Gurus/experts in the house I greet you all. I'm considering investing in trucking business and I seek purchasing a tokunbo truck head from Europe (germany, holland etc) btw 03/05 year model t. I will like to ask for advice on which truck very rugged and is best to ply Nigeria roads, the one that one can easily find a mechanic to fix and have readily available spare parts in the market, that's not high on fuel consumption, which is better to buy between manual and automatic, injector or rotor. I'm considering Man Diesel TGA, Iveco, Daf etc. my budget is 5 to 5.5 million to buy it in europe+ shipping down to Nigeria port and clearing it. and also which section of trucking is best to invest in Nigeria as I am aware they are different sections in it. there's Tanker, container carrier, lowbed, flatbed etc ..pls I will be needing matured opinion, advice and suggestions. thanks

Buy a mack truck rmodel or Sino howo truck head.chinese trucks part are available and affordable.but mark trucks part are more expensive , though mark trucks have frequent axle issues.mark truck is a rugged truck for Nigerian roads.
I have been using Sino howo trucks for seven years now .but your budget can't get a Sino truck.
Go for the mark truck rmodel.goodluck

MAN Diesel, Injector, seems to be the best. The parts and mechanical are readily available. Whenever you decide to sell off, there is possibility of getting quick buyer than other trucks. Please, do not go close to automatic and electric type.

Following

tonzo:
Buy a mack truck rmodel or Sino howo truck head.chinese trucks part are available and affordable.but mark trucks part are more expensive , though mark trucks have frequent axle issues.mark truck is a rugged truck for Nigerian roads.
I have been using Sino howo trucks for seven years now .but your budget can't get a Sino truck.
Go for the mark truck rmodel.goodluck

thanks for your insight on the topic. Can I have an idea how much a howo truck would cost me? What type of trailer back did you fix on it? Flat body, tanker etc and do you consider trucking a very good business to invest in if I am not the one to drive the truck myself. Pls I have never done trucking business before

fidtopade:
MAN Diesel, Injector, seems to be the best. The parts and mechanical are readily available. Whenever you decide to sell off, there is possibility of getting quick buyer than other trucks. Please, do not go close to automatic and electric type.

thanks pls which of the man Diesel variants as they are many of them outside

You need a truck to buy, message me with what you want

Hello mobilemykel...
I am into both transport business and auto sales. I specialize in commercial vehicles such as buses and trucks of different categories and capacities. I am not here to advertise though.

The first thing to know about transport business in Nigeria is that it is not for the faint-hearted. If you are hypertensive or have a history of BP, please I will beg you not to go near it. You will smile at my contradiction because I sell commercial vehicles.

However, if you are the type that don't bulge and break at the sight of challenges, or see difficulty as summountable then you are landing yourself a goldmine.

The second thing you should know is that you must be highly involved in the business. Your workers have several ways they can cut corners from. Being a rookie will make it very challenging in the beginning; infact be prepared to learn the hard way. But after some time you will start picking up.

You don't leave the business in the hands of people in the name of trust. You need to be able to monitor the vehicle and take appropriate decisions when required.

The third thing I will let you know is that you need to learn how the business operate as transport is diversified. You want to do haulage business but which area? All areas have common and specific challenges.
If you don't know what you want and how it operates how will you survive? I can boldly say that you don't need a truck now, but knowledge of area if interest and it's pros and cons. Knowing the type of truck to buy will be decided by the area of business.
I will give some examples to guide you...

1. Petroleum products haulage: This is a regulated area and the entry barriers are high. Beyond having a truck that is in a good condition, you will need to register with different associations. You will need some permits as required in the oil sector. I am aware you can buy a truck and let it be managed by other companies particularly for the use of independent oil marketers.

As time is money, be prepared to lose money due to downtime from tanker driver strike or other strikes within the oil sector.

Tankers travel very long distance, so you may not see your truck for as long as two weeks. They will queue to load and sometimes queue to offload after travelling for 3 or 4 days. Other than tracking their movement, you can only track their location and winder what is happening to your guys on the road. Well this is for common for all long distance operations.

Whenever they offload they must return back to base empty, so they make the money only in one way trip.

Petroleum tankers require regular maintenance, you but new tires regularly as you don't want to be sorry for the loss if properties and lives due to accident caused by tire blowouts. Some are 14 tires while others are 16. Good Chinese tires cost upto 95k while japanese tires cost upwards for 150k per one. Be prepared to spend money sir.

Depending on the distance, you may use upto 750 liters of diesel to move from Lagos to say, Abuja for a return trip. Diesel costs 290 per liter presently. I wil leave you with the calculations. You can also find out how much tankers charge to move products to different locations. Things are expensive now and the roads are bad, so you should factor this into your budget and pricing.

There are many more things you need to research on such as insurance, parking, driver salaries, payments. Etc. There is what is called petroleum equalisation fund, subsidy payment, NUPENG, PENGASSAN, tank farms, storage locations etc. These are all technical terms you should understand how they affect you.

2. Frozen Foods haulage:
3. Tippers:
4. General Haulage:

I will write on the above later and also give tips on the types of vehicles and how to choose wisely.

Hello all, are there clearing and forwarding agents here? Is it true that the CBN does not give Forex for the importation of used trucks from China? I will appreciate a honest answer on this. Thank you all.

Fixed:
2. Frozen Foods haulage:
3. Tippers:
4. General Haulage:

I will write on the above later and also give tips on the types of vehicles and how to choose wisely.

Wow thanks for these amazing contribution I'm sorry I am just reading this now,I haven't been in the country in a while now and didn't log in here until now. Just like you advice I shouldn't go into the business and hand it over to people to manage based on trust . I took the advice because I'm still a rookie. It was a friend that was advising me to do the business