Diversifying Your Bulk Freight Business to Weather the Storms

In the bulk freight industry, relying on a single revenue stream can expose you to market volatility. Diversification—both in the freight you haul and the services you offer—is essential for long-term stability. King Solomon’s timeless advice from Ecclesiastes 11:2, “Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth,” encourages us to spread our ventures to protect against uncertainty.

At our company, we’ve embraced this principle ourselves, expanding into multiple businesses within the trucking and logistics space. From freight factoring to dispatch solutions, we’ve seen firsthand how diversification can create resilience.

Real-World Examples of Diversification

1. Selling Commodities: One client who started by hauling grain diversified into buying and selling agricultural products. This strategy allowed them to profit not only from trucking but also from commodity trading.

2. Building a Trailer Washout: This week, I visited a customer who built a trailer washout from scratch. They now gross up to $50,000 a month, filling a critical service need in their area and generating significant revenue from local truckers.

3. Rock and Gravel Sales: Another client diversified by selling aggregate materials like rock and gravel for construction and landscaping. By controlling both the supply and transportation, they’ve optimized their operations for profitability.

4. Adding a Freight Brokerage: One effective way to diversify is by adding a freight brokerage. By brokering freight for other carriers, you can access more loads than your own assets can handle. This allows you to expand your freight network while keeping your trucks full, even in slow periods.

How We’ve Lived by These Principles

We’ve applied these principles of diversification in our own operations as well. Over the years, we’ve expanded into various businesses to create more opportunities and spread risk:

• Freight Factoring with Smart Freight Funding: By offering freight factoring services, we help carriers manage their cash flow, giving them quicker access to funds while generating revenue for our business.

• BulkTMS: We created BulkTMS to help companies streamline their operations with dispatching, tracking, document capture, and invoicing all in one platform. This tech solution fills a major need in the industry for efficient and integrated management tools.

• Bulk Insurance Group: To further diversify, we launched Bulk Insurance Group, providing commercial truck insurance to help carriers protect their assets while we create an additional income stream.

• Bulk Permitting: Our latest venture, Bulk Permitting, helps companies navigate the often-complicated world of freight permits. This service simplifies the process and creates yet another layer of revenue diversification.

• Investing in Real Estate and the Stock Market: Beyond trucking, I’ve personally diversified into real estate and the stock market, further expanding my portfolio and creating more opportunities for growth and security.

Steps to Start Diversifying

1. Identify Opportunities: Look at what you’re currently doing and consider how you can add value. Whether it’s starting a freight brokerage, selling commodities, or offering additional services like trailer washouts, diversification helps you weather market downturns.

2. Explore New Commodities: Don’t rely solely on one type of load. Expanding to different bulk commodities—like frac sand, fertilizer, or aggregates—gives you year-round freight options.

3. Leverage Industry Knowledge: Stay connected with other carriers, shippers, and businesses to uncover new opportunities. Diversification often comes from recognizing gaps in the market that others overlook.

Biblical Wisdom in Business

Solomon’s advice to spread your ventures is as relevant now as it was in ancient times. In trucking, where markets shift and demand fluctuates, diversification is essential. Whether it’s adding a brokerage, launching a new service, or investing in unrelated industries like real estate, spreading risk protects against unexpected downturns and creates opportunities for sustained growth.

Our own experiences with Smart Freight Funding, BulkTMS, Bulk Insurance Group, and Bulk Permitting have shown us the value of staying flexible and open to new ventures. Diversification isn’t just a safety net—it’s a path to long-term success.

God Bless,

Jared