Buying a trucking company in Orlando and Central Florida

• Direct shipper customers with years of history, not only brokered loads that can vanish when rates fall.
• A clean safety record: few crashes, good roadside inspection results, and no conditional or unsatisfactory rating from FMCSA, the federal safety regulator.
• A maintained fleet with documented service records and a sensible replacement schedule.
• Drivers who stay, because pay, equipment and home time are good. Turnover is one of the biggest hidden costs in trucking.
• Insurance at a reasonable premium, backed by a clean claims history.
• A safety manager and dispatcher who run daily operations without the owner.
• Costs tracked per truck and per mile, so the owner knows which routes and customers make money.
• Freight both into and out of Florida, so trucks don't run long distances empty.

• FMCSA safety data: inspection results, crash history, out-of-service rates and any audit or investigation findings.
• Driver files, drug and alcohol testing records and hours-of-service logs.
• Insurance quotes for you as the new owner before you commit. Premiums can jump with a change of ownership or a new USDOT number.
• Each truck's age, mileage, maintenance records and what's owed on it.
• How much depends on the biggest customers, brokered versus direct revenue, and rates per mile on each route.
• Owner-operator agreements, and whether those drivers are properly treated as contractors.
• Open claims, cargo damage claims and lawsuits, including any from crashes.
• For household movers, complaints filed with FDACS, and whether estimates and contracts follow Florida's moving law (chapter 507).
• Data from tracking devices and dash cameras, if the fleet has them, which shows how the trucks are actually driven.

• What share of revenue comes from direct shippers, and how long have they worked with you?
• How long do your drivers usually stay, and how do you find new ones?
• How has your insurance cost changed over the last three years?
• Have you had any serious crashes, audits or FMCSA investigations?
• How do you find loads leaving Florida?
• Who handles safety compliance and dispatch today?
• When does each truck need replacing?

This region covers Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Lake, Sumter and Marion counties: Orlando, Winter Park, Kissimmee, St. Cloud, Sanford, Clermont, Leesburg, Ocala and the large retirement communities of Sumter and Lake counties. Tourism is what the area is best known for, built on the theme parks, the hotels, the vacation rental homes around Kissimmee and the Orange County Convention Center. It's far from the only business. The University of Central Florida and the military simulation and training offices near it support a technology base, and health care is a major employer.

Marion County is horse country, with thoroughbred farms around Ocala, and it has added warehouses and distribution centers along Interstate 75. Retirees in Sumter and Lake create steady demand for medical practices, home care, home maintenance and auto services. The building trades, restaurants, and companies that serve hotels and rental homes do well across the region.

Central Florida is inland, so storm surge isn't the worry it is on the coasts. Hurricanes still bring wind damage and flooding, though: Hurricane Ian flooded neighborhoods in Orange, Seminole and Osceola counties in 2022. Ask whether the business or its customers were affected.

Tourism keeps demand steadier through the year than in markets that depend on winter residents, with busy stretches around school holidays. Hotels, parks and restaurants compete hard for workers, which pushes up wages for any company that hires hourly staff. New homes have spread fast in Osceola, south Lake and southeast Orange counties and around Ocala, so check whether a company's customers are in growing areas or older ones. Traffic on Interstate 4 limits how much ground a service company can cover in a day.