B2B, Industrial & Distribution · Seller readiness
Selling a Trucking & Logistics business
Published · Reviewed by The Diligence Standard Team · Updated
Owners should prepare customer-level margin, fleet condition, driver, safety, insurance and compliance data and normalize unusual fuel, repair or owner-related items.
How the business works
Customer concentration, driver retention, equipment utilization, insurance, fuel, compliance and asset quality drive cash flow.
Issues to resolve
- Fleet market value is confused with enterprise value
- Loss runs and compliance records are not organized
- Customer margin data is weak
- Owner dispatch/sales role is not normalized
- Deferred maintenance becomes retrading leverage
Evidence to request and reconcile
- Customer-level revenue and margin
- Driver roster/tenure
- Fleet schedule and maintenance
- Loss runs/insurance
- Safety/compliance records
- Fuel and repair history
Decision questions
- What percentage of gross profit comes from the top five customers?
- How much fleet replacement is coming?
- What will insurance cost under new ownership?
- How many drivers would stay after a transition?
- Are margins based on assets, brokerage or a changing mix?