grow their trucking business? That process can be confusing. A profit and loss statement is a required document in that process. What is it? What does it...
What Is A DVIR?
Every industry has their own abbreviations and codes. In trucking, DVIR is one of many, but it’s one that a trucker should be using daily. DVIR means Daily Vehicle Inspection Report. That daily part means it should be a regular part of the trucker’s...
Efficient Trucking Software
If there’s one word in the business world that everyone wants, it’s efficiency. How efficient is that task? How can we make our work more efficient? (Hint: it often means “how can we do this cheaper?”) Developing a complete trucking management...
Find New Trucking Customers With This One Weird Trick!
Don’t you just hate those headlines? We do too. To find new trucking customers for your trucking company doesn’t need a weird trick. Does it? What we’ve got to help you find new customers for your business isn’t obvious, but this simple...
How To Find Freight Brokerage Customers
Starting out in a freight brokerage business can be difficult. If a new broker doesn’t have a good network of potential shippers, it’s a huge challenge to build a business. So how do new brokers find freight shippers? It’s often about who you know....
Winter Trucking on the Road
Winter trucking isn’t the same as summer on the road. The weather is obvious. Rain, sleet, snow, puddles around the fuel pumps, and that one guy in shorts who’s filling his fuel tank like it’s July. While a sunny day in midwinter might be pretty with...
Truck Maintenance Logs For Winter Prep
Talking about the weather is boring. But we have to pay attention to the changing seasons in the trucking industry the same way any outdoor business must. Driving loads across the country or even just across the city can be an easy trip or into a blizzard. Truck...
Manage Trucking Company Expenses
If you want to control trucking company expenses, it’s not complicated. It sounds like it’s going to take a lot of time and require a lot of extra work, maybe staying off the road or spending time away from family. There’s no way to run a trucking...
Freight Brokers and Dispatchers
Some owner operator businesses look for ways to expand their company. The bottom line needs to go up – but the funds to invest in another rig or a secondary driver just aren’t in the bank. So they move laterally as a freight broker for other drivers. It...
Truck Expenses Per Loaded Mile
In the trucking industry, the owner operator is a major component. Sure, contracts with shipping companies are a major factor, but we know that half of the truckers on the road are independent. Those truckers have the freedom to choose their loads, but also the...Free Load Profit Calculator for Truckers
How To Get Your Own Trucking Authority
Get Your Own Trucking Authority
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