Greetings Nairalanders!

How have you all been doing?

It has been such a long time.

Yes Mickey, how did you hear about our Agege project? Its already operational. Its doing great and there is alot of room to grow.

I see Nigeria at the moment is going through hard times due to low oil prices. But at every low point, comes the BEST OPPORTUNITY. Most people have made most money in the lowest point of the economy.

I did like to offer an idea for you all to consider.

But First, I want to thank you all again for all your encouragement and love that you have shown us. For the record, we have not taken any investment for haulage from any individuals from Nairaland although we have been offered many. We think thrice if we can deliver results. If we feel we cant deliver what we promise, we don't take in investments.

We still have our haulage business running. We've also made an entry into the hospitality business in Agege which is growing.

We see our Nigerian business as a long term prospect that will grow in time and soon enough we expect to grow exponentially as we continue to learn the ropes and build influential contacts.

First I want to encourage you all. This low oil prices is temporary. I see the prices of oil going up by the end of this year and increase even more by next year. I have my reasons for this. As the prices of oil goes up, the Nigerian economy will grow as well. Its all a cycle.

Now as for the idea I mentioned. Here is an idea I hope will benefit all of you. No doubt at the moment, there is alot of Nairas inside Nigeria that mostly cant be transferred out of Nigeria. Have you heard of the Nigerian Stock Exchange? I encourage you all to learn and understand the stock market of Nigeria. Currently, the share prices is at its historical lowest. I would definitely buy shares of important institutions such as Zenith Bank, Guaranty etc etc. I can forsee the share prices double by end of this year. I would suggest you all allocate some part of your savings into the stock market to increase your net worth by end of this year and next year.

I have invested in the stock market in Thailand and the prices went up by 70% in a few months time and will continue to grow. And I see the same thing happening with the Nigerian stock market.

Eventually as the prices of oil increases, Foreign investors will have more confidence in the Nigerian economy and this will drive the prices of the stock market up. And now is the absolute best time to invest in the Stock Market.

As much as naysayers say Nigeria is not currently a place to be, I say, in the long term, its one of the best places to be.

My humblest regards,

Your Friend.

We had good experience buying trucks from Nigeria. And we had terrible terrible experience buying trucks from Europe. But we were pretty much clueless about trucking business at that time.

We have not looked into getting Mack trucks from the United States.

We did rather purchase second hand trucks from Nigeria and have our trusted mechanics look at it.

Uwish is right. Be prepared to change and repair some stuff after purchase. Its capital intensive.

The advantage we have is we can get our trucks to work for money asap after purchase.

The absolute ultimate best way to go about doing trucking business here is to buy first hand trucks. Only God knows what the second hand trucks you are about to purchase has been through. This goes for all trucks from Europe, Usa and Nigeria.

Jonwesley:
ThaiAiNig, it was a nice experience reading all the eight pages of the thread as I just stumbled into it. You are naturally gifted, therefore the door will always open for you.

I'm also sure that the people that called you a scam have become overwhelmed by your dexterity and resilience to stay focused to deliver what your intentions were, and have been silenced to their wit.

You have done this because you are not a Nigerian, and I'm proud of you. These insights given here is more than a book. Don't be surprised, somebody will or had copied everything and heading to publishing house so as sell your ideas since it's a no copyright infringement.

I cherish your friendship and will want to be standing by this thread to learn more from you. Thanks

Thank you for your encouragement and trust!

I would like to share a short personal story. When I was a child, my father was doing business and was pretty successful. Unfortunately he had not passed down any business knowledge to me and my siblings even though we were in our late teens. He passed away before we realized the importance of knowledge. Can you imagine what wisdom he would have accumulated in those 30 years of doing business? And do you know what happens when a man inherits a significant amount of money without any knowledge about how to handle it? He mismanages it and the money simply vanishes. That's exactly what happened to us. And when it did, we were bitter and angry. We were angry at our father for not having passed down all those priceless knowledge he had accumulated. We promised then and there to learn everything we can about business and find a way to start all over again. And we did it. We made alot of painful mistakes along the way (which could have easily been avoided had our father taught us business), but we pushed forward regardless. I can even confess we had cried at one point. We had no idea what we were doing.

A deep desire to share what we've learnt probably stems from our passion in business and our understanding that knowledge needs to be shared. There are so many people that wants to do business but have no idea where to start and what is required to move forward in business (we were in that very same position).

Nigeria has given us an opportunity to make a living and what better way for us to give back by sharing knowledge?

We live and breath business everyday and we enjoy the process. At the end of the day, we can make hundreds and millions of Nairas, but all those nairas has no value after we die. There's no point. But I believe there is meaning (no matter how small an impact we make) in serving a Nation and its people that has helped us make a living.

My humblest regards,

Your Friend.

KINGOSIRO99:
Hello sir,its been a while you put up a post about your haulage business,hope its doing good with all the economic challenges we are currently experiencing in nigeria.
Are you still accepting investor partnering with you?.

Hope you are doing well!

It has been some time has it not?

I've not been writing much because we've been busy with other matters. The journey has been very interesting and challenging. And we've learnt so much along the way and we still continue to do.

We're still in the haulage business and we'll continue to expand our presence in Nigeria. That's our goal. We've also recently gotten into our second business which for now I'll not write much about.

Its been six months since I last wrote and I'm not exactly sure where to start but I'll try to slice it up post by post. There is so much to write about the "how to approach" haulage business that it would be better organized if written in a book.

Haulage business is a good and sustainable business if you can minimize mistakes from the very start. I think I have covered the very basics at the beginning of the thread.

For now what I'll leave you with is this. Massive success in this business depends upon working for the "right entity" with the right truck.

Having a 40 footer truck and working for the right entity is the very very best way to make most money in this business. We've struck gold with 40 footers. In a few months, we'll see if we can find gold with 20 footers. But they're still performing quite well. But I feel they could do much better.

You'll also be surprised about the inside politics that takes place in this business. One thing you will have to accept, mixing business and human/company politics is a reality you will have to deal with. But if you're genuinely looking to do business and to serve people, you will do just fine. The process simply weeds out the weak willed and benefits only the most determined.

