'let's Get A Dumptruck...

[tutsiwarrior]

please don't laugh...

the wife has suggested getting a dump truck and having the brother-in-law who has business contacts do the work...one contact has a contract for a new papermill going up in Pratchinburi and looks like solid work for a year or so...I am peripherally involved with the construction business as a project engineer on new power stations and am familiar with what it costs to run a piece of equipment, hassles involved with securing a contract, etc...

but...this is Thailand...any of you guys run a business like the above?...anything to advise? I know that there is a mafia element to operating in the construction business but the guy that has the contract is a family friend. The brother-in-law is not that smart but the wife will be running the show and she's nobody's fool.

Remarks,sarcastic and otherwise, are invited. Would like to know about any first hand experience anyone has. The initial investment will be about 100k baht and we will be owning and operating the equipment.

cheers....

[teacup]

I don’t know how can you run a dump truck business with just one dump truck doing all the works. I would get several of them if you want to do it seriously and to be worth any of your times and money invested. Of course this will required serious investment money, commitment, and the know-how just like any other businesses.

If you wife wants to run a dump truck business seriously and expects to be quite profitable (she thinks), why don’t you just try her idea out but by leasing a few of them first to see how the business goes and who will be doing what (your wife, her brother, or whoever in the family). As the contract list grows in the later months or years, then you will know for sure there is really a demand for the dump truck business and your wife is a true visionally, then you can decide at that time to buy several dump trucks of your own.

Just don’t depend on the nearby papermill only. You can expand you clients list that includes builders, homeowners, farmers, etc..... for hauling all sorts of thing!

And it’s also quite admirable for any thai female for wanting to run a trucking business or any business of her own at all, after they married to a farang. So thump up to you wife for wanting to do or have something concrete of her own, not to mention her personal/life achievement.

So best of luck

Edited September 6, 2007 by teacup

[tutsiwarrior]

I don't know how can you run a dump truck business with just one dump truck doing all the works. I would get several of them if you want to do it seriously and to be worth any of your times and money invested. Of course this will required serious investment money, commitment, and the know-how just like any other businesses.

If you wife wants to run a dump truck business seriously and expects to be quite profitable (she thinks), why don't you just try her idea out but by leasing a few of them first to see how the business goes and who will be doing what (your wife, her brother, or whoever in the family). As the contract list grows in the later months or years, then you will know for sure there is really a demand for the dump truck business and your wife is a true visionally, then you can decide at that time to buy several dump trucks of your own.

Just don't depend on the nearby papermill only. You can expand you clients list that includes builders, homeowners, farmers, etc..... for hauling all sorts of thing!

And it's also quite admirable for any thai female for wanting to run a trucking business or any business of her own at all, after they married to a farang. So thump up to you wife for wanting to do or have something concrete of her own, not to mention her personal/life achievement.

So best of luck

the lease option is an excellent suggestion...there should be a maintenance contract attached to the lease and maintenance on a piece of heavy equipment is an overhead that my wife doesn't consider...(despite my indications to the contrary)

plus, if the business doesn't work out we just pull out per contract conditions...not much lost...ain't got sum piece of shit dump truck to flog to the next willing punter...

wonderful advice...Thaivisa does it again...

Edited September 6, 2007 by tutsiwarrior

[JimmyTheMook]

Wife has a friend who did the same by buying one backhoe digger and putting her brother to work with it on the numerous construction sites.

Not sure if the machine is leased or has any type of service contract with it.

[tutsiwarrior]

Wife has a friend who did the same by buying one backhoe digger and putting her brother to work with it on the numerous construction sites.

Not sure if the machine is leased or has any type of service contract with it.

some years ago I considered doing a backhoe/dump truck business as Suphanburi has a lot of development going on...not that far from BKK with property prices a fraction thereof...but I thought about initial investment (ye gotta get a flatbed trailer and a truck to cart the mother around), maintenance and local mafia re: getting contracts locally and was discouraged...

sounds like the idea is doable on a lease/hire basis if only to check the water...just need to put it in motion...

better look out...if the thai authorities get wind of falangs having successful businesses the shit will come down like a load of bricks...

[soundman]

Don't be discouraged by all the "mafia" & protectionism rackets that you hear "rumors" about. All that internal industry politics mainly occurs at the procurement end of the contracts - or to put it more simply - "at the business end where the real money is made".

