Hey Guys, Heres the situation, I currently own a landscape co. Its getting to a point were everybody is cutting each others throat My compang is doing well but, I want out!! I'm so tired of putiing on the face, I just want to be in a truck and just DRIVE. So here the game plan,I am going to start with 1 tandem axle dump truck and evantually buy another. My budget is around $50,000 for a used truck. I narrowed it down to a ford L9000 or 2003-2005 gmc 8500. Also, If you can please give me a ball park figure of potential earnigs per week. Thank you for help Newbie
Then are you really sure you want to go into the dump truck business :lmao Seriously thou running a dump truck is borderline profit to no profit depending on your area. As for a dump truck choice your better off going with a L-9000 you don't want a light tandem like the 8500 GMC. A good dump would have 18,000lb front axle 46,000lb rear axle and 14 litre power with 400hp.
If you're not happy landscaping and you say your company is doing "well", then trucking probably isn't for you. I don't know ANYONE that ever makes any money trucking unless you have 15+ trucks regardless of where you live. High fuel prices, insurance prices, and other consumables have pushed trucking into a very break even business by itself.
Thanks fellas In all honesty I know my business would survive but I dont think I want to do this anymore. Were I live, I noticed alot of truck drivers are buying new quad axles so, Its gotta be worth it. About 4 years ago, my uncle was bringing in about $5000-6000 a week with two trucks. Another thing, do they charge by the mile or hour? Thank you guys for responding
Why not look at a Single Axle and a skid or mini-x??....use your landscaping knowledge but stay with the machines.
Making a living with trucking isn't as bad as everyone claims. Your magor three major expenses are , fuel , the truck , and insurance. The problem I see with a lot of guys is that they are a bunch of whine ..sses. They whine about the site cond. they whine about getting their truck dirty and they can't seem to drive by a coffee shop without stopping. If you carry the same ethics that you obviously have with your current business over to the trucking business then you will have no problem. I have been in it for about 5 years now and it was a little rough in the beginning not being known and trying to get jobs. Now I have 3 contractors that I work for, and they keep me busy 65 hours a week for 6 months out of the year. I work another job in winter and put the truck in the barn , so to speak. I make about 4,000 a week . fuel : 700-900 a week ins : about 80 per week to cover monthly Truck : paid for my pay: 1,300 week That leaves about 1700 a week for the business , for maint, repairs, equipment replacement and of course , the govt. If you don't have good work ethics you won't make it. If you treat your customers how you would want your contractor to perform on your job. Then you will do just fine. As with any business there are always pros and cons, and good times and bad. Good luck and happy truckin!:thumbsup
These guys under-cutting will get it in the end when they go broke or people get tired of their pizz poor quality of work. Have the same problem here guys doing rubbish removal far cheaper than I can go right ahead I'am not working for nothing. What I can haul away in 1 trip takes a person with a P/U truck 2-3 trips. If you own a dump truck you pretty well have to maintain and do 90% of the repairs on the truck and have a shop to work in. If you gotta hire a mechanic to do your repairs that gets expensive. Dump trucks here are paid by the hour and on a good day you can make up to 640 dollars in a 8 hours. But if you got careless and not paid attention and ruined a drive tire on a sharp rock kiss 500 dollars good bye. The contractor I worked for fired a guy because he ruined too many tires. And no it wasn't me that got fired I was the one that had to do the tire repairs and changes. One of the trucks I just mounted 8 new caps sent the truck out for the day it came back with a ruined tire :cussing I was mad and I also got sick of the drivers damaging the trucks it was one of the reasons why I quit. Anyhow if you can find a steady hauling job or working for a paving company hauling asphalt then you will make some money. Or hook up with a developer that may need a truck for hauling to their site. The only thing in this area that isn't under cut is dump trucking because there is very little profit in it you work for less than 80 dollars per hour your going to go broke. Good luck with anything you decide on.
Well now that Canada's most knowledgeable businessman has spoken, you should have no further questions.:Banghead I can add some more optimistic info. A friend of mine started with 2 ten wheelers about 30 years ago and now runs 8 tri-axles. He's always got most of them running. Your success with depend on the contacts you make, your reliability and how hard you are willing to work. Trucks here are paid one of two ways, either by the hour or by the ton of material delivered. Check around your area and see if many trucks are sitting idle, if everyone is working steady there's probably room for one more. See if you can get an idea from the larger contractors in your area if they need hired trucks on a regular basis.
I think the big advantage you have is your truck was "paid for". We don't know if the OP's truck is "paid for" or financed. BIG difference in bottom line profits. My take on trucking is forget about going it alone-keep the landscape biz-find some way to do both. All the newer guys I know who haul live in small homes and have lots of $$ problems. I'm sure there's plenty of guys who've been in the biz for 10-20 years who might have become successful, but it's usually because they're "connected" with someone who can feed them work constantly. Here's an idea: Why not keep the landscape biz and open a mulch/stone/dirt yard and deliver to customers using a couple dump trucks? That way you can supply your landscape biz with cheaper mulch , dirt & stone and get your need to drive/own bigger trucks taken care of? :beatsme
Anything is possible with a little hard work and perseverance (sp). If you are interested in getting in to trucking, why not make it part of your landscaping biz until the truck is busy enough to run on its own. That way you can use it for your jobs, charge for it etc, and if you have days where it can run, then run it, and eventually if the truck gets busy enough phase out lanscaping. Good Luck!!
Yes my current truck is paid for but my first truck was not. I had a 600 a month payment on that truck and in 5 years I was able to put enough money to buy my new truck which cost 42,000. I also have a family of four to support. I guess everyone that has a truck should go to canada so we can make the big money at 80 dollars an hour. We get 60 to 65 an hour around here for a tandem. I don't know of many places in the country that are making much more than that for a tandem. To say that if you don't get 80 dollars an hour your going to go broke is a crock of ....! At 65 an hour I pay all bills for the truck, taxes , new house , food on the table for a family of 4 and still have enough to enjoy life. Your not going to get rich at trucking , but you can make a good living!
I know in my area I see alot of registered 10 and triaxels just sitting around getting dust on them. I know a guy who has been doing it for years and even he has cut down and selling off equipment. I think alot has to do with the tunneland in Boston rt 3 widening back in those days there was mega work for anyone who had a triaxel now the big stuff is done and unless you made some good contacts it's hard to just be out there for hire I think, you could get on at the asphalt plant and stone yards. as for hire I think they get by hour at the plant it might be by load not to sure .
When your paying 3.88 dollars a gallon for diesel to start with that cuts into the profits. Truck tires are 450.00 for a recapped bandag and 800-1000 for supersingle steer tires. Parts are not cheap either, one of the dump truck guys a newbie in the bus had to buy a alternator for his truck 450 dollars. The cheapest thing to fix on a dump truck is the brakes if you are easy on them you can get a year out of them. When I was looking for a tandem axle dump anything for 30 grand and less was a site truck. I was surprised how much you got to pay now to get a decent truck. A decent truck for Western Canada is 50-60,000 that buys you a high kilometer 3/4s worn out T-800 Kenworth Most guys now are buying new Sterling 9500s you pay 2300 dollars a month truck payment but you got a brandnew truck. A new Sterling is 140,000 a brandnew T-800 Kenworth is 155,000 a Mack Granite is 140,000 too. The dump truck rate at 80 dollars per hour is still too low but can't get anymore than that. If you have a driver on the truck that also cuts into the profits. A drivers wages is 20-25 dollars per hour if the truck is working on a gov't job the employer has to pay gov't rate to the employee which is $23.50 per hour. As I said you should find a steady contract I know one guy he is top truck with the paving company he easily makes 100 grand a year. Like the others said try stick with the landscaping. If you do good work and have a good reputation you will eventually stamp out the under cutters. If people are under cutting how is your economy. These people gotta be awfully greedy if they are trying to get all the work.
A lot of your success will depend on your local economy. Before you buy a truck, try to see if you can dig up some work. Any numbskull can buy a truck, but not everyone can buy it at the right time and get work for it. Check around to see if there's any major road improvement jobs, fill hauling, etc. where you can get a start so you have money coming in before the first payment comes due.
You are looking at buying a tandem axle truck, but then you mention later that everyone around you are buying quad axle trucks. Which type of truck do you think is going to get the majority of the work? Around here in the NW with the type of bridge laws we have to follow, you almost have to have a truck and trailer capable of 105,500 gross. Which means a 4 to 5 axle truck and a 3 to 4 axle trailer. Also around here we are paid hourly for major dirt/rock moves or by the ton for a few loads. Rates here are around $65 a hour for truck only, around $80 a hour for a truck and pup without enough axles, and $95 to $130 a hour for a truck and trailer with 105,500 gross. As for what types of trucks sell well here, you almost can't give away a 3 axle truck or a 2 axle pup trailer, if fact there are several 2 axles pups for sale for $5000. Our market demands a minimum 4 axle truck (front axle, drop axle, and tandem rears) usually pulling a 4 axle pup, sometime a 3 axle pup but then your gross is down to 101,000 to 102,500 depending on the spread. And the newest combo is a 5 axle truck (front axle, 2 drop axles, and tandem rears) pulling a 3 axle trailer and sometimes a 4 axle pup if your spread is not enough with a 3 axle. Also around here you will not get much work with a truck only, except for small loads going to homeowners, etc. where a 3 axle truck may be fine, but you would not get much work. To make money and a living at this that truck needs to be moving 8 hours a day, and the more you can haul in a single trip the better. It doesn't cost that much more in fuel to haul 105,500 over a 80,000 load.
