18 Box Truck Business Ideas To Start In [2024]

Updated: July 15th, 2024

Box trucks are becoming more and more popular in the moving industry. They are basically square-shaped moving trucks, which helps provide more space to store items.

Starting your own box truck business is a great way to build your own company and make some pretty solid cash. It's also a fantastic opportunity for those who want to transition into a business of their own.

Here is a list of the top 18 Box Truck Business Ideas you can start in 2022.

1. Start a logistics business

Logistics businesses focus on transportation and storage/warehousing, which are critical components of the supply chain. Without elaborate logistics, businesses will deliver goods to their customers efficiently and reliably.

A logistics business connects manufacturers and consumers through transportation and safe storage of products. Logistics may be a good place to start if you are interested in a supply chain-related business but not sure which one. You can work as a driver, connect manufacturers to storage warehouses and transportation companies, etc.

How much you can make: $5,800 — $2,000,000/month

How much does it cost to start: $5,000 (?)

How long does it take to build: 90 days (?)

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2. Start a food truck

Food trucks are a highly profitable business that offers customers a variety of meal options out of a mobile truck. This basically operates inside a large vehicle equipped with kitchen and food products. Starting a food truck is a dream for many people, but it's more challenging than it looks. To make it work, you need the ideal location and menu.

To start a food truck business in a particular city, it is mandatory to check what kind of food trucks are already operating, identify a gap, and bring in some new experiences. Then, with the right plan and the right approach, you can be on your way to starting your own food truck empire.

How much you can make: $30,000 — $1,500,000/month

How long does it take to build: 60 days (?)

Time commitment per week: Min. 5 hours/week

How I Took Food Trucks Corporate And Built A $18M Business

Food Fleet grew over 160% in just one year and managed over 20 million in sales for its clients, securing multiple contracts with the likes of Sodexo, Levy Restaurants and more, due to its understanding of catering client needs and its advanced turnkey and design services.

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3. Start a courier business

Courier service is a premium, all-inclusive service that collects and delivers shipments within the shortest possible time frame. Courier services serve individuals, e-commerce stores, law offices, banks, hospitals, etc.

If you dream of owning a courier service, you can start as a delivery driver and rely on self-employed delivery drivers to get the goods to customers. As the business grows, you can invest in delivery vans to handle bulky deliveries.

To run a convenient courier service, ensure you have a reliable delivery car and proper time management skills.

How much you can make: $5,000/month

How long does it take to build: 180 days (?)

My Local Delivery Startup In Bangladesh Reached $30K/Month [In 6 Months]

Bangladesh-based logistics company Parcelmagic has onboarded over 100 merchants and delivers 10,000 parcels each month within just six months of operation, offering technology-based end-to-end services for small to medium business parcel delivery, individual document and parcel couriers, and corporate logistics service solutions.

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4. Start a transportation service

Transportation businesses offer ridesharing services, haul consumer goods, or ship supplies and products from one location to another. They target individual passengers, other companies, or global business partners.

If you are starting a transportation service, decide who and what you will serve, set up the business structure, register the business, and apply for the required business licenses or permits. To ensure a profitable business, incorporate proper hiring procedures and keep up with maintenance and recertifications.

How much you can make: $6,000 — $1,080,000/month

How long does it take to build: 180 days (?)

How We Developed A $6K/Month Parcel Tracking Software While In College

Deepfinity, a proptech/logistics company, has developed an internal parcel tracking software tool that's helping large buildings cope with the influx of online shopping, and has been growing 20% MoM since making its first revenue 1.5 years ago, currently making $6K/Month.

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5. Start a waste hauling business

Waste hauling is an easy and profitable business to get started in. If you own a dump trailer or rent one, you can start a waste haulage business and build a hugely profitable enterprise. To operate a waste haulage business, you need relevant waste carriers licenses and personal protective equipment for you and your staff.

How much you can make: $4,000 — $230,000/month

How long does it take to build: 135 days (?)

