Small business owners seeking to hire a Cleveland trucking company have numerous considerations to weigh. Most focus almost exclusively on price – something that is undoubtedly important. But that isn’t where your assessment should stop.

As the American Trucking Associations reports, there are nearly 900,000 for-hire carriers registered with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), with private carriers accounting for more than 770,000 of those. That means businesses have many options. It also means that in addition to cost, businesses should examine a trucking firm’s reliability, licensing/insurance, responsiveness, transparency/tracking, references and fleet.

Here, we examine the importance of each element.