I live in the Quad Cities, IA so I am roughly 160 miles from Chicago depending on where you are going. I am going to buy a truck pretty soon here, but I am still undecided what I want to pull and I do not want to be OTR driver again. I have no problem driving to Chicago back and forth. I have heard that there are some OO's pulling end dumps bringing grain into Chicago and then hauling back steel coils. Apparently they get tie-downs put into the dump bed to secure the coils. Has anyone heard of this before or anyone out there doing this? Anyone have any other good ideas for work around Chicago-Quad Cities that pays decent? Does anyone know any good brokers around Quad Cities?

at alot of the steel and aluminium places you'll see this kind of set up.....pretty neat as they can hual dirt, grain or whatever else they can get in there

they cut holes in the front and rear of the trailers and add chain tie downs
pretty nifty set up i think

I have actually never heard of that but it does sound like a smart idea! I think I would like to get into that! I used to be a Lease operator and failed bad (CR ENGLAND). I used to pull a skateboard around for TMC and around here you can get coils from Chicago back here but you usually dead head up there. If I could get a modifed end dump I could get paid both ways! I have actually never dealt with a broker before so I don't have any idea how that works. I tried looking in the phone book for a broker around here and there was none listed. How do I go about finding a broker? I know what I want to buy, what loads I want to haul but I just don't know how to get the loads.

On the upside of this, most dumps are already fitted, or easily fitted with a well sealed tarp system, so you shouldn;t have to do any tarping to make this work.

Take a good look at a couple of other things before doing this. Check with the trailer manufacturer and ensure that you can adequately mount the tiedowns in the trailer. Especially with an aluminum dump, there may be some issues here to consider. It may well be that you would have to go to a full framed steel dump to make this work out.

A dump weighs quite a bit more empty than a flatbed does, so you are going to have to be sensitive to the weight issue to make this work. I used to pull a 4 axle full frame Alum 34' dump here in Mich, and with a sleeper tractor hooked up, it was 38k empty. I could put 101k on it, so I loaded up to 63,000 on the trailer. With an 80k gross, you may not be able to pick up all steel coils, even deleting the weight of the two extra axles.

You will need to contact the manufacturer and ensure that the trailer is rated to have that amount of weight within that short of a space. Usually, a dump is run with the weight spread equally throughout the trailer, so this could be an issue to deal with, and I would get the hard infor from the manufatcurer before buying any trailer.

I would want to stick with the lightest tractor i could get hold of, no more than a small sleeper, and probably a 10-11 liter motor vice a larger one. The weight savings on the tractor all amount to greater payload in the box, and that;s the name of the game when it comes to dumps.

There are a lot of ethanol and biodiesel plants settling into that area, and they may be able to provide cargo, based on fuel prices and conditions. I know the biodiesel plants are taking a major hit from corn and bean prices right now concurrent with the lower than expected prices for diesel at the pumps. But, if they are working right, they can provide hauls in both directions.

There is a big boom on ethanol plants around here, and they are going up like weeds! Maybe I can find a end dump with a 3rd lift axle and that might solve my weight issue. I would have to check IA/IL weight laws firs of course. I think I am going to go down to my local trailer dealer and talk to him to see how they are doing it and where I can get the tie downs put in at. Once I find out who modifies them I can talk to see what the optimal trailer is around here. I wouldn't be suprised if the trailer had to be reinforced as well.

The problem with a full frame steel body is that they are very heavy, and to get one long enough to be able to gross 80k would make for not much payload at all, let alone enough to stick a coil up in it.

Demolition work is all those are really good for because they are so heavy.

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Z-Lady's devoted hubby.

I think I am going to research the alu trailer way. Maybe getting a tri-axle would be the good route.

That sounds like a great idea. As long as the weight issue pans out. The coils are loaded and unloaded by crane so no issues there. What about the height of the trailer though. Isn't the floor of an end dump taller than the bed of a skateboard? I'm not sure so I'm asking. I would be leary of a frameless aluminum end dump. I've cringed more than once when that old fontaine of mine twisted up with coils on it. I've watched a frameless end dump twist up and roll before while the guy was dumping grain. Sounds like it could work though.

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Do a google search for "load board".

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I am trying to steer away from load boards and I would rather work with a broker directly. I have always heard that load boards have generally cheap freight.