I am thinking about buying a truck and trying to get into the business. Nothing very big, I don't plan on this being my only source of income. The company I work for is bidding on a housing demo job and I was hoping to use this as an opportunity to get something going. I know a couple guys on here have roll offs and with all the other knowledgeable people ya'll might have some helpful info. Thanks. Matt
I don't know how small you want to go ? You can find used tandem axle rolloff trucks fairly easy with conventional rails but getting into something smaller its tougher to find. The money really is in the big bins or a 5 ton truck with 20 yard bins. I looked into a smaller truck like a F-550 sized truck they are a little too small. What else do you do for work ?
if it was a part time bussiness i would also consider roll off trailers. they would seem to cost less in the beginning. just an idea. http://www.goldengait.com/DumpSter.asp good luck,
I have a side business with a partner and we have 2 hook-lift trucks and around 45 small cans, 10CY and 15CY. Our trucks are swaploader 12k lb hooklifts with one mounted on a Hino and one on a Ford F650. Both our trucks are under CDL 25,999 GVW. So far we have done fairly well since neither one of us is in the day to day operations- driving, etc. The business is pretty good for the smaller cans. We decided not to go after the 20CY -30CY business since the "big boys" make it tough. Our customers are mainly homeowners and small contractors that can't get service from the big guys. The good thing about the homeowner business is that it is cash up front before the can is dropped. We can even take a credit card over the phone when they place an order. You can also get alot more $$$ from the homeowner business. The biggest $$$ problems are what you face in any construction business - fuel/operating expenses and finding good labor. check out our website www.canddlimited.net Hope this helps. Cheers:drinkup
Tipping Matt: What are the tipping fees like for C&D debris where you are. What kind of debris is coming out of the house? Can any of it be recycled for profit, or is it all getting trashed?
Nac just bought one...you may want tp talk to him....my buddy who's a landscaper is purchasing a peterbilt 335 hooklift...he wants it because he can have multiple bodies at different job sites.....great investment if you ask me...much better then just adump or flatbed truck......
Do you need a lisence were you are located? In NJ you need a lisence from the DEP it is about 100 pages long lots of fees and takes over a year to get. It is a good buisness but you need a lot of capital trucks cost a lot of money and cans cost a lot of money. You need to provide good service and you will get work it mihgt be tuff at first. Around here you can not find a used roll off if you do it is very expensive or a piece of junk.
well said nac,hey i seen your roll off on 287 about a week ago..very nice...
Oh where did you see me? Thanks
I have a tip, try and stay away from contractors like builders. They don't like to pay. My cousin does residential work (tearing down houses, water, sewer connections etc.) and he is always saying how bad they pay. Theyll promise you a check one day and you wotn get it for 2 weeks.
Were you driving it, Nac?
Thanks for all the info. Sorry it took so long to reply, computer took a dive. All the suggestions have been helpful, good things to think about. Ford, I work for an environmental/construction company. Capt_met, I looked into those also but for the amount of houses and time frame to get them down I need fullsize containers to be competitive. CM1995, nice web site, looks like you have quite a good business going. Wolf, we will be recycling everything we can and trying to find something to do with the cabinets and appl. Tipping fees are between 10 and 15 a ton. Nac, the only license you need is to be able to haul asbestos and that is all being removed prior to demo. I know what you mean about trucks. For what I'm trying to do I don't want to make a huge investment in a truck and some of them in my range are pretty trashed. You got a real nice setup, all your trucks and equipment look good. mflah87, thanks for the tip, I was thinking about hitting up some of the builders in the area. I know a few real well so hopefully they would be good customers. Thanks again for all the idea's Matt
$10 to $15 a ton??? Holy crap! I pay $120 a ton here! A 20 yard container runs about $550 to have dropped and picked up.
about the same here for tipping fees $120. have to start shipping it there .
Yea, the company we use when we need a can right now charges 275 for a 20 yard drop and pick.
somewhere near rt23.. i was on my way to lift one in pompton plains...i go up there probably 3 times a week with our rollback picking up lifts...
Yikes - $120 a ton! We pay $19 per ton.
Where I live wood waste if its clean its 100 dollars a ton but if its mixed with old insulation or other debris its 250 dollars a ton. If you the homeowner or the contractor doesn't load the bin properly ie a mixed load the bin company will either dump the bin and you have to reload it or they charge you a hourly rate for them to take it back to their yard to do it and thats not cheap.