In B.C. tridrive trucks are becoming more popular because you can have 73,000lb gvw straight truck but there is a drawback. A tridrive truck eats drive tires fast usually ever 3-4 months the truck needs tires around 6 grand. Tandems are still number 1 choice the extra savings in not buying 4 extra drive tires saves big money. Pull a quad transfer behind a tandem the truck is good for 132,000lbs you can carry 15 tons in the truck and 20 or so tons in the trailer. Hauling that kind of weight kills the roads and kills the truck. You ever get behind a tandem axle dump pulling a quad axle transfer they are climbing the hills pretty slow. Even a truck pulling a ordinary tandem axle pup trailer is hard on the truck you got 15 tons in the truck and 10 tons in the trailer. You definatly don't want to be pulling a pup trailer with a truck with L-10 or M-11 power or anything smaller than a N-14 or a 3406 and 400hp. I explored the different options when I was looking at going as a owner operator dump. When you live on coastal bc with gravel mines that ship material out by barge loads we were going to import material to my famillies property. After you crunched the numbers the handling the material was too expensive. The mines will sell you a barge load of 3000 tons at a time but after handling and barge fees the profit was couple dollars a ton.
Almost seems like it would make more sense to buy the truck, use it for your landscape company and then use it to truck for others when you do not need it. I own a landscape company and do large projects. I see alot of other companies who do projects the size of the ones i do buying tandems to truck there own material. I ran the numbers and it seemed to make the most sense to keep on hiring out the trucking. The only way it made sense was long term. I figured i would not put many miles on the truck, so it would last 20+ years.
The trucking business alone is a tough business. If you combine it with something else (like your landscaping) it can be a moneymaker. I have a grading business where I do work for landscapers, contractors and homeowners. I also dig pools for one company. A little over a year ago I purchased a used single axle (35K GVW) dump to see how it would work out. My estimates from looking at the idea for a year was that it would pay. I paid for the truck in less than a year, and upgraded to a tri-axle. The way things are going, it also will be paid for in less than a year. Now, I looked for 6 months for the single axle, and 7 months for the tri-axle waiting for a good deal. I ended up selling the single axle for more than I paid for it, including tax and license. I also got a good deal on the tri-axle. Things are getting slow around here and there are a lot of dump trucks for sale and just sitting around. I generate my own dump truck work and therefore keep it pretty busy. You could do the same with your landscape business. Sometimes the truck finds me grading jobs. Recently, while fueling up a woman approached me and asked me about hauling a bunch of horse manure from her ranch to her boyfriends ranch. In the end, I ended up getting a grading job at the boyfriends ranch. When I dig a pool with really good dirt, I stockpile it and sell it to landscapers needing topsoil. I worked out a deal with a local recycling plant to take their mulch when they end up with more than they can sell and need the space. Their goal is to not send any wood product to the dump, so I get it free. I use it for dust control on some grading jobs, sell it to landscapers, use it to make a 50/50 mix, etc. The list goes on and there are endless possibilities if you work at it and are creative. I have a friend with 6 transfers and a very loyal clientele, and it is still a struggle to constantly do well. He is very smart and creative and does OK but it is not easy. Do some thinking and figure out an angle or niche with your landscaping where you can combine the two and offer something unique or better than others. When things slow down, the more you can do the better you will weather the slow times. Good luck. It never hurts to have some luck. Sometimes luck brings more rewards than being good. When I was young and stupid, I rode rodeo bulls and an older (to me anyway) rodeo clown said something I never forgot. He was talking to a cowboy that was down on his luck and complaining about it. He said, "son, luck is preparation meeting opportunity - if you aren't prepared it won't do you a damn bit of good". I have always remembered LIPMO.
If you got a good supply of topsoil there is good money there or get into a landscape supply. If you got experience in landscaping and you know what your area requires.