If your brother in law wants to buy a dumptruck & simply sub-contract to building, construction & material supply companies - there are no problems with mafia whatsoever.

A ten wheel (rot sip lor) dumptruck will cost about 2mil new, 1mil half life, 400k many problems.

Should generate about 1200B - 1500B per work day in gross profit.

A six wheel (rot hok lor) 8 tonne dumptruck will cost about 1.2mil new, 700k half life, 250k many problems.

Should generate about 750B - 1000B per work day in gross profit.

After gross profit you need to worry about vehicle maintenance (dump trucks high), insurance & ta-bien etc.

If you would like to lease a rot sip lor for a period of time to test the waters, we have a couple spare. I could ask my father in law if you are interested, however, he may insist on his driver.

Cheers,

Soundman.

[tutsiwarrior]

Don't be discouraged by all the "mafia" & protectionism rackets that you hear "rumors" about. All that internal industry politics mainly occurs at the procurement end of the contracts - or to put it more simply - "at the business end where the real money is made".

If your brother in law wants to buy a dumptruck & simply sub-contract to building, construction & material supply companies - there are no problems with mafia whatsoever.

A ten wheel (rot sip lor) dumptruck will cost about 2mil new, 1mil half life, 400k many problems.

Should generate about 1200B - 1500B per work day in gross profit.

A six wheel (rot hok lor) 8 tonne dumptruck will cost about 1.2mil new, 700k half life, 250k many problems.

Should generate about 750B - 1000B per work day in gross profit.

After gross profit you need to worry about vehicle maintenance (dump trucks high), insurance & ta-bien etc.

If you would like to lease a rot sip lor for a period of time to test the waters, we have a couple spare. I could ask my father in law if you are interested, however, he may insist on his driver.

Cheers,

Soundman.

looks like we're gonna need 6 wheel rigs...might be some site restraints involved...discussed your figures with the wife to get a handle on a lease agreement...just packed her off to discuss leasing 2 units; don't want no falang faces around for obvious reasons...

many thanks for your help...

[ThaiWanderer68]

Remarks,sarcastic and otherwise, are invited. Would like to know about any first hand experience anyone has. The initial investment will be about 100k baht and we will be owning and operating the equipment.

cheers....

To start with the sarcastic as you asked: Are you sure he's really your brother in law? Then after that, is this really about business for you and your wife to make money, or something to help a family member, or pander to a family member's whim? Each is valid in its own way, just be clear why you are doing it.

If you can afford to lose 100k then you're financially ok to start. Tho' that doesn't mean you should, and be careful not to set precedents for every family whim that comes along in the form of a business venture. I would add that 100k looks low for start up. What's the total outlay in say 6 months with no income (worst case)?

After that how much above that are you prepared to put in to keep it going? And will you be disciplined enough to cut your losses if you put that extra in and it doesn't work out? What expectations are you going to set to your wife and brother-in-life? What are the consequences when they don't meet them, and will you stick to them? eg I'm only going to do this once, and if it doesn't work that's it. No more ideas of internet cafes, pig farms, restaurants etc.

In terms of business model. Yes - crunch some numbers, and don't forget insurance. Personally I wouldn't lease other trucks just yet (unless daily as needed), tho' it's a later option. Start with 1 truck, and if it looks to be working then add more. Bigger plans = bigger potential losses. "Start small and see how" if you do decide to go into it. If you're wife and brother-in-law prove hopeless or lose interest, you don't want all those commitments..

Edited September 6, 2007 by ThaiWanderer68

[Heng]

Even BFI -now part of Allied Waste- started out with one truck in Houston, Texas (woo hoo!) and 30 years later the company it became was sold for around US$9 Billion. Not exactly the same business you're wanting to do, but IMO waste disposal/management/recycling has a lot more potential here than basic dumptruck type work. Any of the major cities, and especially Bangkok is a gold mine of garbage. You could go a number of ways from focusing on collection to focusing on sorting and reselling (obviously, you won't find too many people willing to pay for garbage service... since the cities usually do it for 20 Baht per home per month... but IMO garbage is generally worth a lot more than that). It's messy, it takes up quite a bit of space, but on the upside the labor here is super cheap and you don't have to deal with too many "health inspection" type agencies. In a few parts of town, you might have to deal with angry sa-leng (three wheeled trash collectors), but IMO they wouldn't be too difficult to placate and if you set it up right, you might be able to get them to work for you/or at least marginally with you, too.

I used to kick around numbers when my orchid export business was just taking off (and was looking to expand into other things), but decided to go the way of money lending (since our pawn shops were already in place), and decided that I didn't need the hassles nor reputation of being BOTH a money lender AND being in the "waste management" business. I went the safe route (living on interest isn't really "work") but the latter route IMO still has so much untapped potential, even to this day. Not too many folks dream of getting their hands dirty on an industrial scale here I guess.

[tutsiwarrior]

Remarks,sarcastic and otherwise, are invited. Would like to know about any first hand experience anyone has. The initial investment will be about 100k baht and we will be owning and operating the equipment.

cheers....

To start with the sarcastic as you asked: Are you sure he's really your brother in law? Then after that, is this really about business for you and your wife to make money, or something to help a family member, or pander to a family member's whim? Each is valid in its own way, just be clear why you are doing it.

If you can afford to lose 100k then you're financially ok to start. Tho' that doesn't mean you should, and be careful not to set precedents for every family whim that comes along in the form of a business venture. I would add that 100k looks low for start up. What's the total outlay in say 6 months with no income (worst case)?

After that how much above that are you prepared to put in to keep it going? And will you be disciplined enough to cut your losses if you put that extra in and it doesn't work out? What expectations are you going to set to your wife and brother-in-life? What are the consequences when they don't meet them, and will you stick to them? eg I'm only going to do this once, and if it doesn't work that's it. No more ideas of internet cafes, pig farms, restaurants etc.

In terms of business model. Yes - crunch some numbers, and don't forget insurance. Personally I wouldn't lease other trucks just yet (unless daily as needed), tho' it's a later option. Start with 1 truck, and if it looks to be working then add more. Bigger plans = bigger potential losses. "Start small and see how" if you do decide to go into it. If you're wife and brother-in-law prove hopeless or lose interest, you don't want all those commitments..

the wife and I have just celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary and this is the first time she's asked for any significant amount of dough...100k baht?...I can afford to walk away from it if things don't work out and, as the wife will be in charge she will have to show receipts, bank balances, etc to demonstrate...

my worry was with maintenance, construction mafia and etc...insurance and maintenance should be included in the lease agreement; the job in Pratchinburi is well known in these parts and the hiring contractor is also well known to the wife...family friend, etc...so, the risk sounds to me to be pretty much what one would take for a similar exercise...nothing is falang fool proof...gotta expect some gliches and to be prepared to lose money to begin with...if things aren't up and running within 3-4 months or so might have to make bail out plans...just common business sense...

[chinthee]

Waste Management business?

[ThaiWanderer68]

the wife and I have just celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary and this is the first time she's asked for any significant amount of dough...100k baht?...I can afford to walk away from it if things don't work out and, as the wife will be in charge she will have to show receipts, bank balances, etc to demonstrate...

my worry was with maintenance, construction mafia and etc...insurance and maintenance should be included in the lease agreement; the job in Pratchinburi is well known in these parts and the hiring contractor is also well known to the wife...family friend, etc...so, the risk sounds to me to be pretty much what one would take for a similar exercise...nothing is falang fool proof...gotta expect some gliches and to be prepared to lose money to begin with...if things aren't up and running within 3-4 months or so might have to make bail out plans...just common business sense...

once you've answered to yourself:

- why you are doing it. i.e start with the end in mind

- you're comfortable with the risks and what happens if it all goes wrong. Keep assessing these and ensure you don't overstretch

- you have crunched some numbers and assess what you can realistically acheive, and it's in line with why you are doing it...

Then as long as you start small and build up - just go for it. Take a risk and see what happens. Thailand can be a great country for entrepreneurs. Particularly if you're doing something you enjoy and believe in. I know lots of people who have started businesses here and made successes from very little. The people who tend to lose out here, aim too big too quick too soon, and events change unexpectedly or don't work out as they thought. i.e start small and grow by testing it along the way. Buy a truck and see.... add another if it's working. This is the type of business you'll see pretty quickly if it works or not.