Since i cant starta new thread, I searched and found this one.. I am in the EXACT same boat right now. I am looking for a good used rolloff (dont laugh, i have heard it already) and well, cant seem to find one... I do know i need a 75K hoist and 3rd drop axl for the concrete i do on a regular basis. any suggestions on where to look? I have a few already, but more are always good!.... BTW the dump fees here are 17.80 a ton at the county landfill, and there are also private landfills for C&D that you can tip at for around $5 a yard! yeeehaaaaa... I have talked to 2 people up in NY and NJ that own or owned a large rolloff company and they told me what the tipping fees where up there .
Cant have my own Thread yet. I am looking at getting into the roll off business. At first I was looking at the trailer system made by nedland. Now I am thinking about a Hino 268 25,950 GVW that weighs 9.7k lbs with a 18k swaploader hooklift that weighs 3k lbs. In my market there is a huge company servicing the commercial guys with 20yd and 30yd containers. So I will be aiming for the residental and small contractor market with 10-15-20yd containers. What do you think of my idea? Any suggestions? Thanks for your time.
Welcome to HEF bins!:drinkup For the sake of not repeating myself - too much - I have a Hino 268 outfitted with a swaploader and it is a very good outfit. Our truck is auto with AB. You can't go wrong with a Hino. We have had ours for 18 months or so and it only went to the shop once (which was a transmission sensor - back on the road in a day). It's very comfortable to drive, well thought out placement of the components and easily servicable. Speaking from experience, me and my partner had the same logic about going for the small can market and it can be very lucrative, but the bigger cans are where the money is. I stand corrected in my search of business knowledge - you learn something new everyday. Back to the discussion at hand. I would definetly consider setting up an account with Visa/MC so you can take debit/credit cards from customers. Much better than a check and you get you money when you run the card. Also get some bids on advertising in the local newspaper and those little flyers the mailman stuffs in your box. I never gave those little rags much thought but you will be suprised, as we were, at the amount of business they can generate from homeowners. Be prompt, clean and courteous with your service. Keep your truck spotless and your cans in good shape - a homeowner doesn't want a rusted dumpster sitting in their driveway nor a dirty truck leaking oil on it. Don't mean to preach and I am sure you know these things. Also color choice is very important in the can business. Try to pick a color that no other company in town has or is close to. This usually means blue, red and green are already taken. My partner chose (I eventually just caved in and quit arguing) a "Dream Sicle" orange for our small cans and a teale - read baby blue - for the big cans. At the time I like neither color and I still don't but I have to admit it is different than anyone else in town and people do take notice. Good luck in your endevor!:drinkup
The company here handling the 20-30-40yd cans is huge. Any given day I will see 8 of their containers and atleast 3 roll off trucks. We have a nice coupon mailer here that I advertised my lawn care company in and it grew big time. What is your average tipping weight on the containers? Which container is the most popular? How do you like the air brakes? Will you be adding another truck soon? What program do you use to keep track of the cans? Do you have more then 45 cans now?
Welcome to HEF bins! :drinkup
here is my roll off truck it is a 2001 sterling with a 40 yard can
nice truck that's a real nice truck with the 40 yard can. say, i was wondering, how much do you have to pay for tipping fees for that 40 yard can where you are? and how much do you get to charge the customer for a dump run wiht the 40 yard can? do you charge different depending on the type of material you are hauling/ thanks for all the good info, man. :usa
well i charge a flat fee of $125.00 and i know the manager at the dump so he only charges me $25.00 per load
The huge company around here charges 320 for a 30 yard bin for commercial guys. Since he dumps over 200 tons a month he only pays $22 a ton. The rest of us have to pay $7.25 a yd.
Hey Bins. Speaking of 10-15 CY cans and a single axle truck. The average tipping weight for a 10 is 1-1.5 tons Average for a 15CY is about the same 1-2 tons Most of the time the load is less than 1 ton. Most of our cans are sent out at a flat rate with a tonnage cap. Since you will be on a CY rate at the pit - you will need a different cost matrix. Do you have the option of a different pit that charges by the ton? If so you can play the difference between the pits that charge by the CY and by the ton. Example - light load of say cardboard goes to the pit that charges by the ton. A heavy load of say concrete goes to the pit that charges by the CY. Just a suggestion - you need to run the numbers for what works best for you. The 15CY can is the most popular, my suggestion would be to have 20% 10CY and 80% 15CY. Air brakes on a single axle is a must have IMO. The stopping power is greater, less brake fade compared to hyd. and you have the added benefit of putting a quick connect on the air tank - airing up tires and such. Plus you will get your money back on the re-sale. We are real technologically advanced in the software program. It consists of an off the shelf accounting system with a huge dry-erase board with a grid drawn on it. Can #'s, customer, size, address, drop-off and pick up times. We recently bought a projector and put the info on an excel spreadsheet - but we still use the board too. We still have only 45 10-15CY cans but we have added 49 20-30CY cans - and need 20 more right now. The small cans and the big cans really play off of each other. Our customers sometimes need a bigger can at the beginning of the job and a smaller one on the finish up. As far as tipping fees - our cheapest is $18 per ton at one pit and $19 a ton at the large county pit.