Thank you all for your replies:notworthy you all made some valid points.. Currently I have been getting phone calls by 2 brokers who want to buy me out. So that is why I want to go a differant route. So lets say I buy a $50000 used truck, It isnt going to brake the bank.. That is why I want to get into the trucking. Test the waters and see how much work is out their for a tandem. If it goes well, upgrade to quad or, if it fails, sell the truck and move on. It doesnt hurt to try. I also know that it will take time to get your name out, but that is one thing on my side( I'm 28). Again thank you gentlemen for all your input.:usa
If your getting offers to sell I would sell if the price is good. I'am in a job I really don't like but I gotta stick with it. I'am like you putting on a fake smile and dealing with it. Going to ride out the winter and see what spring brings.
I think the mistake you are going to make is buying a tandem. If you think your goal is to end up in a quad, then just go get the quad. All the money & time you spend going after a tandem will be wasted. They're not that much different in price, but a lot different in capability. Historically, my biggest mistakes have been buying equipment that was too small, not looking at the "bigger" picture.
If your going in the trucking business then you better read the post DOT/FMCSA 18 Month Mandatory Audit/Inspection . Thats why I sold my ford Lt-8000 some years ago and bought a single axle Int. 1600 dump. I register it at 25999 Lbs. through with all the BS and paperwork!
yeah that's a whole 'nother bowl of BS the gov't is serving up to us. Probably in effort to regulate the small guy right out of business. I don't haul interstate and I'm not for hire, so I never registered for a DOT #. PA DOT says I'm not required to.
A DOT number is no big deal I have one for my F-450 I can truck all accross Canada if I wanted too. I just need to increase my insurance for the area I can travel. With my F-450 I need to keep track of my maintenance I'am under 160kms so I don't need a log book.
Hey now, don't paint all us Canucks with that brush, after all, there is only one LT-9000. At least he finally made it to a place he's suited, working for our wonderful guvn'ment. Now he can whine about his co-workers over at the DOT, the bureaucrats within the government, and do it all while sitting at his day job. Then after he's done there, whine about all the reasons that you need a 6axle, 12wheel drive truck to do anything in BC, of course it must be able to turn around in a 6' x 6' driveway, on a 55degree incline.
Laugh all you want I got a job for life if I want it. I can retire at 55, I barely break a sweat and when its cold wet and miserable outside I'am dry. If the economy crashes in Canada I still be working. The wages I make are less than I can working in the dirt but working in the dirt isn't a guaranteed job. With areas like mine are out growing the infrastructure mainly water supply developing is coming to a screaching halt. The fresh water supply is tapped out it can't support anymore development. You can't use a drilled well its got arsnic (sp).
I've been laughing for nearly two years now.:falldownlaugh
Well, with everything you know and have done, I thought you would be well over 55 now. All right, I made a mistake, my apologies. I've said it on here before, and will say it again, I'm not a full time dirt mover, I'm a tool maker by trade, the true 'oldest profession'. (Ever wonder what the hookers were wanting to trade for their wares?) Being a government employee doesn't ever guarantee a job for life, just until the next election. As the quote goes though, "No one ever got rich working for someone else". Maybe in your case we could change that to "Never got rich whining for someone else...."?
I just have to comment on these two statements as I want to stay completely out of this conversation. There is no quarantee of a job for life working anywhere government included, but I can honestly say I have been with them for 34 years and I've seen a lot of elections come and go. I do agree that you will never get rich working for someone else. Okay thats it...carry on gentleman...sorry to interupt..
You have to fake a smile at work, but it's the only job available, the water supply is dwindling, the drilled wells are full of arsenic, the driveways are so steep you can't stand up on them and your F-450 runs out of braking power, all of the fords have orange cancer............IF BC IS SO BAD,WHY NOT MOVE??????