How I Started A $41K/Month Residential Waste Removal Service

This case study showcases the story of a locally owned and operated residential waste removal business based in Colorado Springs started with a pick-up truck and a $35k loan, which now has 51 dumpsters, two roll-off dumpster delivery trucks, two residential garbage trucks, and is projecting $700-800k in sales for 2020.

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6. Start a moving service business

Moving service businesses pack, load, transport, unpack, clean, and carefully arrange items at the new location.

The demand for moving services is high among businesses, office owners, and residential customers.

As the owner of a moving truck business, your responsibility is to find potential customers (people who are moving home or office), hire a number of packers depending on the scope of work, and transport the items safely to the new location.

How much you can make: $1,500/month

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7. Start a food delivery business

In today’s busy lifestyles and schedules, cooking is no longer a priority to many. People like to order-in food from their nearest restaurants or food joints and enjoy a meal in the comfort of their homes.

The food delivery business is like a courier service through which restaurants deliver food to their customers.

You can offer retail food delivery services to restaurants within your locality if you have a truck. Customers order through a restaurant or grocer’s website, and the owners contact you to deliver.

How much you can make: $14,000 — $1,800,000/month

How much does it cost to start: $3,500 (?)

How long does it take to build: 90 days (?)

How I Took Food Trucks Corporate And Built A $18M Business

Food Fleet grew over 160% in just one year and managed over 20 million in sales for its clients, securing multiple contracts with the likes of Sodexo, Levy Restaurants and more, due to its understanding of catering client needs and its advanced turnkey and design services.

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8. Become a building materials transporter

Construction of industries and commercial and residential properties continue increasing at a furious rate. Consequently, the demand for construction materials is massive and there is no sign of slowing down on the horizon.

The trucking industry is responsible for hauling a huge percentage of overland freight served to the construction industry. Therefore, if you are looking for a potential opportunity within the trucking industry, consider the haulage of construction materials.

To start, research the market and identify which areas have more opportunities. Then, buy or lease a suitable truck for the specific items you prefer to transport. Networking with construction site managers, foremen, and engineers will help you get more repeat business opportunities.

9. Start a mobile veterinary service

A mobile veterinary service is just what it sounds like, your pet receives veterinary care in a car. A mobile unit is much cheaper than building a clinic.

As the number of pet owners is growing, there is also an increase in the number of pets that require check-ups and emergency services. If you are looking for a relatively low investment way to start a business, then starting a mobile veterinary service might be the right business for you.

How much you can make: $580,000/month

How We Started A Mobile Veterinary Service Serving Our Community

A mobile veterinarian built her business HousePaws on a community-based marketing approach, which helped her take the team from just herself to over 100 employees and more than 7 million dollars in revenue in less than 10 years.

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10. Start a mobile car detailing

Starting a mobile car detailing business is a great way to earn money. The mobile detail business draws customers from the surrounding areas and provides an opportunity to deal with all kinds of vehicles, including classic cars and 18-wheelers.

How much you can make: $20,000/month

How much does it cost to start: $500 (?)

How long does it take to build: 30 days (?)

How We Started Our $96K/Year Mobile Auto Detailing Business

Belk Mobile Detailing, a mobile automotive detailing business, generated an average of $8,000 over the past 12 months, detailing 60-80 vehicles per month and is set to break a record for their highest sales month yet, having done over $15k in sales for April, 2022.

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11. Start a freight moving business

Freight moving business is something that you can make real money with if you are in the right state and have plenty of resources to access the freight, then this is something you should think about.

As a freight mover, all you have to do is pick up cargo from one place, get to its destination, and repeat.

Freight moving business requires a lot of investment but at the same time, there is a lot of profit to be made out of it.

How much you can make: $65,000 — $1,080,000/month

How long does it take to build: 180 days (?)