Also there are certain companies that pays the very best rates. But you need 10 mega trucks to go independent with them. We heard recently that a politician bought 50 brand new mega trucks that will work for that very company itself. We have good connections with that company but unfortunately we cant get 10 brand new mega trucks to go independent with them. If a person can go independent with that company, that person will be set for life.

We forsee ourselves being in this business in the long term as we strongly believe new multi-nationals will be setting up factories in Nigeria and they will require trucks to haul goods for them.

As for taking investments. We are ready to take in 1 40 footer truck as the returns for those are the best. You can PM for details.

Apart from that we are very excited about launching our second business that we believe will generate 4-5 times what haulage is delivering.

I'll continue to update this thread and I really hope you can be inspired to take action. There are some more things I would like to write about later regarding the haulage business. Mostly about what you MUST GET RIGHT from the start or else you WILL fail.

Stay tuned.

My humblest regards,

Your Friend.

Greetings uwish,

Thanks for the great post. It was a good read.

I was wondering, what is your average monthly repairs/maintenance cost excluding tyres for each truck?

Thanks for the great post.

My humblest regards,

Your Friend.

Thanks Obiak,

Any advices are certainly appreciated.

My humblest regards,

Your friend.

Greetings Nairalanders

I was wondering if anybody knows a good (branded/reputed) big company truck repair/mechanic company that services/repairs trucks in Lagos?

I would appreciate any assistance you could offer.

My humblest regards,

Your friend

Greetings Nairalanders,

I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of Thai Alpha Nigeria and our Nigerian team to wish you all a very happy and prosperous new year in 2015.

2014 has been a year of extreme great trials, knowledge and wisdom. We are expecting 2015 to be a year of growth and more wisdom.

I will have new wonderful updates coming up in 2015. Lots of great new info that you probably wouldn't know about taking Haulage business to the next official level and some insights on the tipper business as well as notes about major roles Local Banks play in your business entirely.

I will write it as it happens.

Thank you for the opportunity to be your friends and partners. We have come quite far and we will continue to do our best, bring in more investors, impact lives and continue to be ambassadors for Nigeria, even if the impact is as small as a drop in the ocean, the bottom line is, we did our best.

Stay tuned.

My humblest regards,

Your Friend.

Greetings Nairalanders,

We're on our way to start working independently with a second Big factory. We're building more important connections and making huge progress. There are some vital things we need to sort out in the coming months. And also if things go out as planned we're on our way to a big deal with our current factory and also in the tipper business.

There are some things (related to banking and finances) that an independent transporter must have access to. I will give updates in a few months as we confirm our progress.

Again, as of now, we are not taking anyone's truck under us as we would want to make sure that we can deliver results to our clients before we do. As we move forward, we will be able to mitigate risks to a minimum to ensure timely and good payments.

Stay tuned.

My humblest regards,

Your Friend.

sammybrainy:

After the long wait for the factory to pay, was it profitable at the end?
I mean financially

No one would do business if it was not generating any profits OR the potential for generating future profits.

If it was truly not worth it, I wouldn't be writing here.

Do I see potential for massive growth? Yes.

Hope that answers your questions.

My humblest regards,

Your friend

sammybrainy:

Is it worth it?

Depends what you mean by "is it worth it?"

kakakibuy:

Congrats. This amount is for how many months worth of service? Or do you calculate in kms covered by the truck?

Around 3-5 weeks of work. Depends upon various factors such as where trucks will be travelling to, no of jobs etc etc.

My humblest regards,

Your Friend.

Greetings Nairalanders,

Update. We just got paid today from the factory. 2100000 Nairas!

Your Friend.

Greetings Nairalanders,

A few months have passed and as I've mentioned we've been working independently with a big company listed in the stock exchange.

We thought we had achieved success, we thought the pastures were greener if we worked directly with the factory. But when you have crossed one mountain, the biggest mountain you thought existed in your imagination, and you're walking a straight road ahead, there in the horizon, is another even bigger mountain to cross.

When you're working with a factory, you're working on credit. It means, you continue to take trips for the factory but they will pay you only after 3-4 weeks after you have taken your trip. With 4 trucks, when you take alot of trips, the cost of fuel and every other cost adds up to millions of Nairas. Now here's the issue. The nightmare of anyone in the haulage business. LATE PAYMENTS.

The reason anyone would want to work directly with a Factory is so that you can cut out Agents and Jibs that don't pay you on time. But now we've come to realize that there is a same issue with big factories. Now if the big factories stops paying, then how can anybody effectively do business?

The agreement was we would be payed between 3-4 weeks. We are now entering into our 5th week and still no payment. We keep calling the factory accounting department and the managers we are connected with, but the response is "we've payed; or we promise to pay you by this and this date; the second signatory person was not there to sign the cheque; there was a network issue for processing payment; we will pay within 3 hours"

We are personally going to visit the factory by next week. Lets see what the issue is. I personally suspect there are some inside factory politics being played. We will find out.

We are currently working with 1 factory and networking with several others as well.

Lets see what happens. If you have a story to share, you're most welcome to.

Your Friend.

Here are additional pictures.

Greeting Nairalanders,

We have a 20 footer Scania p94D.220 left steering, air suspension, 8 months Naija Used.

Make: SCANIA
Type: 94D 220
Category: Trucks
Year of registration:
Mileage read out:
Colour:
Drive: 4X2
Engine type: DSC911L01
Cylinder: 6
Cylinder capacity: 8480 cc
Engine power: 162 kw
Engine power: 220 pk
Fuel: Diesel
Net weight: 7100 kg
Total weight GVW: 18000 kg
Axles: 2
Suspension front: Air suspension
Suspension rear: Air suspension
Tyres:
Outside dimension: 925X250X310

Asking price is 1.3 million Nairas

We'll upload more pictures tomorrow. Inside the truck and mileage pictures.

If you are interested or have any further questions please contact our Manager Mr Matthew -- 08023820299

Or You can also send me an email at info@thai-alpha.com

My kindest regards,

ThaiAlNigeria

undeniableGrace:



Thanks for the reply. Its waterproof because of it's tarpuline cover. If it's okay, I would welcome an appointment so we can talk further.

K.R

Okay. Sure. Please talk to our Manager Mr Matthew.