I really shouldn't butt into this topic but it's another view anyway. I've owned 6 trucks over 20 years. When I was single, and 21, I had a brand new 4964 Western Star tractor, and a 28' aluminum dump trailer. The first 6 months of business ownership, I accumulated 10K dollars in my account. I thought to myself, if this keeps going this way, I'll retire by 50 no problem. A year later, I had a serious engine failure. I bought this truck slightly used with no remaining warranty, so that 10K diminished rapidly paying for that out-of-frame major. Back up and running, I broke my a** as hard as a young, aggressive kid could to make up for the loss. I then purchased a second and third truck, and more trailers. Things appeared to be going good for me at my age. Once I got married and this new female person actually needed stuff, the scenery changed a bit. Not much, but I was now supporting two. No regrets after 25 yrs., just a factoid. 1991 or 1992, fuel started to spike. I bought 100% of it in New Jersey, it was .95/gallon back in those days. Fill a truck up at 100 gallons, it cost me 95 bucks a day to run each truck. I was raking in some dough, too. Loaded both ways from Conn. to Pa. every day. Then things started to change. Work shifted from a steady contract hauling scrap metal, to having the rate cut by 10.00/ton, and given the ultimatum to match it or leave, I left. Now all my backhauls that took me 5 years to arrange are null and void, because I couldn't break into the steady stream of southbound scrap metal freight to the same area again. Sold 2 rigs at that point. Back to one truck, and this time a Case 580CK backhoe was added to my operation.(Can't believe I just admitted that Case thing... ) Did some smaller landscape-type work, driveways, decorative stone, etc. That was the best time I ever had involving heavy duty trucks. Soon afterward, a JD 350 dozer was purchased. I was suddenly making headway far quicker than I ever could with those trucks. It didn't take me long to figure out that buying and selling my own product was where it was at. Then, spreading and grading it for a fee was a bonus as well. Years afterward, I once again concentrated on primarily trucking. In 2004, fuel was now 1.60/gal. and climbing ever since. It started to cut into our profit margin when we figured the increases in fuel versus the trucking rate increases. The rates NEVER seem to follow the cost increases. That same formula that another person revealed in this thread a while ago is basically what we calculated for our expenses as well. Only thing was, I had $1600.00/month payment in there along with the rest of those ammortized figures.(Registrations and annual federal heavy vehicle tax and IFTA wasn't in there as far as I saw either.) I was looking forward to the day when I made the last payment, so I thought I would be able to pocket more money. Never seemed to happen quite that way... You have to give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and he wants more once you have little to no depreciation left on your equipment. That's another hidden little nasty. You also have a fairly worn out piece of iron once they're paid for, so repairs/maintenence is going to affect the budget. For every guy that enters the trucking business, another exits it for one reason or another...mostly because of the lack of expected cash. I was one, last year we made the hard decision to sell again, and it was a wise one in our view. we were spinning our wheels paying everybody else, and not keeping enough to warrant the efforts. I might add, I did 99% of all work on the equipment to keep costs down. Those garages now are getting big $$. You see steven101, what I'm trying to reveal to you is not to be negative about the trucking business if you want to go out and try it, because God knows, I tried it for over 20 years. Some people have better luck than others. You may have an outgoing, positive personality that people are attracted to and WANT you to be part of their team, I don't know...I have to say, in all honesty though, as I explained earlier about me making money buying and selling my own materials/products...don't ever stop that if you want to get into trucking. The trucking business isn't all it's cracked up to be these days. Guys make a living, some require less or more than others. Depends on your lifestyle and what you are used to. Also depends on your intentions. If building a fleet is the vision, then by all means, go for it. You'll work harder than you ever have to this point doing it, but in order to be a true winner financially in trucking, VOLUME is king. You'll need continuity, and volume, and diversity, meaning still doing the materials handling thing, to be comfortable eventually. That's it. Can't say any more, and I'm sure everybody's ecstatic that I can't. Hope I didn't sound like my Canadian counterpart here, I tried to balance the "pos". with the "neg". Go get 'em, dude.:thumbsup
The NATURE man can't get away from it when you can go fishing and hiking or hunting any time you want a guy can deal with a lack of work. Where I live I can throw a boat in the water and go out fishing or just fooling around. Its why everybody flocks to B.C. its why Albertans buy up property like you wouldn't beleive. The money is really good in Alberta and you can make 100 grand a year but your living conditions are crap. Like they say there is more to life than money. Anyhow I would love to get back to running hoe again or driving truck or being a owner operator dump truck. The contractors I have known since I was a kid all say stick with what you got. They know the skills I have etc but they don't see excavating in the area being a job that is going to last. Probably another 5 to 10 years you will see the excavation industry die off to nothing. Any of the excavation contractors that are in business once they retire they are not interested in carrying the business on or selling to somebody. Even the contractors kids have gone to do something else. The industry isn't sustainable anymore the developable land has been developed and the work is slowly drying up. The jobs that supported people for 40 years are dissapearing like commercial fishing that has supported famillies for decades its just the way it is on Coastal B.C. . Analists figure from now to 2011 there will be 900 job openings for heavy equipment operators in B.C. . Those jobs are to replaced retiring operators there is very little new job openings. The service industry jobs is what will keep younger generation employeed like changing the diapers on you old buggers at the old age homes :laugh Landscaping is trade that will never disapear people are getting lazier and always need somebody to mow their lawns or do landscaping. Mini excavating will probably never dissapear again it goes along with renovating and upgrading peoples homes. People will always renovate or up grade their property. Analists figure there will be 3200 or more jobs from now to 2011 or roughly 820 jobs per year. Truck drivers are the highest job openings they analists figure 2600 job openings per year. With your guys economy in the US on unstable ground you guys can't deny the fact that you guys are dipping your toe into the recession pool. Do what you figure is going to suit your needs. If your going to sell your landscape company put that money away and get a job driving dump truck to see if your going to like it or not. You may not like having every bone in your body rattled and ever bump in the road your teeth feel like they are going to fall out
Anybody remember the theme song for HEE HAW? It went like this here... "Gloom, despair and agony on me. Deep dark depression, excessive misery. If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all...Gloom, despair and agony on me...." Old "Boreguard the Wonderdog" was the only upbeat in the whole place it seemed.