What kind of truck are you using for the 20 and 30yd bins? What is the tipping weight for those?
We are running Mack granite's - one with a dual-lift and one with a hook-lift. If we flat rate with a tonnage cap: 20CY - 4 tons max, 30CY - 5 tons max. Here's a thread of the dual lift
I dont know if I want to do airbrakes b.c I want to be able to hire someone easy. So if one driver isnt doing good I will have no problem firing him. Would i still need air brakes even though I live in a flat area? Decisions Decisions. Do you know of a good and easy finance company? The dealer here wants 3100 for a 15 yd box and $3700 for 20 yd
With a truck below 26K GVW, air brakes or hyd. brakes doesn't make a difference as far as the CDL requirements. The air brakes are safer and I strongly recommend them. As far as finance companies go, we have used local banks for all our financing. There are several national leasing companies out there that offer financing as well as true tax leases, but I do not have any experience with them. Compile a good business plan and have your financials in order and go talk to a local bank - the worst they can say is "no". Check out Nulife Environmental http://nulifeenv.com/ and Baker Waste http://www.bwe-nc.com/ . These two companies are where we get our cans from. Nu-life is more $$$ and better quality but Baker is cheaper. We have cans from both companies and my suggestion would be to go with the cheaper one. We have also negotiated terms with can suppliers: IE 60,90,120 day payment. You should be able to buy a 15CY can for $2200-2400. Our 20CY cans run $3000-3100 and the 30 CY cans run $3200-3400 - depending on the manufacturer. My suggestion would be don't buy from a dealer - go directly to the source and shop your prices on everything - including the hoist and chassis. Don't be hesitant to go out of state- way out of state- we purchased our two Mack trucks from Wisconsin.
swaploader 180 brand new is running $25,500 with tarp, pto, and everything else. What do you think of that price.
If your going with a single axle go with the heaviest truck you can so you get the max payload. I would also go with a conventional rail hoist its stronger and you can probably get a new set of rails cheaper than a hooklift. Don't let the CDL rule you have down in the USA limit your truck selection go get your CDL and hire nothing but CDL equiped drivers your way better off. A CDL equiped driver is "supposed to" have better driving skills if the guy your hiring can't get a CDL then you really don't want to hire him or her.
I was under the impression that all air brakes ,other than air over hydraulic required a cdl
That's not a bad price - who quoted it? Our Hino has a SL145. The chassis - auto, AB, A/R drivers seat, PW, PL and CD player with SL145, tower tarper (which sucked), pintle hitch, elec. to rear, bumper, lights, mounted ready to go $75K with tax. The chassis was $55. We went with the tower tarper, which doesn't have the traditional arms - you have to pull it out with a rope. We have since converted it into a traditional arm tarper. If you are considering a 26K GVW truck then I would suggest getting a 14K lift and saving the money. If you are going towards the smaller end of the can business your only pulling 3-5K pound loads on a regular basis. Secondly with a 26K GVW truck you can't legally haul 18K lbs. As far as the size of truck and lift - it really depends on what part of the business you want to go after. The 33K truck with an 18K hoist is going to haul and pick up more but if your hauling light cans then your investment is not being utilized. Definetely go with a hook lift - don't waste your hard earned $$ on one of those small cable hoists. The hook has a much faster cycle time, your drivers will appreciate not having to hook and unhook a cable and is safer - no cables to break and whiplash. The added benefit of the hook is that you can push a can into place, something to consider when you are placing small cans in a tight space. We have placed them inside garages and onto loading docks. Check out NuLife Environmental, they run a very good shop and they usually have hooks mounted and ready to go. Another place to shop is RDK out of Florida. As far as chassis go, I would suggest getting one with an exhaust brake. Check this out: http://www.rdk.com/roll-off_garbage_trucks.htm http://nulifeenv.com/servicedet.asp?id=48&p=5 http://nulifeenv.com/servicedet.asp?id=53&p=5 The tower tarper on this truck is the one we originally went with and it sucked - also not a big fan of the Ford medium duty. There are better truck choices out there.
I like the fact that on the sl180 can pick up 36 and 54in hook container. It does weigh about 700 lbs more. I do not know the cost difference. Hal cole trucks . com quoted me that price. Are you using the tub or rectangle boxes? Can your small trucks pick up your 20yd cans? Where do you advertise? Where I plan on buying my hooklift he also has cans that are only 18ft long but they are 20 and 25yds depending on wall sizes.