His phone number is 08023820299

If you have anymore questions or concerns please let me know.

my kindest regards,

ThaiAlNigeria

mrramadan:



I have a very good and sincere driver which I would like to recommend to you. I was once into haulage business before the "JIBS" almost frustrated me. Out of all the drivers I have worked with, this happens to be one of the best and most sicere one I have ever come across. I hope he will be of benefit to you just like he was to me. His name is Adamu Usman, he will call you.

That would be good. We have a new 10 ton truck and need disciplined and sincere drivers. Please have him contact my manager Mr Matthew for our new 10 tons truck. Mr Matthew number is 08023820299. Job will start around end of this month.

My kindest regards,

ThaiAlNigeria

undeniableGrace:
the limit here is that my truck has an open top which we cover with tarpulain. Is there an opportunity for such a truck?

Hi,

If there is opportunity for water to get inside, then it wont work.

But thanks for your interest.

My kindest regards,

ThaiAlNigeria

Greetings Nairalanders,

We're a registered reputed International Haulage company working directly for the a public listed factory.

We're on a lookout for Closed Box trucks 10 tons, 20 tons, 30 tons. You'll be registered under us and work directly for the factory.

This offer entails

- Immediate work with a public listed factory.
- You'll be in charge of your own drivers and timely delivery of goods.
- You as the truck owner and manager will be directly responsible for the management and repairs of your trucks.
- You will be responsible for your own fuel money.
- You will have direct connection with the factories and understand how the factory system works.
- We'll take 10% of your total revenue. All other revenue generated will be paid to you.
- Revenue generated depends upon where your trucks will go. Calabar, Aba, Ibadan, Ewekoro etc.
- The more trips you manage to make in a month, the more revenue you generate.
- opportunity to create connections for the budding haulage entrepreneur who wants to understand how the haulage business works.
- You will get paid as soon as the factory pays.
- Contract duration - 2 year, renewable.

If you own a closed box truck and you are interested in working directly for the factory, kindly contact our manager Mr Matthew on the phone number -- 08023820299 or you can send an email to info@thai-alpha.com for more information. Please note that trucks will be inspected before and must pass our standards.

My regards,

ThaiAlNigeria

Greetings,

We are a registered International haulage company.

We're looking to hire truck drivers for our expanding company in Lagos.

Pay is very competitive with allowances.

Responsibilities:

The driver shall strictly observe traffic rules and regulation and maximum speed.
The driver shall maintain assigned vehicles always clean and in good condition, necessary maintenance such as washing and /or cleaning of assigned vehicles shall be done and scheduled properly for the convenience of the client.
The driver shall be responsible for the routine check-up of the vehicles, routine check-up to include but not limited to oil, brake function, water, lights & tire condition and the likes.
The driver shall always drive the vehicles safely and comfortably and must exercise defensive driving while on the road to prevent accident. Reckless driving shall be sufficient ground for driver’s recall and consequently be a cause of termination.
The driver shall observe strictly the company rules and regulation, policies and directives and instruction of the company.

Qualifications and Requirements:
Minimum of Diploma (No educational qualifications is necessary as long as you have some experience driving and/or if you have an SSCE it would be beneficial)
Applicant must be mature, trustworthy and a very skilled driver
Have a valid driver’s license
Driver must be well behaved at all times

You will be interviewed by our team of managers before we hire you for a full time job.

If you are interested please send your resume or contact details at info@thai-alpha.com

You can contact Mr Charles -- 08033781383
Mr Matthew -- 08023820299

If you're interested in working with a registered International Haulage company.

You can contact me here at info@thai-alpha.com

We're based in Lagos and we're currently looking for a trust worthy driver for our growing fleet.

You will be interviewed by two of our managers before you get the full time job.

My regards.

Greetings,

We are a registered International haulage company.

We're looking to hire truck drivers for our expanding company in Lagos.

Pay is very competitive with allowances.

Responsibilities:

The driver shall strictly observe traffic rules and regulation and maximum speed.
The driver shall maintain assigned vehicles always clean and in good condition, necessary maintenance such as washing and /or cleaning of assigned vehicles shall be done and scheduled properly for the convenience of the client.
The driver shall be responsible for the routine check-up of the vehicles, routine check-up to include but not limited to oil, brake function, water, lights & tire condition and the likes.
The driver shall always drive the vehicles safely and comfortably and must exercise defensive driving while on the road to prevent accident. Reckless driving shall be sufficient ground for driver’s recall and consequently be a cause of termination.
The driver shall observe strictly the company rules and regulation, policies and directives and instruction of the company.

Qualifications and Requirements:
Minimum of Diploma
Applicant must be mature, trustworthy and a very skilled driver
Have a valid new driver’s license
Driver must be well behaved at all times

If you are interested please send your resume or contact details at info@thai-alpha.com

You will be interviewed by several of our managers before we hire you.

Greetings Nairalanders,

Hope you are all doing well.

Today I would like to debunk a popular Myth you read online about the Haulage business.

We're Independent Transporters working directly for the factories with complete accounts at hand.

I've often read that Haulage Managers can give you a payout of 200,000 to 400,000 nairas every month. Looking at our yearly accounts, I can say that it is a myth depending upon how you've invested and worked with the IT.

Things to consider first --
- The net profit is around 40% of revenue minus the cost of tyres. Tyres which are an essential part of trucking will eat into your profits.
- a decent tyre will cost around 80000 nairas. A 10 tons, 20 tons truck has 6 tyres. Tyres must be changed every 12 - 18 months.
- Fuel is expensive.
- Below are examples for the haulage industry delivering goods for the factories. 10 tons and 20 tons trucks. This is not for a 40 footer.

Scenario 1

DEBT FUNDING

Contract -- 3 year.

Monthly Payout -- 20% ROI of capital invested every year payable "every month".

Supposed amount invested -- 2900000 Nairas. Monthly payout will be 49000 monthly. 580000 Nairas yearly.

3 years combined payout -- 1740000 Nairas.

End of 3 year contract -- Total principal capital is returned in bulk 2900000 Nairas.

Total money returned by end of 3rd year contract -- 2900000 (Principal Capital) + 1740000 (20% yearly payout) = 4640000 Nairas.