Nice post Lowboy! I think you said it well. I tried sub trucking for another trucking company and at $63.80 an hour you just get by. The trucking company I worked for told me that he makes more money off of the sub trucks than he does his own. The only time that I can say that I made $100 plus an hour with my truck was when I was selling the material to my customer that I was doing an excavating job for. Thats the answer in a nut shell. If you can keep the truck working for your own jobs or delivery of material for your customers not some elses than the truck can pay. I need the truck for my excavating buisness and not the other way around. The bigger the truck the better. I wish I had a 20 ton truck and not a 15 ton truck everyday. Around here I see alot of new trucks trucking for another trucking company and I don't see how they make money all year, in the summer working everyday yes but what happens in the winter or the need for trucking slows down. The guys with mulitple trucks and 100's of steady trucking customers have the best chance to make it in just trucking IMHO
Thanks for the excellent post Lowboy!!:thumbsup It's refreshing to hear from someone who has actually experienced the ups and downs of running the business rather than the doom and gloom we've been coming accustomed to. Life is full of decisions to be made, we all must weigh risk against reward in doing so. Those who are not willing to take a risk will not often see much in the way of reward.
Thank you LowBoy for sheding some light on the subject. As you already know, Im young, so I dont want to come across as a "know it all". That is why I choose to ask on a open forum.. Although I own a company,, I still have alot to learn. I'm also not scared to ask questions or recieve constructive criticim. As for trucking, My goal is to start slow and see were it leads. If it doesnt work out, I have no problem working for somebody else.
I would try get a job running a dump first especially if you don't have the experience. Make all the learning mistakes on somebody elses truck it saves you money. One of the local guys here bought a new dump thought he could make enough money just hauling with a dump. Its not working out that way he had to find other work running equipment. Maybe if he bought a dump back in 2002 a 140,000 dollar truck would be almost paid for. Alot of these guys that are buying trucks can drive them but can't fix them so they are finding the repair bills are expensive. If you buy a dump truck you gotta beable to fix them. You should consider to buy a air compressor, 1 inch impact wrench and a air powered jack. Doing tires is a regular chore unless your truck is a pavement queen. The second thing to get is a big wash tub for oil changes something else you can do at home. A welder and cutting torches should be on the list aswell so you can do your own repairs to the box when needed. If you get a truck with a aluminum box then you might have to hire somebody aluminum is harder to repair. Do as much as you can on your own and maybe get some more mechanical training to do the rest. Things like major engine repairs should be left to mechanics. Suspension work can be done at home or doing brakes on the truck. A few cuts,bruises and burns isn't going to hurt. You can get used to banging your head while greasing the truck daily. When I was doing truck repairs I would go home at night with cuts on my fingers or bruises. The worst is doing tires talk about back killer. You get a stubborn Dayton wheel that doesn't want to come off. Lots of fun which is all part of running a dump truck :drinkup
C'mon people, let's all join in on the Hee Haw anthem. 1..2...3...