We use both tubs and boxes. Usually the choice is made on availability, price and payment terms. Boxes are slightly heavier, more duarable and a little more expensive than tubs. The small truck can only pick up 36". The dual-lift tandem can pick up a 36", you just don't roll the jib all the way up. The tandem hook has the ability to pick up 36" and 54". Our small cans are 36" and the big cans are 54". If we could pick up our 20CY cans with the small truck, the can would stick over the rear too far. About 16' long is all we can legally carry with the small hook, our 20CY's are 20' long. We have advertised in the Homes and Land real estate magazine, online, newspaper, Thrifty Nickle, The Clipper - which is one of those community targeted coupon type flyers, targeted mail outs and the Yellow Pages. We have established ourselves in the business now and we advertise less. The good-ol' word of mouth works pretty good.
Anyone with a drivers lisence can drive a truck 26.000 and below regardless of brake configuration. Go with air brakes you will be so much better off. You will have a tough time getting rid of a truck that doesnt have them.
They still have to have air brake endorsement right? I think I am going to go with hino 268a swaploader sl180 with auto tarp. Will order eight 15yd and two 10yd containers to start with. What do you think? I think I should be able to make $200 off each container gross after dump fees for a 7 to 10 day rent out. And $165 for each container that I rent out for a weekend special (drop of friday pick up monday). I am a big beliver in advertising so the business should grow pretty quickly. How fast did your company grow? Also what would you change if you could start over? I really appreciate your help and your fast responses. I love forums.
As long as the truck is 26 K or less no air brake endorsment.
Check VA CDL rules. The Federal Requ. states what Nedly said and it's the same in Alabama. Check this thread out Depending on your service area you should be able to run between 3-4 cans a day. Of course there are many variables that will change this. If there is a pit or transfer station that stays open at night then you are way ahead of the game. If you have a place to dump at night consider adding a night shift when feasable. If you run the numbers on one truck with two shifts it can almost double your revenue. Your fixed costs stay the same: truck, insurance, can cost, etc. The only expenses that will increase for a night shift is labor, fuel, dump fees and maintenance. The problem we have is there is no feasable place for us to dump at night. WM has one transfer station open at night but it is on the opposite side of town and charges $38 per ton compared to $18 per ton we pay at the pit's. We can't justify the extra $$$ in tonnage and driving distance to effectively have a night shift. Another thing that affects a night shift is where your cans are. Obiviously you can't pick a can up at 2AM at someone's house. The night shift is just something for you to ponder. 10 Cans is a good start. Run your cans for a while and see which one is more popular - then order those sizes next. I would be prepared to order more cans soon. One truck can service between 30-40 cans in your fleet. Under optimal circumstances, if your truck can service 3-4 cans per day, then you are turning over you can inventory every 10 days. So in theory, you can turn every can you have over twice in one month. $200 per can gross on a 7-10 day rent is a very good # to shoot for. But to make any money you will need more cans in the mix. 10 cans turning over every 10 days at $200 = $4000 per month. How are you figuring your gross? After dump fees, labor, truck payment, ins. etc? The weekend specials are a great idea - we do it all the time. I would suggest this is the add you run in the local rags. Homeowners eat this up. These type specials really put the cans out for us when we first started. If I had to change anything, I would have bought a tandem and big cans at the beginning. But of course hind-sight is 20/20 and your circumstances may be different. When our Yellow Pages add hit we lost alot of business in the beginning by not having the 20-30CY cans. People would call looking for one and we would refer them to another company. But the other company would also refer small can customers to us. I will tell you that we referred alot more customers to them than they did to us. It really helped us because I am also in the building business, so when our first cans hit the ground I took 4 15CY immediately. They went to 3 different sites so we were able to get our name out quickly. Question: Will you be able to drive and sell the cans in the beginning? Of course no one will promote the business like you can and if you are able to do this, it will make a big difference. In the beginning, when you have slack time due to not running cans, put an empty on and go hit some jobsites. Talk to the builders, super's, etc. You may be suprised at the ones that are sick of there current service and tell you to drop that can - immediate customer.
c and d landfill is open 7 to 7. money I came up with was only after dump fees. I plan on driving the truck at first and then adding more later. I have a secratury now for my lawn company and since it is going to slow down soon she will be answering phones. I will order ten first and place another order proably 2 weeks later especially if I can set up 60 day terms with container company.
in order for me to buy from baker I have to use the dealer for them located in my area. he is suppose to call me back with prices. proably going to b expensive and I am going to have to pay sale tax. nu life is about 2400 for 15 yd no tax but 1275 for delivery. yet to far for me to go get myself.
2008 268a Hino with air brakes AT PL PW am/fm cd Cloth seats. $47,900