What happens in Debt funding -:

1) IT 100% manages the trucks and every details of the business.
2) IT genuinely looks after the condition of the truck because at the end of the contract, the truck belongs to the IT. It is in the best interest that the IT looks after the trucks.
3) Investor takes no part in management and simply gets his monthly payout
4) Original capital is returned in bulk after 3 years.

------------------

Scenario 2

WORKING UNDER US.

Contract -- No limit

Monthly payout -- Total revenue generated minus 10% for allowing to work under IT. Estimated monthly revenue generated varies depending upon how much trips your truck takes. Normally it take around 3-5 trips a month. So conservatively estimating monthly revenue generated based on 4 trips is around 573000 Nairas. IT takes 10% of it. so, you're getting is a monthly revenue of 515700 Nairas.

Supposed amount invested -- 2300000 Nairas.

Fuel, repairs, drivers, entire truck management -- The truck owner is solely responsible for everything.

Estimated net profit the truck owner generates per month -- 150000 - 170000 Nairas.

What happens in working under us -:

1) The truck owner bears the responsibility to manage his truck entirely.
2) With the total estimated monthly revenue generated, truck owner is responsible for his own fueling, changing of tyres, finding drivers, repairs, Lasma issues, making sure goods are delivered on time, accidents, and the net profits he himself generates.
3) Our estimated net profit on revenue generated is around 40%. NOT INCLUDING TYRES. TYRES will be a significant cost. Estimated net profit that the truck owner should be making is around 166280 per month including all expenses PAID including tyres. 150000 Nairas to be more conservative.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As you can see from the above. There is NO WAY, a Haulage Manager can give you the amount of monthly payout if he is managing everything for you including repairs, tyres, fueling, everything.

Your Haulage manager will take and must rightfully take half of the profits the truck generates. I emphasize the word "rightfully" because haulage is indeed extremely management intensive and may not be worth their time or effort if they're not taking their fair share.

With the figures above, You can decide on your own what sort of investor do you want to be.

You have 2 absolute choices.
1) Be a passive investor (Debt funding)
2 Be the manager yourself. (Come under us)

So the PHRASE -- I, the Haulage Manager will give you a payout of 200000 to 300000 Nairas and manage the truck for you in my opinion is FALSE. The only people that will promise a 200k - 300k for a 10ton - 20ton truck monthly payout and manage the trucks for you are the JIBS. And they're plenty of them out there. And don't be surprised when payment stops within 5-6 months. Because in the long run, that's not possible if you factor in every single cost.

THE TRUTH -- You can earn 150k - 200k Net. But you have to manage it yourself.

Conclusion

Haulage business as you can see is a very profitable and a good investment. But you have to be realistic about your expectations. Its never easy to make money, in any industry, and the money made is related to the amount of EFFORT you put in. Any business in the world that promises you MORE THAN 20% passive yearly returns PAYABLE EVERY MONTH on your investment should be looked upon very suspiciously. Nigeria is a place where you can make money and be rich. But NOT OVERNIGHT!

For the discerning investor -- 20% ROI per year "payable every month" is what you will get max out of Nigeria.
Compare this with a 24% ROI when you invest in Dubai, but your money will be locked for 4 years with NO MONTHLY PAYMENT.

For the people that wants to manage it themselves -- Good luck! Reach for the stars!

My humblest regards,

Your friend.

questions? Queries? You can contact us at -- info@thai-alpha.com

Greetings Nairalanders,

Hope you are all doing well.

Today I will talk about factories and business is done with them.

I wonder, are there any Independent Transporters here working directly for the factory?

Here's what happening with the factories.

-- Now it looks like the factories are slowly changing their standard of doing business. The managers of factories wants to move away from the system whereby the Independent Transporters(IT) allow other people trucks to register under them to work directly for the factory. In this system, the truck owners manage everything about the truck, from the drivers to maintenance. The IT simply take their 10% - 15% revenue for allowing the truck owners to run under their name. Recently the managers are insisting that Independent Transporters own and personally manage their own trucks. This was one reason we had not taken anybody else's truck under our wing yet.

-- Big factories are kicking out bad IT like the jibs. There was a recent news that one politician had bought 40 mega trucks for one big company and two big companies with whom we have close relationships with are now focusing on big IT, or at least reliable IT like us. Its a good thing we have close relationships with their managers.

The reason the factories are now pushing for IT to own their trucks are due to 2 reason in my opinion

1) People like JIBS causes all sort of issues by not paying truck owners on time and sometimes not at all. And the truck owners would either neglect their trucks, get frustrated, lose hope, complain or sell their trucks and this adds alot of headaches to the factory delivery system.

2) Sometimes the truck owners themselves are incompetent at managing their trucks and it causes all sorts of delays for the factories. The factories want competent players to manage trucks to ensure deliveries are made on time and without issues.

Ultimately Trucks running under one management will be more effective than having it run by two management team simultaneously. Its less headache for the factories and they realize it.

-- When you become an IT, the game changes somewhat. Accounting is not as simple and the payment system of the factories are not like the jibs.

When you're working under the jibs, the jibs are the ones paying fuel for you. But when you work for the factory you have to pay for your own fuel. When you're working with factories, you always have to remember that you're working on credit. WORKING ON CREDIT means that you have to pay for your own fuel, repairs, drivers, motorboys and every cost associated with the trucks BEFORE the factories pay you. Factories normally take around 1 month to pay you your revenue. This means that you need to have enough CAPITAL RESERVE to fuel your trucks for 1 month to make sure it runs. Without this reserve, your trucks wont run, and if your trucks don't run, factories don't pay you. Simple. Make it run, and make sure they continue to run so that you have constant CASH FLOW. When you have 5 trucks under you and you're making 20-25 trips a month, can you imagine the capital reserve you need before you get paid by factories? Needless to say, I had to inject more and more money to make sure the trucks kept running until cash flow was stabilized. This area will most definitely be overlooked by the aspiring haulage entrepreneur. It was overlooked by us but we managed to get through and grow in the process. But it did stress me. Now we're quite aware of how the system works.