Edited September 6, 2007 by ThaiWanderer68

[tutsiwarrior]

the wife and I have just celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary and this is the first time she's asked for any significant amount of dough...100k baht?...I can afford to walk away from it if things don't work out and, as the wife will be in charge she will have to show receipts, bank balances, etc to demonstrate...

my worry was with maintenance, construction mafia and etc...insurance and maintenance should be included in the lease agreement; the job in Pratchinburi is well known in these parts and the hiring contractor is also well known to the wife...family friend, etc...so, the risk sounds to me to be pretty much what one would take for a similar exercise...nothing is falang fool proof...gotta expect some gliches and to be prepared to lose money to begin with...if things aren't up and running within 3-4 months or so might have to make bail out plans...just common business sense...

once you've answered to yourself:

- why you are doing it. i.e start with the end in mind

- you're comfortable with the risks and what happens if it all goes wrong. Keep assessing these and ensure you don't overstretch

- you have crunched some numbers and assess what you can realistically acheive, and it's in line with why you are doing it...

Then as long as you start small and build up - just go for it. Take a risk and see what happens. Thailand can be a great country for entrepreneurs. Particularly if you're doing something you enjoy and believe in. I know lots of people who have started businesses here and made successes from very little. The people who tend to lose out here, aim too big too quick too soon, and events change unexpectedly or don't work out as they thought. i.e start small and grow by testing it along the way. Buy a truck and see.... add another if it's working. This is the type of business you'll see pretty quickly if it works or not.

yeah...when I first got up here 7 years ago I had a look around and said 'great scope for a small construction business'...now that we got a contact that's offering work the risk looks worthwhile. As always...don't invest more than you can walk away from; starting small with a couple of leased trucks sounds like the way to go...

plus...I got faith in my wife...I got univ. qualifications up the kazoo but I ain't got practical smarts like her...in a peverse way there is something to be said for growing up poor...also, at some point I'm gonna need USD1000 per month to be able to stay in Thailand; maybe the wife is onto sumpin'...

[Kf6vci]

There are a lot of people in the recycling business: you see them seperating the garbage, sitting on dump trucks. Would you get an unpaid group of such helpers, too? Would yours be a local service for the local neighborhood? Who is supplying this service right now and have you learnt how long their contract runs? And its terms - I read something about Pattaya city switching providers... and how much the contract was worth.

Getting someone to pay for it is the hard part of any service :--(

[JimsKnight]

Don't be discouraged by all the "mafia" & protectionism rackets that you hear "rumors" about. All that internal industry politics mainly occurs at the procurement end of the contracts - or to put it more simply - "at the business end where the real money is made".

If your brother in law wants to buy a dumptruck & simply sub-contract to building, construction & material supply companies - there are no problems with mafia whatsoever.

A ten wheel (rot sip lor) dumptruck will cost about 2mil new, 1mil half life, 400k many problems.

Should generate about 1200B - 1500B per work day in gross profit.

A six wheel (rot hok lor) 8 tonne dumptruck will cost about 1.2mil new, 700k half life, 250k many problems.

Should generate about 750B - 1000B per work day in gross profit.

After gross profit you need to worry about vehicle maintenance (dump trucks high), insurance & ta-bien etc.

If you would like to lease a rot sip lor for a period of time to test the waters, we have a couple spare. I could ask my father in law if you are interested, however, he may insist on his driver.

Cheers,

Soundman.

At those rates the ROI is gonna take at least a year to pay off (working 7 days a week) a shtter of a dump truck which is on it's last legs.

Maint, driver pay and work availability all would need to be at an absolute minimum to even stand a chance of making money.

[soundman]

Don't be discouraged by all the "mafia" & protectionism rackets that you hear "rumors" about. All that internal industry politics mainly occurs at the procurement end of the contracts - or to put it more simply - "at the business end where the real money is made".

If your brother in law wants to buy a dumptruck & simply sub-contract to building, construction & material supply companies - there are no problems with mafia whatsoever.

A ten wheel (rot sip lor) dumptruck will cost about 2mil new, 1mil half life, 400k many problems.

Should generate about 1200B - 1500B per work day in gross profit.

A six wheel (rot hok lor) 8 tonne dumptruck will cost about 1.2mil new, 700k half life, 250k many problems.

Should generate about 750B - 1000B per work day in gross profit.

After gross profit you need to worry about vehicle maintenance (dump trucks high), insurance & ta-bien etc.

If you would like to lease a rot sip lor for a period of time to test the waters, we have a couple spare. I could ask my father in law if you are interested, however, he may insist on his driver.

Cheers,

Soundman.

At those rates the ROI is gonna take at least a year to pay off (working 7 days a week) a shtter of a dump truck which is on it's last legs.

Maint, driver pay and work availability all would need to be at an absolute minimum to even stand a chance of making money.

