Trucking company simulator
See what your trucking company would turn over, how many shippers you'd win and who you'd lose them to — month by month for two years — before you spend real money.
Loads, lanes, diesel and the broker who wants it there tomorrow. This one opens as Long Haul Freight: A small trucking company hauling freight for shippers and freight brokers across a few regions, starting with one truck. Rename it, reprice it, or describe your own trucking company and let Nova rewrite it to fit.
What a steady trucking company ends up with
Played steadily for all two years — quality first, then growth, a fair share of the bank spent each year — a steady trucking company here ends its last year on $1.1m of revenue and $94k of profit, with 80 shippers and 2% of the market (#5 of 5).
It starts from nothing: $40k in the bank and you, 60 hours a week, with no shippers yet.
People who play it well do better, and a bad plan runs out of money.
Revenue in the last year: $1.1m
Profit in the last year: $94k
Shippers at the end: 80
Share of the market: From nothing to 2%
Where it finishes: #5 of 5
Years and decisions: 2 years, monthly
What you'll decide each month
Each month you set your rates, how many people are on the books and how many shippers each can look after, what you spend on being found, and which regions you cover.
Each decision shows on a forecast before you file it, and every period resolves against the rivals and the economy.
Who your shippers are
A local service is booked on trust and lost on a missed load. Every shipper needs somebody's time, so the people you can put on the work are the limit, and word of mouth is the cheapest marketing there is.
4,000 shippers in all, across Home region, the next state over, the interstate corridor, the port and rail hubs and Long-haul lanes.
Freight brokers: Load boards and a rate per mile that changes by the hour. About 2,000 of them, worth $9.6k a year each.
Direct shippers: A manufacturer or distributor with regular lanes and a contract rate. About 800 of them, worth $22k a year each.
Dedicated contracts: A truck kept for one customer's freight, week in, week out. About 400 of them, worth $60k a year each.
Spot and one-off loads: Urgent freight off a load board, gone afterwards. About 800 of them, worth $3k a year each.
Who you're up against
Three rivals are already in it, and they play to win: they cut prices, spend on marketing and answer what you do. Most of the market is theirs on day one.
The national carrier: The biggest, and slow to change — it has stopped listening to its smaller customers. Holds about 25% of the market.
The owner-operator with forty years of brokers: Wins on price and little else; its customers leave the moment somebody is better. Holds about 20% of the market.
The digital freight broker's own fleet: Clever and quick, but stretched thin and hard to get hold of. Holds about 10% of the market.
How it works
Free until you start: building and previewing cost nothing, and starting is $10, once.
Build it — free: Press build and you get your own copy of this market: four kinds of shipper, three rivals and five regions.
Make it yours: Change any number, describe your trucking company in a sentence or two and let Nova fill it in, or upload a profit and loss or a month-by-month sales history to fit it to your real figures.
Preview — free: See what a steady trucking company ends up with, and every warning worth reading, before you pay anything.
Start — $10: Pay once to start, your seat included. Then run it month by month for two years.
Also for
trucking · truck driver · trucker · owner operator · owner-operator · freight · haulage · haulier · hauling · semi truck · 18 wheeler · box truck · hotshot · cdl · freight carrier · lorry · logistics
How much does the trucking company simulator cost?
Building and previewing are free: make your own copy of this trucking company market, change anything in it and see what a steady trucking company ends up with without paying. Starting the simulation is $10, once, and your own seat is included.
Can I make it match my own trucking company?
Yes. Every number can be changed — the shippers and what they pay, the rivals, the regions, the costs and the starting cash. Or describe your trucking company in a sentence or two and Nova, SparkTower's AI, fills every section in for one Nova action. If you already trade, upload a profit and loss or a month-by-month sales history and the simulation is fitted to your real numbers, starting from where your business stands today.
Are the numbers realistic for a trucking company?
The template is checked against what real ones do: played steadily, a believable one finishes year two turning over between $150k and $1.5m, with between 12 and 150 shippers. This one's preview comes to about $1.1m and 80. Your own prices, costs and figures change that, which is the point of trying it here first.
Can I use it to test a trucking company business plan?
That is what it is for. Put your plan's prices, costs and starting cash in, play it forward month by month, and see whether the money lasts, how many shippers you would need and what a rival's price cut does to you — before you put real money in.
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