Always keep in mind that in the SUPPLY CHAIN, factories always work ON CREDIT. This is true for every factory around the world, Nestle, Microsoft, Apple, any. Your CASH FLOW is your lifeline. If you disrupt this CASH FLOW. You will be in dire situation.

Remember, you will make mistakes and overlook some details and that is an inevitable part of business. But that is part of the learning process and if you really learn from it, you will grow.

Being an IT is not an easy task. You need capital, lots of knowledge, you need connections, and you need to pray for good Drivers and mechanics.

It is our goal for this year to expand to a fleet of 10 trucks within six months to a fleet of 20 by the end of next year.

In my next post I will debunk alot of myths you will find online about the Haulage business and even some insights about the numbers in the Haulage business.

My humblest regards,

Your Friend.

PS - Our website email is now working. You can send us any questions or queries at info@thai-alpha.com

Greetings Nairalanders,

Looking forward to be a valuable contributor.

I apologize if I was not able to answer everybody questions in a timely manner.

This month has been a very challenging month for our team. But we've managed to get through it all and we've added one more truck to our fleet just a few days ago.

We have obviously learnt alot of new things working directly with the factory.

I have done alot of searching around Nairaland concerning how Independent Transporters (IT) working directly for the factories operate, their challenges and how they overcame it. But I have found little to no information about it. Instead alot of information I have read was like a Cherry On Top and basics such as managing the drivers, types of trucks to buy, etc etc. But truth is, there is alot more.

I will try my best to write about how haulage business really works once you become an IT.

I am not exactly sure where to start. But I will separate into 2 parts

1) Relationship between Investors and Haulage operators.
2) Working with factories and their challenges.

Relationship between Haulage operators and investors.

First of all, I would like to thank all of you for the interest in this thread and your emails are much appreciated. Many of you aspire to get into the haulage business and we encourage you to do so.

I would also like to state that, even though we got alot of requests, we have not taken any investors to invest with us yet. Nor have we taken anyone else's truck under us. The new truck that I mentioned above was bought by our own company.

The following are something we've learnt.

Haulage Operators and investors Relationships

Take your time, collect your data and never rush into taking investors money

Collect Data -- When you take money from investors, you've agreed/promised/signed a contract to pay them a certain amount every month. But can you really deliver? You need to look at your numbers. Do you have your monthly numbers? Then you need to do accounting with those numbers, It takes time to collect sufficient accounting data. Once you have sufficient accounting data, you can really truly start calculating average profits, cost, fixed costs, unseen costs, net profits, average revenue, etc etc. It will be based upon these data that you will truly know if you can deliver what you promised to your investors.

From what we've seen, some people just want to get into haulage business quickly. They have some contacts and decide they can start making money doing business with these contacts without detailed analysis of the accounts.

Be level headed and calm -- When you have some people eager to invest with you, you feel this rush of excitement, you are thinking "I have to get this persons money and invest and grow. We'll grow! We'll grow! I have to do it as soon as possible." At some point it may be easy to take peoples money but can you really make it grow as you've promised? Are you buying good trucks and not rushing into buying just any truck? We decided we did remain level headed and not be too excited to get people to invest us yet until we know for sure we can deliver. There is nothing worse than your reputation being damaged. Your company's image is your business lifeline. If you fail to deliver, people will start talking. Always do your best to make sure you can deliver before taking investors money. Be calm and level headed.

Be very detailed with your accounts and numbers -- This is straight forward. Make sure you have taken all expenses into account. Everything. Spend as much time as you need, but make sure you've calculated everything properly. Haulage requires very detailed accounting because there is so much involved into managing it. Furthermore when you take investors money and pay them their dues, the accounting gets a bit more complex. Make sure you are well versed with your average profits, net profits, how much trips your 10 tons, 20 tons 30 tons are taking every month, percentage of profits etc etc. Every truck should have its own accounts, repair logs, everything else you believe is essential.

Teamwork helps -- Everybody has their own strengths and weaknesses. I believe teamwork is invaluable. Everything that I mentioned above requires some degree of teamwork. If you want to grow and be more confident when taking investors money or approaching banks, you need a trustworthy team.

Take your time and build relationships -- Today you may not be able to use the investors money wisely, but one day you may. And when that day comes, your relationship with your investors will determine if they would invest with you or not. At the end of the day, although money and bottom profits is extremely important, building relationships is also equally important.

In my next post I'll write down about working with factories and their challenges.

My humblest regards,

Your Friend.

PS - Our website email is now working. You can send us any questions or queries at info@thai-alpha.com

Greetings Nairalanders,

(I have modified my previous message to update the ROI when investing or doing haulage business)

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50% of the messages I get is about how to buy trucks.

I will share with you my TRUCK BUYING MEMO.

Here are the check list (Head part of truck)

1) Spring suspensions only
2) get 20 footers because there are more jobs for 20 footers (This could be debatable)
3) Must have double Axle
4) Must be TOKUNBO - GRADE A
5) Must have Tracking
6) The Year of Manufacture is very important. The year of manufacture is written boldly on engine block where you find Chassis number.
7) The Year of manufacture determines Prices of Trucks
Be wary of Injector
9) Be careful of Brake system
10) The HP should always be above 320.
11) Always get 2x100 Volts Battery
12) Block the Thermostat. Inquire about ThermoStat.
13) Buy left handed trucks

Models to buy

A) Mack and DAF ONLY. It is known by trucking experts that SCANIA are UNSUITED FOR NIGERIAN ROADS. (This was where we really messed up)
B) MAN is an alternative truck to consider.

MACK -:
A) R 685 st --- for Any R Models, don’t look beyond 1980s Model
B) CH 613 ---- For any CH Models do not look beyond 1999 Model

DAF -:
A) XP75 --- Unsure But not beyonf 1999
B) DAF 95 --- Unsure But not beyond 1999

TYRES

Option 1 and best option if we have enough money -- BridgeStone and/or Pirelli
Option 2 and only buy when lack of funds -- Ceat Tyres
STAY AWAY FROM DOUBLE STAR Tyres and other unbranded tyres.

FLAT BEDS AND TRAILERS or Box trailers (The carriage part of the truck)

1) Must be STRONG and HEAVY
2) Must be 30 Tonnes and above
3) Please note that a 30 Tonnes Flatbeds and Trailers cannot carry LOADS above 30 tonnes of goods. Whenever heavy loads are put onto trailers, there will be issues with the trucks and trailers and wheels. That is why it is always advisable to get Trailers and Flat Beds above 30 Tonnes. There are lots of 35 Tonnes, 45 Tonnes FlatBeds and Trailers. If its a 10 tons Truck, make sure the load is never above 10 tons.
4) How can we know the weight of goods loaded? Check the Bill of Lading and find out. The manufacturers will normally always fill the trucks to it fullest without considering weight issues. Failing to manage this area will create alot of issues for the trucks in the long run.

SERVICES AND MAINTENANCE

1) Trucks should be checked and maintained once a month every month by a trusted mechanic.

2) Inspection of the “hooks” on the Trailers are to be carried out on a regular basis.

3) Replacing battery every 3-4 months.

4) Service and grease your trucks every 5000-7000 miles

5) Have arrangements with reputed fuel stations. Be careful of diesel mix. A mixed diesel could cause a lot of trouble for the engine. Build trust with Fuel station.

GIT (Goods in Transit)

Prefer Leadway insurance over other company. Have good relationships with insurance people to get priority services.

Tipper buying advise -- Do not buy second hand tippers. I highly doubt they will be a good investment as Tippers are highly mechanized. You need a very very professional mechanic to check your second hand tipper. I would rather buy a 1st Hand Tipper. Brand we personally recommend is Sino Howo.

Hope this helps anyone trying to get into the Haulage business.

My humblest regards,

Your Friend

Greetings Nairalanders,

Looking forward to contribute more value about the Haulage business in Nigeria.

There is indeed alot of information about the haulage business which would be impossible to write it all down in one go. Haulage business is huge and there are quite a few sectors of Haulage.

I will do my best to go at it one by one.

Types of Haulage sectors

>>> TRUCKS THAT HAUL CONTAINERS <<<

-- Types of trucks normally used -- Flatbed trucks. 20 foot flatbeds or 40 foot flatbeds.
-- You get work from the port itself.
-- I'm not exactly sure how this type of Haulage works as we've not looked into it yet. But I know there are information about containers haulage in Nairaland.
-- How you get work for this type of haulage I do not know.
-- There is a post on Nairaland by uwish, I believe he deals more in this category of haulage.
-- cost of trailers will be similar to the ones of closed box trucks.
-- We expect the Return on Investments to be similar to that of factory hauling.

>>> TRUCKS THAT HAUL FOR FACTORIES (Which we're into) <<<

-- Types of trucks used -- There can be various trucks used for hauling finished goods for factories. The common types of trucks used are
1) Closed Box trucks -- 10 tons, 20 tons, 40 tons. - Used to haul any finished goods from Factories to clients of factories.
2) side curtain trucks -- these trucks are just a variation of closed box trucks but specially used to haul bottles for bottling companies.
3) various other trucks -- open or versatile trucks used to haul agricultural products, live stock, food products.

The only way you can work for factories is going under an Independent Transporters. Even if you have the money to buy 10 40 foot trucks, the factories don't know you and will not consider you unless you have proven yourself in some way or you have a brand.

There are three ways you can work for the Independent Transporter (IT).

a) You buy a truck for the IT or own a truck. Let the IT manage it for you for a fixed monthly payout. Basically the IT will manage drivers, fuel, maintenance and all other headaches associated with the managing of trucks for the lifespan of the trucks. The total capital invested is paid back in approximately 38-40 months total (27% - 30% every year). After which monthly fixed payouts continue until the lifespan of trucks. Which is safely to say is around 8 years to 10 years. This method of investment invites less scrutiny from the Jibs. As they are more likely to pay you if they don't feel threatened. There are good ITs there and they will deliver. But there are also equal amount of Jibs.

b) You buy or own a truck. But you just let it run under the IT name and make it work for the factory. In this option you have to manage the trucks entirely from drivers to everything else. The IT will simply take his 10% - 15% of the total revenue. The IT will pay you after the factories pays them. This method allows you to recoup your total investment within 18 months (if you make little to no mistakes) to 24 months (if you've made mistakes). But if and only if you know how to manage the trucks. The entire responsibility for management is on your head. It means that if anything goes wrong and you fail to deliver the goods, you will be blamed. This also puts the BRAND of the IT at risk as they have to keep a good standing with the factories. If you are unable to manage your trucks effectively, the IT will release you from working under him as his reputation is on the Line. If you expand too fast, you run the risk of IT playing games with you as I have mentioned in my previous post. The JIBS. You must really know how to play this game. If you don't, you will see your huge debts piling up. You need to manage receipts, accounts, taxes, registration of company, autoboy, drivers, repairs, buying of trucks, Lasma <---these funny people), Tracking, building relationships, inside business politics. Selecting this option requires you to be prepared for a real battle and lots of cash liquidity for snowy season. If you are a rookie, you're in for a challenge.

c) Debt funding -- This is similar to option A but with a slight difference and mainly geared towards the investor. Basically the investor buys the truck for the IT and lets the IT run it. The IT pays a fixed interest of around 27%-30% per year to the investor payable every month. At the end of 2nd year, after having given interest for 2 years, the IT gives back the capital the investor invested and the IT keeps the truck. Or the investor can renew their contract again for another 2 years.

My recommendation for new people trying to get into haulage is to start with option A(If you already own a truck) or option C (If you don't yet own a truck), watch and observe, learn slowly and then when you are ready about the art of haulage, then slowly get into option B and finally independence. You can always later sell your trucks if you did like if u do option B.

PS -- Please always do your DUE DILIGENCE AND LOTS OF ASKING AROUND before going under any IT.

ROI is and should be 27% - 30% every year or 2.50% every month.

>>> TRUCKS THAT HAULS SANDS, GRANITES, ETC. <<<

Types of trucks used -- Tipper or dump trucks.

-- Tipper and Dump trucks is quite straight forward.
-- You need to contact the quarry to start working for them.
-- The quarry also has similar system as the FACTORY system. But the good thing about quarry is, you have direct contact with quarry owners and managers (Or we just got lucky due to our brand). I think you can work directly with the managers or owners of quarry. But we cannot confirm this as we may have just gotten lucky due to our brand.
-- The Return on Investment is better than the ROI of factories hauling. But the amount of investment needed to buy a brand new Tipper is extremely high. 11 million Nairas at least. We recommend Sino Howo Brand.
-- It is extremely dangerous to buy a second hand tipper as tippers and dumps are highly mechanized than a normal truck. Buying a second hand tipper invites alot of unforseen repairs will kill your business and BRAND from what we've seen.

I personally like the Tipper business better. Issue is, its way more capital intensive than trucks. And things can go wrong if you don't know what you are doing.

The way to get into tipper trucks is similar to that I mentioned above in the factory section. To get into tipper business, you first need to know the basics of haulage business. Once you do, you can try to get into tipper business. Either try to get into via an Independent Transporter who manages for you or directly with Managers or owners and you manage it.

PS -- Unless you really know what you are doing, do not buy second hand tippers either from Nigeria or even worse from Abroad.
PS -- We have little experience in Tipper business as we are not yet in this business. But we know quite a bit already due to our contacts. And we definitely plan to get into it soon by this year end. Hence I cannot elaborate about the unforseen issues which will certainly arise and the ins and out of this business yet. When we do, I will further elaborate about this business by year end. We simply assume its better but we cannot verify it unless we've tried it.

ROI in TIPPER is around 45%-60% every year. 3.50%-5% every month.

These are the three basic Haulage categories that we know. There are certainly more, but that's all that we know for now. Maybe there is haulage for hauling people in minivans? We do not know about that yet.

In my next post I will try to write more about the hard facts or the process of the haulage business or about the cost of trucks and everything else included in buying a second hand truck.

My humblest regards,

Your Friend. bangkokce@hotmail.com

ogb5:

I read the most part of your write up. The conclusion is that you still know very little about doing business in Nigeria as regards government policies.

You failed in your rice business because your business model was at variance with the government policies on rice. 40% duty on rice is meant to discourage what you were planning to do, that is dump Thailand rice on Nigerians. Government policy is meant to encourage value addition to imported products before it hits the Nigerian market.

To this end you will find that while importation of bagged cement is prohibited, importation of bulk cement and cement clinker is allowed. While import duty on packed tomato paste is 40% , duty on bulk tomato paste is 10%. In the same vein packed table salt has 70% duty while the bulk salt has very low duty.

If you must bring rice from Thailand to Nigeria then bring in the un-milled rice. Mill it and bag it in Nigeria. That way you will be working in line with government policy thrust and enjoy Lower duty on your import.

that is what many large scale importers are doing and you think they are not paying duty.

What you say is true. There is indeed lower duty on unmilled with unpacked rice. However I only gave information that I felt was relevant to the main topic. There is ofcourse alot more information and I could write an essay on it. That's not what I intend to do. However since you did bring it up, I can confirm this -:

-- From what I know is we had to register that rice with Nafdac which was a tedious and long process (upto six months to a year. (Anything that is eaten by the Nigerian population has to pass through Nafdac. There is absolutely no other way).
-- Milling and packing it in Nigeria was a huge undertaking beyond our financial capacity.
-- From what I know, Thai Parboiled rice is most consumed and well received rice by Nigerians. These parboiled rice has been milled here in Thailand. If that is the case, and these parboiled rice has not been milled in Nigeria, how can these rice escape the import tax? Unless ofcourse the lower tax duties only applies to unpacked rice of any kind including milled parboiled rice.
-- People may or may not pay import tax, I do not know. What I can confirm is that was what was told to us by port authorities.
-- I can confirm that I've talked to many Thai rice producers and exporters and they know the Nigeria market well. They say they always get orders of "containers" of 50kg packs (Largest packs of rice) unlabeled/labelled packed parboiled rice into Nigeria. So obviously, containers of packed rice is a very common practice in Nigeria. My business intuition will obviously ask how can they compete?
-- Yes, import duties are there to discouraged importation of rice and encourage local production. But Nigeria does not yet produce enough rice for the population. It would be great if all rice was produced in Nigeria itself.
-- Rice is like an important commodity and is already controlled by the Big Players.
-- I think if I recollect, import taxes are escaped in another way. But rice has to be imported into Benin. From there they haul it into Lagos. In fact, I recollect that many Thai exporters are exporting it to Benin and from Benin it enters Lagos.
-- I can also definitely confirm that most rice imported into Nigeria are milled rice, broken or parboiled. Very little is bulk unmilled import.

Issues which I cannot confirm is, if you want to import unpacked rice into Nigeria, (milled parboield or unmilled) you need to import it in a shipload which is obviously beyond our capacity. Another unconfirmed issue is the poor milling facilities in Nigeria. Nigeria does not have a proper milling facility yet.

Another point I did like to make is, in business you continue to learn new things everyday. Enjoy the process of business, share ideas, learn and grow.

My humblest regards,

Your Friend.

PS -- The link here will give some insights about what I mentioned above regarding unofficial rice trade from Benin to Nigeria.

http://www.oryza.com/news/rice-news/benin-benefits-nigeria%E2%80%99s-anti-import-policy-rice

Ghettodreams -- Thanks for your comments. We tested our website and web email check around May 2012. So the website was up since. It did go down once or twice since.

I should have elaborated that my descendants are from Turkey. They migrated to Thailand around 40 years ago. I was born in Thailand which allows me to be a Thai citizen.

Thanks again for your comments.

My Humblest regards,

Your Friend.

Greetings Nairalanders,

Thank you all very much for all the positive response. I was overwhelmed by the positive reception and the amount of mails I got as I opened my email today.

I have read all the emails and I am encouraged to know that this article has inspired you to push forward in your businesses and even in the haulage business. It is also very interesting to know that alot of you can relate to what I have written.

I'm writing here to let you all know I will answer all mails within 24 hours - 48 hours and assist as best I can.

As I had written before, unfortunately, my websites email info@thai-alpha.com on my website is not working as we had left the website unworked for almost 2 years. But we are currently revamping it which will take around 2 months to complete. And the email should be operational within 2 months.

