Is it possible to make good money hauling containers (intermodal)?

Can you explain how "it will tare up your truck"

 

I'm guessing what he means is its overall harder on a truck pulling cans then dry van otr. The rail yards can be full of big pot holes, sometimes the lift guys drop the box from life 1-2 ft onto your truck & chassis getting a lift on, the chassis equipment is mostly old and beat up. Overall, pulling cans can be tougher on a then pulling van or flatbed.

 

I have been pulling cans for years and cans does not tare up you truck, yes sometimes they drop it too hard that's why you are suppose dump you bags when putting on or taking off a container. If they damage your truck (ie. Pop an airbag) the port will pay for the repair. If you damage a tire in the port or chassis yard cause by sharp object, nail etc in the yard the port will repair or replace the tire. If you are running the port you have to keep up on your maintenance, look over your truck thoroughly. Over all its how you drive the truck and keep up on the maintenance. I have seen a lot of these cantainer guys when they get finish for they day they just park jump in their car and go home and they don't even come out on the weekend to look over the truck, then they complain how container tare up their truck. Most of my loads are over weight, I like that niche because it's less competition, most drivers don't like to haul over weight, I take it so I don't have to compete with every one else for the light load

 

Hauling the chassis with spring ride yanks at your rear end so I find that you have to do a grease job every 6,000 miles to keep everything lubricated and you have excessive brake wear due to the fact that the brakes on the chassis don't work well and in many cases not working at all. I have busted a couple of wheel seals also. I also only use Virgin tires, the recaps don't last as long and will wear out much quicker.

 

Sorry for being somewhat "late" to the party here.

Let us know what you find out. I have posted plenty of negative about CBSL...but, to each there own.

I have tried many ways to make money with intermodal, I am convinced, there just isn't good money in it. There are TONS of outfits that will hire you as an O/O just by fogging a mirror, and then, screw you!

I can name several, but, here are a few:
Fore Transport
MNR
CBSL

They are all equally bad in their own rights. MNR was particularly evil. It was like, they WANTED me to fail. I was there very briefly, maybe 3 weeks. As it turns out, the longer you stay on board with them, the more they screw you over, and, quitting after 3 weeks, while it cost me some money, was NOTHING compared to how bad they were ####### some guys who had been there longer.

Its a rat-race, everyone is against you, especially the cops. They KNOW rail chassis pools are some of the WORST maintained in the industry...they know containers are often times over-weight. There is NO scales at the intermodal terminals....how convenient!

The guys at Fore were real flippant about it. Would say "So what, we pay for the over-weight". Well, it still takes time, there could be OTHER issues you are ticketed for, and, would someone please explain how over-weight tickets don't show up on your DOT driving experience? I haven't had one, didn't want one, so, I haven't had the "pleasure" to figure out if this is yet another falsehood the as an O/O you are lied to about.

As for the post about making $1,400 - $2,200 per week running intermodal....I sure hope that is your NET and not your GROSS, because, if that is all you are grossing...you are making NO profit. You'd be better off driving someone else's truck if that is the case.

Please get back to me.

 

All excellent points! Sometimes, brakes on a chassis are NON-EXISTENT! I don't pull those. Let the air completely fill...sometimes, if a chassis has been sitting a while, you have to drive it and pull the Johnson Bar several times before you feel the brakes work. Also, a lot of drivers want to save their own brakes, only use trailer brakes during transport. That wears out trailer brakes like crazy, over-heats them, then they get "glazed" and are ineffective.

Think of a chassis from a "pool" a lot like a cheap #####...you have NO idea how many other drivers it has been with...or what kind of hidden issues or problems it has until you are already "hooked" to it and pulling it down the road. Kind of too late to "pull out" then.

There are some companies that have gone to maintaining there own chassis pool...that's less riskier, depending on the level of "bone-headedness" of the other drivers in your fleet.

I grease my truck every 2 weeks, so, probably more like 2-3,000 mi, maybe a bit more. