Jerry Toste is only 21 and seems to have a perpetual smile on his face. He should — his low-tech startup, Cheap Hauling, is on everyone’s lips: Those trucks are everywhere.
Toste is grossing $800,000 per year after 1½ years in business, not bad for a guy who decided that “college and I just don’t mix.” Toste started hauling, instead.
What’s next? More Cheap Hauling trucks and a new business, Cheap Tree Service.
Toste’s an entrepreneur with at least one idea whose time had come. “I tried to start two companies,” Toste said. “Both failed.”
This time, he invested $1,000 in an old truck and some signs. It worked.
“I figured if I got a second truck, I would double the revenue. That happened, so I doubled the number of trucks to four and revenue doubled again,” he said.
He kept expanding until the company had 51 trucks, which double as rolling billboards. His plan is to reach 250 trucks in Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties.
His fleet is stocked with 20-year-old pickups, and Toste runs them hard. “We beat ’em up pretty good,” he said, “so I have a full-time mechanic on staff, and he keeps ’em running.”
“It’s a great brand,” Toste said. “I want to take Cheap Hauling statewide in another year. Eventually, we can be the Wal-Mart of the service industry. Sam Walton is one of my heroes.”
Photo by Lucjan Szewczyk.
Sheryl Stanly on December 10th, 2007 at 11:32 pm
Jerry Toste is doing something great! He is only 21 and has created such a great business at such a young age. Good for him. I think he is genius and very hot! He will be a famous star one day!
Jerry "JT" Toste on December 22nd, 2007 at 7:21 am
EVERYONE PLEASE READ THIS!
written by Jerry Toste - President and CEO, December 22, 2007
I am sorry if my “CHEAP” brand pisses some people off, but we do thousands of jobs a year for a variety of people at great prices and great services. Everyone loves our company and thinks its a brilliant idea! What we did at cheap hauling was innovate. United States is a great country where you can push the limits and do what no one has done before. Without taking risk and trying new things the United States would not be the country it is. I think over at CHEAP HAULING we started something big, a fad that is catching on. It will revolutionize the advertising industry. Watch and See. Im sorry for all the people that are mad, but many people love the company at the same time. If you want to talk to me personally feel free to email me: Jerrytoste@yahoo.com
Sincerely,
Jerry “JT” Toste
Founder, President, & CEO