Until then you can send me an email at bangkokce@hotmail.com

I did also like to mention that although I am a Thai citizen, I however do not look like a Thai. I look more like Turkish/Italianish. It is important to know that we are currently living in an increasingly globalized world whereby a Chinese looking man can be Canadian citizen or any of the European citizen. An African man can be a United States Citizen. My managers thought that I should mention this.

After I have answered all your queries I will try to write up more info about the business here.

My humblest regards,

Your friend.

Part 2
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lari03: Very astute reasoning.
For all the doubters, I think anyone who gets scammed has been set up for failure from the start because this thread has due diligence in market research as one of the strong themes that stand out.
So if anyone is looking for short cuts or is intellectually lazy enough to go into a business without knowledge, then such a person deserves to be scammed.
This is one of the reasons why I am critical of the NDE-SME programs, because they are not structured to meet the needs of our economy, they throw money at meager projects, rather than looking out to mentor and broker the development of industrial enterprises from the scratch.

lari03 -- Mentoring is a very powerful way to empower and encourage a fellow entrepreneur. And its a great program that needs to be encouraged by all companies. Thanks for the idea! I've personally had a wise mentor and I would constantly call him up and ask him what went wrong and how can I proceed. He just gave advises, I did the work. I will discuss a mentoring program with our management team.

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MissMeiya: Love this. ThaiAlNigeria, my father and I experienced many of the same problems you did. I'm learning a lot from this. Thank you for taking the time to detail your experiences. I'm emailing this to my dad.

When I get a chance later, will be back with questions.

MissMeiya -- Thank you very much for the encouragement! It is good to know this thread has helped you in some way. I was thinking to use forums such as these to expose the Jibs for who they really are. That would really encourage fair business. If you are in Lagos, we can connect and meet up. You can meet our MD and our team! I will make special mention of you. Feel free to ask anything you absolutely like!

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emmaihunzeyah: pls my thai bro how much will it cost to have a truck

emmaihunzeyah -- Thanks for your interest! You will find your answer above.

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edogirl2:

Please Op,

1. how did you go from wanting to import rice, a business that requires hundreds of millions of naira, to wanting to import clothes of "$2000 -
$3,000?

2. I've always understood that only people with a special license (waiver?) from the Federal government could import rice through the ports,
though it is possible that this is no longer the case. If a waiver is required, why did this key requirement not feature in your list of
'challenges'

3. Per 1 above, if you had hundreds of millions of Naira to dabble in rice importation, how come you could not afford more than a couple or so 'used' trucks to start your trucking business and fell into the hands of so-called Jibbs

4. What's in it for you to reveal your 'business secrets' - what exactly is your ultimate goal.

Nigerians are fond of putting and often losing their life savings chasing the latest 'hot' business - so please do our people a favour and address the above questions so people can make clear-headed decisions.

Edogirl2 -- Thanks for your comments! I will answer your questions accordingly. 1) You do not need a 100 million nairas to import a few containers of rice to start doing business. Its been almost 2 years but I will try my best to recollect how it works. A ton of white rice from Thailand varies from $450-$1000 per ton depending upon quality of rice. Shipping rates varies from $50-$80 per ton. A 20 foot container can hold around 25 tons of rice. Shipping for 25 tons cost around $1500. Add $12500 for total cost of rice = $14000-$15000 per 20 foot container. You can start with 2 containers that would cost you around $30000. OFFICIAL Import of Nigeria for rice at that time was around 40%-50%. To escape from paying import tax, you need to make connections with the port authorities and pay under-table. This was not something we wanted to do. The powerful women rice traders of Lagos that I mentioned were willing to buy from us if we could get them the price they wanted....which we could not "officially" do. I heard there is a group of 7-8 powerful women that controls alot of the rice into the market.

2) I had mentioned we had to go through Nafdac. Basically to bring rice into Nigeria we had to register our own brand of rice. But before we can do that, we have to register with Nafdac. In fact, alot of people are importing rice into Nigeria via undertable. I do not personally think that the waiver has anything to do with the ability to import rice but actually have to do with HUGE COMPANIES that can import rice WITHOUT PAYING IMPORT TAX. If you are in not in the exempt list, you have to pay your 40%-50% taxes.

3) Answered at 1. We do not have 100 million nairas. I will write in my future post where and how we got the money for our 5 trucks. As a side note, we actually wanted to get into the HOSPITALITY business as we knew that it would be more lucrative than the haulage. But the amount of money needed for that was almost 3-4 times the cost of getting into the Haulage business. We do have future plans to get into the hospitality business. Hopefully within 2-3 years.

4) It is not a secret. But my main intention is to share my haulage business experience in Nairaland. Nairaland has been a source of great information to me in all these years. What I write could be a source of information for future entrepreneurs. And it also encourages Transparency and integrity which we plan to follow through. Imagine exposing the jibs here. Imagine the affect this could have on their business. Future truck owners wouldn't ever register their new trucks under them, if they knew right? Its just a source of info. That's it. I'm just fortunate enough that this thread has been put on the main page. It is a huge honour and a surprise!

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ayodejy05: @OP. Hmmm thailander indeed!!! He's even referring to tokunbo trunk in one of his writings. How come you mentioned tokunbo truck (at least I expected him to write used truck). This is an upgraded scammer in disguise.

ayodejy05 -- Thanks for your comment! As I had mentioned above. It would be extremely funny if we have been in the Haulage business for almost almost 2 years in Nigeria and not know meaning of "Tokunbo" trucks. You learn the lingo. I don't understand how that can come as a surprise.

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360command: Sai wadee ! Why are thai names too long ? Welcome to Nigeria, hope to read more of your stories. This is NaijaSiam connections. From Lagos to Bangkok. Doing business in thai is not also easy. The Farangs in thais complains about doing business in thai. What happens in naija is similarly the same as in thailand.

360command -- Sawadee Khrap! It is good to know that you deal with Thailand! It would be great to meet and connect with you when we are in Lagos!
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I've tried my best to answer everyone's questions and comments to the best of my ability. Although I've only covered the first 2-3 pages of the thread.

Please note it is one thing to write about someones success and business but it is entirely different to actually do it and endure the process.

My Humblest regards,

Your Friend.