Hopper, Dump O/O's & Drivers

Mrs.BHW,is hubby doing ok,still enjoying pulling the flat?

 

know

Dang Dairyman, if you already know, it's hardly a secret, is it??

WH is 100% right, the good freight never makes it to the load boards. It practically moves itself. Load boards are for freight that nobody wants - either it's cheap, or it pays $3.00/mile and it's a pain in the arse to haul it, and you get stuck for 3 days trying to unload it only to find yourself in an area with no freight to get you back out when you finally do get unloaded. The only thing the load boards are good for is to find a load to get your truck to a better lane. You can keep a truck busy off a load board, but the only person that will make any money is the guy with the freight! Right now, the loads on Hoploads and Bulkloadsnow are in the $1.60/mile range. If you can make money at that, you've got this thing figured out better than I do.

It is a good part of "who you know" too. If you've got a good working relationship with a guy, he's obviously going to be more apt to help you out or raise the rate a little, as opposed to if you just introduced yourself over the phone 30 seconds ago. If you're calling them looking for work, you're at a disadvantage already. He knows your truck is sitting and you've got to get it moving. Think he's going to raise the rate? On the other end of the spectrum, though, when these guys know you, and know that you run a particular area, they'll start calling you. That's when you've got some room to negotiate a fair rate. The key word is fair. Try to gouge a guy once, and he'll remember it forever...just like if you haul a cheap load for him once. He'll remember that forever too and expect you to haul for that rate all the time. Just like any industry, the people of the feed and grain industry network with each other. If you do good work for fair rates, your name and number will get passed around to other merchandisers and logistic coordinators.

The best advice I can give is to learn a lane/area and start working it, getting to know the guys and gals who have the freight in that lane. I stick to a pretty confined geographical area with my trucks, and when I see a load on a load board, I can pretty well tell who has it, what it is, and what they're trying to move the load for before I even click on the info button.

I suppose if you can find some idiot to drive your truck for 25 cents a mile, and he can get 7 miles to the gallon, you could make a little beer money sitting in an office with Hoploads, Bulkloadsnow, and a phone.

On a side note, did anyone else notice how the forums went dead after Jared started charging to be a member on Bulkloadsnow? The forums remained free, but you'd never be able to tell. I'd be interested to see how many members stuck around and started paying after he dropped the bomb???

 

Good deal,glad he's enjoying the new gig! Got any deer in the freezer?

 

Sounds delicious,do ya'll ever blend deer-burger with pig sausage,'bout a 1/4 pig,3/4 deer,it makes for a TASTY deer-burger

 

My father in-law does this, and you're right...it IS good!