How My Father And I Started A $780K/Year Business Reselling Parcels

A Canadian entrepreneur, Steve Setka, and his father bought an InXpress franchise in Mid 2017, starting as a parcel software platform  and now specializing in LTL less-than-truckload services as well, with a minor capacity in Full Truckload and ocean freight, with a projected revenue of CAD 1M.

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12. Start a mobile hair salon

With the ever-increasing number of people in the world becoming increasingly mobile, the demand for mobile hair services will also increase. Mobile hairstyling is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world. Making money while driving around in your car or truck may sound enticing.

Listed are the steps to start a mobile hair salon business.

  • Plan your business
  • Register your business
  • Secure permits and licenses
  • Get certificates
  • Purchase needed materials and supplies.
  • Connect with clients. Promote your business

How much you can make: $30,000/month

How much does it cost to start: $3 (?)

How long does it take to build: 60 days (?)

I Turned This Instagram Page Into A 7-Figure Business

Natural Girl Wigs is a 7-figure business, reaching six-figures just six months after launch, by creating Afrocentric extensions and protective styles catering to black women all over the world, with strategies including Instagram and Whatsapp, viral word-of-mouth, and targeted Facebook ads and email marketing.

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13. Start a truck rental business

A truck rental business provides individuals, businesses, and companies with large trucks to haul cargo to specific destinations.

Businesses constantly look for the best ways to reduce operating expenses. One preferred method is hiring trucks instead of buying. This is often the case when the need for a truck is rare such as when moving an office or transporting machinery to a new plant.

You may invest in a box truck and work with a motor vehicle leasing company, or if you have huge capital, buy a fleet of trucks and start a full truck rental company. Market your business to startups and other small-scale businesses that likely need trucking services but do not consider buying an economical way of doing business.

14. Start a mobile truck advertising business

Mobile truck advertising gets brands noticed, recognized, and remembered. The alternatives here can include using the truck for roadshows/mobile advertising campaigns and mounting mobile billboards/truck side advertising.

The business idea allows truck owners to diversify their income sources. Therefore, you can use your truck for hauling and at the same time rent the truck side to an advertising company.

15. Start a furniture delivery and assembling business

A furniture delivery business is a low-barrier to entry business opportunity for a handyperson with tools and a truck. You can manage the business easily from your home office or online, keeping operating expenses minimal.

As the home construction business experience a boom, demand for new furniture is also increasing. New home buyers purchase furniture online and look for a handy person to help with the delivery and assembly.

To start a furniture delivery and assembly business, partner with furniture manufacturers and become their local agent. For every order, they send, request to be the delivery and assembly partner.

16. Start an airport catering truck business

The global airport catering truck market will expand at a CAGR of 5.7% in the next few years. As air travel continues to gain high momentum, starting an aircraft catering truck business can be a great business opportunity.

Airport catering trucks comprise a scissor lift elevation system for raising the container to the aircraft level. The trucks provide various services in aircraft such as cleaning, loading, and unloading cargo.

17. Start a Long Haul Trucking Business

Long haul trucking is one of the sectors contributing significantly to economic growth. Besides, with the modern marketplaces, consumers depend on long-haul truckers to bridge the gap between them and favorite suppliers across the globe.

Thus, if you have a passion for starting a business that focuses on trucking, a long-haul trucking business would fulfill your dream.

Before investing in a long-haul truck, study the market and identify the business opportunities that will be most pleasing to you. Then, buy or lease a suitable long-haul truck and focus on doing what it takes to keep your business profitable while satisfying your customers.

18. Start an animal transportation business

Animal transportation is the commercial ferrying of wild and domestic animals. The animal transporters help rescuers, game parks, and pet lovers by offering safe and convenient animal transfers.

Thus, if you own a truck, you can customize it to offer animal transportation services. The truck should be customized as per the size of animals you will be transferring in them and there should be a facility to lift animals into the vehicle and out of it.

Starting an animal transportation business is a profitable prospect. You require some licensing, and you ought to carve a niche and market your services to potential customers.

How long does it take to build: 60 days (?)

meet the author
Pat Walls