You are right, it takes years to pay off a new truck. Most first time business's will not be able to buy a new truck until they have three or four shitty old ones that are paid off, still working & generating revenue.

We are able to charge 5000B per day for a ten wheeler which includes 2000B of fuel. Leaves 3000B less 500B approx. for driver - remaining 2500B less police fines, tyres, oil, brakes, welding, batteries, smashed rear lights, blown gear boxes, PRB, Tabien etc. leaves about 1750B profit to pay your loan for the vehicle. Drivers salaries are generally calculated on a monthly salary plus a per load trip bonus.

This is because we get the contracts at source. (& put up with all the silly corruption, fixed bidding, mafia games, job quotas, bank guarantees, revenue department, VAT etc) If we have to subcontract extra dump trucks from private operators for any particular job we will usually pay 2,500B per day plus supply the fuel.

Who said it was a profitable industry? Figures work much better when there is a backhoe at one end & a motor grader & compaction machines at the other.

Cheers,

Soundman.

[meom]

Waste disposal is an interesting business where a lot of money can be made which comes with an equal lot of headache. Dump trucks are easy and once you have a contract your main worry will be truck maintenance and the reliability of you driver who might try to cheat you in the number of trips he’s making in order to squeeze in some private trips for himself.

[Heng]

Yeah, the reason why I had wanted to do it is because no one has taken the plunge and made a branded industrial effort. All you see is these small family operations that own maybe 1-3 recycling locations supplied by local tricycle garbage scavengers. It's only been in recent times that someone finally made a branded effort to make recycled branded paper (Double AA)... and look what they did, they took over most of the market.

One proven model that a relative of mine does in China, related to waste management (and I assume would work in Thailand) is that he takes computer waste and strips the wires of all sorts of alloys, including gold. You can't do it in most parts of the world because you only get a very minute amount of valuable material out of each computer (you have to strip X thousand mainboards, monitors etc. to get a few hundred grams of whatever) but he's doing rather well. He buys in bulk in containers from computer recyclers all over the world (a lot of those free computer throw away/drop off sites worldwide end up shipping to him). Was on my list of things to do here, but again... too messy for my taste nowadays, so I figured to just pass on the concept to the masses.

[technocracy]

I am with Soundman here!

We've just purchased a 10 wheeler as a loan for the family so they can work and be self sufficient (and pay back the loan!) - but also I am interested in seeing just how much cash can be made as I might buy another 2 or 3! The thing is you look at all the low end businesses in Thailand and Laos such as shops, tuk-tuk driving etc and there is millions of them and making sod all - whereas here you have a more unique and scarce commodite and one which one certain people can afford.

Laos is construction project rich at the moment and in general foreign projects so paying 2000baht per day is normal and they pay maintenance and fuel charges for the truck also.

The investment in the truck was relatively high yes - however the thing is they don't lose value to much so long as it's maintained and you decide you want out and money back you just flog the truck. Over here we get 2nd hand Japanese ones which go for between 750,000 - 850,000baht.

So this time next year - I might be the trucking king of Laos . . . or maybe not!

[meom]

If it’s construction rich why limit yourself to dump trucks? You might do ok with some skip trucks as well where you place skips on various construction sites that you collect when full. Throw in some portable toilets for construction workers and a vacuum truck to empty them and before you know it you’re running a full fledged waste management company. If you can get the license to operate a disposal facility (landfill or sewage dump) as well you’re on easy street because you control the whole pipeline. You might branch out into hazardous waste as well collecting & disposing waste oil, chemicals etc.

[tutsiwarrior]

well...the wife went and talked to a guy that wanted to sell her a dump truck; didn't think about a leasing arrangement...I sat down and showed her the figures based upon 180k down, 20k monthly payments and 1k per day income...it don't work, considering road tax, insurance, wages and other expenses...sum gangster saw her comin'...

she's obviously made some verbal deals with folks without my approval and stands to lose face if we can't make the deal...too bad...tutsi ain't nobody's fool; them gangsters haveta get wise before fcukin' wid me...looks like 3-4 trucks would be needed before any kind of money could be made...

any comments?

[mbkudu]

######, I love the word 'backhoe'. It just has a nice ring to it.

[tutsiwarrior]

######, I love the word 'backhoe'. It just has a nice ring to it.

yew crip MF...I thought yew were my friend...

[meom]

any comments?

