Colorado Freight/Local Work

Well, I've been out of the loop too long, and not in Colorado long enough to know, but given the current situation in trucking, DO NOT,,,sell the truck. You won't get peanuts for it, and could never replace it. Most the O/O trucks I see in central Co. are either, gas cans, bull racks, or maybe flatbed. Not many dumps, water tanker could be used in summer, incredibly dry where I am, nothing I doubt you could make a buck at. Lots and lots of company trucks come through here, tho.

 

If you find some great work in Colorado and maybe 10 acres of beautiful mountain land with a creek that isn't prone to wildfires for cheap let me know.

 

I concur with @"semi" retired , don't sell off your equipment just yet. Your situation is similar to ours, we farm first, truck second.

You already have the equipment, good. First off, check and see how much insurance is going to cost you, that's a big expense. Staying regional (< 500 miles) will cost you less.

Second, after you know what insurance is gonna cost you, and before you pull the plug and go the "for hire" route, and all that it entails, see if you can drum up DH's (direct hauls) on your own imitative, beat the bushes, see what turns up. I wouldn't recommend spending a lot of $$$ getting yourself set up with the hope of getting work via load boards, etc. A lot will likely be seasonal "on demand" type stuff. You might be surprised at what you'll find. Ambition doesn't cost you anything.

Third, don't sell yourself short, know what your CPM (cost per mile) is and charge accordingly. As you get known, in rural areas anyway, word of mouth can be some of your best advertising and it's free, good luck to you.... ​

 

I can tell you're getting the grasp of it. We farm, and what I've learned over the years is to not rely on just one or two things for your income, but instead focus on diversity. Sticking with a lot of somethings that worked, while dropping other ideas that didn't. Always look for an opportunity to add to your diversity, like what you're looking at doing now.

Look close at your insurance needs, so as to not "over insure", costing you more than you really need, ie: $100k cargo for water? Insurance is going to be one of your biggest expenses and will cost more any time you conduct a "for hire" operation, whether intrastate or interstate. For what you're doing right now, hauling your own farm products (private carrier), I'll bet your insurance costs are minimal. It's when you add that "for hire" aspect it starts climbing.

Hauling your own products is what you're doing now correct? I thought you were looking to hire out some, no? You should be able to drum up your own work regionally with a dump & step deck. Like I said earlier, get out there and visit folks, beat the bushes, see if you can find a niche not being served. I've always found that personally going to see & talk to folks works well. Unfortunately though, in todays world, that's not done much anymore. Yeah, it takes time and effort on your part, but I guess it comes down to how bad you want to do it.

Stay away from hiring employees. Staying strictly intrastate will also cut out IRP & IFTA also. As far as authority goes, it depends, some States require authority for "intrastate for hire", some don't. You'll have to research that aspect.

Keep us posted on here on what you find. I hope it works out for you, one farmer to another....

 

HA! There's another unexpected perk of the MJ industry. They just put up a HUGE grow house by me, looks like a freakin' stadium with razor wire fences and surveillance the CIA would be proud of, and I bet they go through a lot of water. Water is hard to come by here, and that's a great idea. I never thought of that.

 

Sure do, I sit by the wood stove, look out the window and watch my truck and equipment rust, just kidding! Winters here can get rough, so it's a time to wind down some and get on here.

It's also a time to tally up what was done during the year and decide what we're going to do, or not do, in the upcoming year. Also, time to get the tax chore completed.

March kicks off the Maple Syrup season and working the green house. Then followed by fence repair, and then planting time. From then until next Winter, it's just a blur.

We've picked up a direct haul starting in May through October for a local manufacturer, pulling a 40' gooseneck with a C70, light loads, 400 mile round trip, so out & back the same day. 'Ole Pete just sits for now.

Luckily, we don't have the water laws like you guys have out there and we catch the rain water to supplement our irrigation.