Enclosed VS Open-Air Trailers

Hey, everyone, this is Mike Andes and you're listening to episode three of the Landscape businesscourse.com podcast. Today we're talking about trailers. This question comes up a lot as far as should I get an enclosed trailer or should I get an open air trailer? So I'm gonna kind of lay out the pros and cons of both and tell you what I've done. So the pros, first of the pros and cons, first of the open air trailer. The pros are they're cheaper. That's like the biggest thing is they're way cheaper. They're lighter. So you don't need as heavy of a duty of a truck, typically because they're just lighter in weight. The next thing is they don't pull air. And what I mean by that is, is they don't have as. Like, if you have an enclosed trailer, essentially you're gonna burn more gas because especially when you go on the highway, you essentially have to displace all the air of the trailer as you haul it down the road. So that is, you know, if you do get an enclosed trailer, by the way, you want to get one with a needle nose in the front or like arrow nose so that the wind does disperse better just for miles per gallon sake. But open air trailers, those are the advantages. Also, it's typically easier and faster to get weed whackers and blowers from the racks if it's an open air trailer. All right, so now some of the cons of an open air trailer, first of all, it's open to the elements. So when you're driving down the road and everything, it's open to rocks, be, you know, chipping stuff. It's open to rain when it's raining, and it's open to the elements of two, when you're, when you store it. So you need to either put it indoors or put a tarp over or get a shed for it, especially during the winter. You don't want it just sitting outside and, you know, snow and rain and everything just falling on it all winter long. So storage is also another component of the open air ones. That is a con. Now let's go over to the enclosed trailers. Obviously, they're more expensive, they're heavier and all of that. However, I still believe that enclosed trailers are the way you should go. Why is that? Number one, the biggest thing is that it's a massive billboard going down the street. So what you want to do is you'll put your logo on the side. You can put your web address Your phone number, all of that on the side. And really it makes you so much, it just makes you stand out. So people can recognize your trucks. And when they see, you know, a professional company or a good looking lawn or landscaping, they can easily identify what which company did the work by simply looking at the trailer and seeing your name, your number, your logo and your professionalism really displayed wherever they see your trucks. So that's the biggest pro. The biggest advantage of having an enclosed trailer is it is a walking billboard and we put graphics on both sides as well as the back of our trailers. And so which one should you do is really about, in my opinion, where you're gonna be storing it. So if you already have a shed that you're gonna be starting your business out of, you know, a barn that you have. I originally I rented a storage facility, like I think it was 20 by 40 storage facility and just ran my enclosed trailer out of that. I didn't need necessarily the, the space because I had an enclosed trailer. So that's another advantage is if you don't have a barn, getting an enclosed trailer is it essentially keeps your equipment from the elements and so it's a great way in the long term when you start out. So I would definitely, definitely encourage you to get an enclosed trailer just because of the advantages it has for advertising. So your logo and all of that on the side is worth thousands and is definitely going to set you apart from the competition. That's it for today, Mike. And he's here on the landscapebusinesscourse.com podcast. Check it out. Landscapebusinesscourse.com get on the free webinar where I can answer all of your questions live and in person. This is Mike Andes signing off.