Invest the 100K in a diamond ring and you're the man again

[blizzard]

1000 baht a day gross profit....................lol.

no wonder construction workers dont make too mut.

more money to be made online. no dumazz truck needed!

your wife needs to lose some of her face on this one. how else is she gonna learn about business.

i really dont know what works in thailand but it is so ez to see what wont.

Edited September 7, 2007 by blizzard

[tutsiwarrior]

any comments?

Invest the 100K in a diamond ring and you're the man again

tutsi...thrusting ferociously and growling 'you see this???...it represents 100k that we coulda lost!!! and 100k of resources that are lost to our nieces!!!...'

I hate brutality...mods, give this dude a holiday...

[teacup]

Just tell her like it is, tutsi! Good for you. After all it’s your money you will be coughing up!

I wouldn’t worry about her losing face so much. You can not be in or operating any business if you’re that sensitive about losing face, ‘cause you will be facing all kinds of problem and dealing or doing things in which you no like necessary daily. If you can’t stand the heat, get out or just don’t do it – you tell her that Tuisi!

I assume in this business, the main considerations will be….steady works, hard working & reliable (both truck and driver). If you don’t have steady works, the ongoing maintenances alone(both the truck and a driver on a payroll) can eat up a big chuck of your monthly expenditure.

Edited September 7, 2007 by teacup

[fletchsmile]

...looks like 3-4 trucks would be needed before any kind of money could be made...

any comments?

The moment you start looking at having to invest more and more just to make a profit in Thailand for this type of business, is the moment to really think again. If you can't come close to a profit with 1 or 2 trucks, then don't get anywhere near 3 or 4. Basic concept for this business is money per truck. It's not something that requires a large support infrastructure with large overheads initially. i.e revenue per truc vs all in cost per truck.

The foreigners I see that make money here (aside from salaried dudes), either start small with a business you can multiply and build as you go along, which is close to profitable from the start. or taking an international company/business model proven elsewhere with large amounts of capital. The latter is more often done by the companies already doing successfully in other countries.

Similar to the som tam lady in a chequered shirt on the street. If she can't make a go with one stall, forget an empire...

[tutsiwarrior]

...looks like 3-4 trucks would be needed before any kind of money could be made...

any comments?

The moment you start looking at having to invest more and more just to make a profit in Thailand for this type of business, is the moment to really think again. If you can't come close to a profit with 1 or 2 trucks, then don't get anywhere near 3 or 4. Basic concept for this business is money per truck. It's not something that requires a large support infrastructure with large overheads initially. i.e revenue per truc vs all in cost per truck.

The foreigners I see that make money here (aside from salaried dudes), either start small with a business you can multiply and build as you go along, which is close to profitable from the start. or taking an international company/business model proven elsewhere with large amounts of capital. The latter is more often done by the companies already doing successfully in other countries.

Similar to the som tam lady in a chequered shirt on the street. If she can't make a go with one stall, forget an empire...

dunno...looks like monthly maintenance would be a large outgoing...especially for a used truck...also road tax...in western countries HGVs pay a lot as they eat up the roads...

no matter, the wife got really pissed off when I showed her the figures...looks like I was right; she's probably made some deals already and folks are expecting her to come through...to keep the peace I said OK: I'll front the initial 180k baht but if she don't show a profit in 4 months time she can hang it up...

[soundman]

dunno...looks like monthly maintenance would be a large outgoing...especially for a used truck...also road tax...in western countries HGVs pay a lot as they eat up the roads...

no matter, the wife got really pissed off when I showed her the figures...looks like I was right; she's probably made some deals already and folks are expecting her to come through...to keep the peace I said OK: I'll front the initial 180k baht but if she don't show a profit in 4 months time she can hang it up...

Good thing about a truck is they don't lose money like cars do. If you look after it & take your time when selling you can get near what you paid for it back.

My first truck for my audio business in Thailand was a three tonner. Bought it s/hand for 170k baht with 400k kilometres on the clock. Owned for four years, about 40k Baht in maintenance etc. Sold it with 700k+ kilometres on the clock for 140k baht. 70k / 4years = 17k per year or 330B per day. Considering depriciation we actually made a profit on the books when selling it.

So if you buy well & the business goes belly up - you shouldn't lose too much money when you sell it.

Cheers,

Soundman.

PS. Get the engine checked out on s/hand vehicles. Buy an Izuzu or Hino - Every spare part is very cheap.