An excellent attitude to go into it with, steven101. Being you already have the fundamentals to operate a business with some savvy, you'll know enough to watch for tragedies I'm sure. jmac said it so right...$63.80/hr. sounds to most unexperienced people like a LOT of money, in reality it's not at all when dealing with trucks. As with any business, everything has a cost. Know what they are, calculate the figure you need to operate and live, give EVERY DOLLAR a name. I think you'll find in short order what I'm sharing isn't far off from the truth. I can't drill it into your head hard enough either, about the first and foremost advantage if going into the dumptruck business...keep selling material. You'll be way ahead of the competition (and there's plenty of it,) while they're out sub-contracting for the "man" by the hour or ton, and you're buying bank run gravel at 6 bucks/yard, and adding your rate in and selling it for what your market will bear. That way, you get what you need for revenue. One of the biggest, most maddening statements I've ever encountered in the trucking business is hearing from an already filthy rich developer, contractor or broker when negotiating a deal is; "You'd be making too much money, the other guys are doing it for X"...I feel that's my business, don't you? I never once told my barber, plumber, or anyone else that, although I'd like to sometimes. By dealing your own goods, you can "bury" your deserving rate into the product, and not have to hear those stupid statements. If possible, keep a skidsteer or compact tractor around so you get first dibs on pushing the material around, too if you can.:usa
At 63 dollars per hour a truck should even leave the yard how are you supposed to make any profit. A tandem axle rate for us used to be 65 per hour 3 years ago and then it was borderline profit. Rate jumped to 80 dollars per hour just to cover the fuel and the extra costs in tires. Hee Haw all you want but if your working for 63 dollars per hour you gotta be just paying expenses. I know things are far cheaper in the US especially tires and oil. A 5 gallon pail of Delo 400 costs me 70 dollars you got to buy 2 pails for a gravel truck 140 then you got filters on top of that 100-150 dollars. For you to drive the truck you should be collecting 20 dollars per hour minimum.
Look Lowboy......he said it....he said HEE HAW!!!. :lmao :falldownlaugh :lmao :falldownlaugh
"Glooooom, despaaaair, and agony own meeeeee,....":duh ointlaugh :laugh
I don't live in a country that is so far into debt you poor american citizens are on the hook for something like 40 trillion dollars of debt :laugh Your guys country is in finanacial trouble and thats gonna hurt your economy which eventually hurt ours here. Go ahead sink yourself into personal debt you read on the net house forclosures happening and major job losses in the US. The phrase "American Made" doesn't exist anymore I was looking at some charts on what you guys import from China is more than you export to other countries. You take a risk you might be living in a cardboard box in the park This saying is from a website America is less and less independently in control of its economy There is 13.6 people unemployeed in the US. So if you got it good now is it worth loosing it all. Dump trucks are really not big profit makers. Good Luck with what you decide. Ya I might be doom and gloom but you can't ignore the facts that you may loose your job tommorow and loose everything you own. Trying to put a rosey spin on things only go so far.
Alright Dudley Do-Right, I had about enough. There's no worries about me or anybody I know living in a cardboard box in the park, I and most of us hard working Americans don't spend all of our waken moments surfing the web looking for negative statistics from these liberal, left-wing red diaper doper babies about how bad the economy is getting, and to be honest, if you've ever stopped hauling garbage into the dump you brag about so much and heard of the law of physics that says, "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction"...That simply means that whenever there is something going wrong in our economy, it USUALLY creates more positive opportunity for those of us that are positive enough to recognize an opportunity. I don't necessarily love the fact that we're spending billions in Iraq, but let me tell you, it's been keeping me and thousands of other HARD WORKING AMERICANS busy moving military and other commodities around for the good of our economy. It created a multitude of jobs, work and situations for many needy, deserving people. If we spent the same amount of time living the Chicken Little life that you do with all this darkness you spew at us all the time, we'd all be shooting ourselves one by one. For Pete's sake man...if you're gonna keep talking like the world's coming to an end, nobody can make a living at anything, and everybody's gonna be losing their jobs soon and the American economy is going to collapse, then maybe you ought to put your canoe in one of those lakes you claim you enjoy so much and row away to a deserted part of the bush and start hunting and trapping for your food. that way, we can remain somewhat content and not get so nervous every time the interest rates rise a half percent and you have to inform us of it...
You are very well spoken Low Boy, and I surely admire you for it :notworthy
When you are right you are right ! Lowboy is definitely right
So anyways.... Let's get this baby back on the right track, How's your decision making going steven101?
