Hey guys,

My name is Harrison but my Nigerian name is Chidi. I reside in the United States and am going into business in Nigeria. The business will be sending dump trucks to Nigeria and leasing them out to companies for use. I am very new to this type of business and am seeking information from anyone knowledgeable and willing to give me sound advice. I am a very genuine person and very honest. My question being (1) what are the good and bad of this type of business (2) things to consider before leasing my truck(s) to any company (3) top 5 important things to consider and make sure I take care of (4) what kind of money is typical in this business? (5) How best to avoid losing money, being scammed, etc (6) how to best manage and maintain the trucks? (7) pitfalls to avoid.

thank you guys in advance for any information offered up. it is greatly appreciated. I wanted to do business in Nigeria but obviously it is very difficult because no one is trust worthy but I want to build something great in my country and this is my first step.

hojimma: Hey guys,

My name is Harrison but my Nigerian name is Chidi. I reside in the United States and am going into business in Nigeria. The business will be sending dump trucks to Nigeria and leasing them out to companies for use. I am very new to this type of business and am seeking information from anyone knowledgeable and willing to give me sound advice. I am a very genuine person and very honest. My question being (1) what are the good and bad of this type of business (2) things to consider before leasing my truck(s) to any company (3) top 5 important things to consider and make sure I take care of (4) what kind of money is typical in this business? (5) How best to avoid losing money, being scammed, etc (6) how to best manage and maintain the trucks? (7) pitfalls to avoid.

thank you guys in advance for any information offered up. it is greatly appreciated. I wanted to do business in Nigeria but obviously it is very difficult because no one is trust worthy but I want to build something great in my country and this is my first step.

hojimma: Hey guys,

My name is Harrison but my Nigerian name is Chidi. I reside in the United States and am going into business in Nigeria. The business will be sending dump trucks to Nigeria and leasing them out to companies for use. I am very new to this type of business and am seeking information from anyone knowledgeable and willing to give me sound advice. I am a very genuine person and very honest. My question being (1) what are the good and bad of this type of business (2) things to consider before leasing my truck(s) to any company (3) top 5 important things to consider and make sure I take care of (4) what kind of money is typical in this business? (5) How best to avoid losing money, being scammed, etc (6) how to best manage and maintain the trucks? (7) pitfalls to avoid.

thank you guys in advance for any information offered up. it is greatly appreciated. I wanted to do business in Nigeria but obviously it is very difficult because no one is trust worthy but I want to build something great in my country and this is my first step.

call here 4 good advice 07034444246

@OP. I will try to provide very honest responses to your questions based on my field experiences. You need to understand the business and the Nigerian people before going into haulage in order to avoid being burnt. Doing business in Nigeria requires you to be resilient, determined, smart and street wise. Some of your questions are open-ended, but I will like to answer them as much as I can.

1. Haulage business is a high yield, high risk and high return business. You can reduce the risks by taking some precautions. I am into haulage and I know how much some pieces of advice have saved me. You need to understand the services of haulers are increasing. Manufacturing companies are increasing and the current ones are growing. New factories are opening and the rail networks are not functional. So haulage is the only resort now. There are several good things about the business. Unlike the past, several haulers are now educated. Despite all the headaches, Nigeria still attract Direct and Indirect Foreign and even Local Investments.

2&3.(i) Do not lease your truck to individuals; Nigerians are extremely mobile and can live in different places at the same time. Lease your trucks to registered companies and let a third party do background checks on them. Companies are easier to deal with than individuals.
(ii) Get Grade A trucks for the business to reduce wear and tear and breakdown so they can pay you as at when due.
(iii)Spread your risks if possible and test the waters first with some few trucks. Do not put all your eggs in the same basket.
(iv) Insist the leasee instals vehicle tracker on the truck and the insurance is comprehensive.
(v) Do regular checks on the company and their activities.
(vi) Be realistic!