I am just finishing my 10th summer as an O/O dump truck driver here in Alaska. I can tell you what it's like up here, and how I do things. Some stuff is universal, other stuff more regional.......you gotta figure out what works in your area.:beatsme I have a '98 Pete 378 that I bought new. It is pretty heavy duty, 46k rears, 18k front, 18 speed, 3406E Cat set at 475 hp, 4:11 rear end and a Chalmers suspension. It's one of the best spec'd truck around. I sold another business and paid cash for the truck. To be honest....there really isn't enough money in trucking to buy a new one and live off it too (just working summers). If I had to make payments AND support a family......I would have went broke. The first couple of years were pretty lean. It took me a while to get steady work. I also had to take "bad jobs" to get by. I define "bad jobs" as ones that are either rough on the truck or use a lot of fuel. Took me a while to find my niche. If you are already in "the biz" and know people you might do better than me starting out. I prolly average 1,200 to 1,300 hours on the truck a summer now, of which about 25% are non revenue. I started out with a 2 axle pup, but sold it after the first year. Up here they only pay an extra $10 an hour to pull a pup. No way you can make a profit off it. The only reason people pull one is to "get more work".........which is true. I had to make a choice of working for less money, or working less. I chose working less. Brokers.....When your new you may have to use them to get known. I found working for them usually put me on "bad jobs". I always had to wait 90 days to get paid. I haven't worked for one since '00. On the flip side, I have a buddy who loves to work for them. He doesn't mind the bad jobs and gets lots of hours. Highway trips.....I avoid them like the plague. They use too much fuel. Doing my local deliveries around town I average about 4 gallons an hour. If I jump on the 4 lane and drive 65/70 mph my fuel can jump as high as 10 gallons an hour. At $3.00 a gallon fuel you are loosing $18 an hour.......thats a BIG DEAL...... at least to me anyway You have to keep your free driving to a minimum. For the most part I work for 4 local pits. I try and keep my area small. It only takes me about 20 minutes to travel between pits. I also work for small contractors. I do go out of my area to do jobs for them, BUT I usually get enough work/hours to make it worthwhile. I get a lot of home owners calling me for a load or two. I don't go out of my area to haul to them. I do suggest others to call. I just don't leave em hanging. You gotta know when to hold em.....and know when to fold em. People are going to try and get you to do stuff with your truck that is gonna screw it up. Takes a while to figure out what your truck can and can't do. The quicker you learn......the less it will cost you. If I get a customer who doesn't pay on time, keeps a bad work site, or bounces a bucket off my box.....I dump em quick. I try and get my own customers. That way I get paid for trucking and get a cut on the dirt. Thats where you make the most money. It is also the hardest way to get work. I do very little work on my truck. I wash and grease it on Sundays. Everything else I have a shop do. Some folks do all their own work rather than pay a shop. Guess they can give you their reasons for doing their own work. You will have to figure what you want to do. I will give you my reasons for taking it to a shop........ First off I am not that great of a mechanic. Yes I could do oil changes and minor work......but don't. By letting the shop do all the work.....they take me right in and get me going when I have problems. That is worth a lot and has saved me lots a money. I would rather pay the shop $$$ than pay it to the IRS. I figure working 6 days a week is enough. It is important to keep your truck in GREAT shape.....both mechanical and looking good. I have mine serviced every 250 hours. I make an appointment on a Monday for service work. That way I can do an overnight trip on my motorcycle. You need to pull a calculator out to see if it's better to do the work yourself or use a shop. It is IMPORTANT to know your hourly costs BEFORE and AFTER you buy a truck. It blows my mind to see how many owners don't have an hour meter in their truck. It is pretty easy to figure out your costs (ball park) in advance. If you just run summers.....figure on 1,000 hours. Then plug in your costs. For example.....Insurance $5,000 = $5.00 hr. Tires $3,000 = $3.00 hr. Every time I fuel up I check gal hr and $$ hr. I average around 4 gal/hr and $12.00 hr for fuel. While people "get by" with air bag trucks and low horse power......It is best to get Chalmers, Hendricks or spring suspension and at least 400 HP. Remember you have to be competitive with the other trucks. You need enough HP to keep up with the line. You also need traction to get into bad areas and dump when you aren't always level. I get more work than some of my buddies who have air bags, cause my truck can do more. You aren't gonna get rich driving a truck.....but you won't starve either. You will have lots of ups and downs. Some days you will wish you had 5 trucks:drinkup .....others you will kick yourself for having 1.:Banghead All in all this is the best job I have ever had. I will prolly keep going till they (guys in white coats) drag me out of my seat. Some people hate it......only way for you to know is give it a shot.
Welcome to HEF wheeldog, good post. Where in Alaska?
Thanks for the welcome. I live in Wasilla.......about 40 miles north of Anchorage.
Id like to get into getting a stone slinger truck and seeing how that works out. Charge by the hour, with a 2 hour minimum. $150 an hour. Still cheaper to have a slinger deliever and spread, then use 1 operator, 1 machine and 1 laborer. It think it might work. Got 200 large I can borrow??? lol
Hey LT ........LOOKOUT!!!!!!! The sky is falling ! Better duck and cover!