4. The kind of money depends on a lot of things: type of truck, type of trips, type of goods hauled, tonnage of vehicle, model/make of vehicle. Hut expect something between N200,000 and N400,000 depending on the tonnage. I know someone who pays N312,000 regularly for a 15-ton truck.

I think most of the other questions have been covered above. You can ask more questions. Other guys who currently run haulage businesses will do us a lot of good by contributing.

TokyoBulls: @OP. I will try to provide very honest responses to your questions based on my field experiences. You need to understand the business and the Nigerian people before going into haulage in order to avoid being burnt. Doing business in Nigeria requires you to be resilient, determined, smart and street wise. Some of your questions are open-ended, but I will like to answer them as much as I can.

1. Haulage business is a high yield, high risk and high return business. You can reduce the risks by taking some precautions. I am into haulage and I know how much some pieces of advice have saved me. You need to understand the services of haulers are increasing. Manufacturing companies are increasing and the current ones are growing. New factories are opening and the rail networks are not functional. So haulage is the only resort now. There are several good things about the business. Unlike the past, several haulers are now educated. Despite all the headaches, Nigeria still attract Direct and Indirect Foreign and even Local Investments.

2&3.(i) Do not lease your truck to individuals; Nigerians are extremely mobile and can live in different places at the same time. Lease your trucks to registered companies and let a third party do background checks on them. Companies are easier to deal with than individuals.
(ii) Get Grade A trucks for the business to reduce wear and tear and breakdown so they can pay you as at when due.
(iii)Spread your risks if possible and test the waters first with some few trucks. Do not put all your eggs in the same basket.
(iv) Insist the leasee instals vehicle tracker on the truck and the insurance is comprehensive.
(v) Do regular checks on the company and their activities.
(vi) Be realistic!

4. The kind of money depends on a lot of things: type of truck, type of trips, type of goods hauled, tonnage of vehicle, model/make of vehicle. Hut expect something between N200,000 and N400,000 depending on the tonnage. I know someone who pays N312,000 regularly for a 15-ton truck.

I think most of the other questions have been covered above. You can ask more questions. Other guys who currently run haulage businesses will do us a lot of good by contributing.

please send your details to me... i need to ask some questions on haulage business in nigeria...

Hi Chidi,

well, you are having a reasonable response/contribution so far, but i'll like to add some important fact based on my experience that is over a decade already in the haulage business, i have worked in wharf, tin-can, sand hauling business loading from Julius Berger, odo Ogun river etc, Quarries for granite haulage in Abeokuta Ogun state, Ibadan, Oyo state, benin Edo state etc in haulage business with dump truck & flat body trailers. there are some things you really have to consider in choosing your dump-trucks, the models, make, and type. the suitable trucks goes in this order mark, styer, iveco, scanier, man disle, these are base on my experience i stand to be corrected. mark trucks especially is a very strong vehicle for haulag,e and am sure most people in this business will agree with me, if you do not have much money you could go for a fairly used old model mark of good grade for it will serve better in the Nigeria road. except for a very big and a multinational company, due to some factors that are peculiar to Nigeria as nation i will not advice anyone to start a haulage business in Nigeria with a brand new dump trucks, the money to secure a brand new truck can be used to secure 3-4 tokunbo truck with good grade which will bring in more income due to more trucks. one should always follow the trend of an environment and it's people in taking decision in such environment. Nigerian roads can not maintain new model trucks, because the road has become old model/tokunbo which can only sustain old model/tokunbo trucks as well. another fact is that you can quickly recover the money invested on good tokunbo truck unlike the brand new counterpart, making money with the truck is not acordind to whether the the truck is a new one or old one, new model or old model a good truck is a good truck in Nigeria. in buying a tokunbo truck there are some vital factors to consider to ascertain the present quality of the truck with it's worth. securing and management of the drivers is also very very important. well, i can give you more ideas if you so desire call 08020621510.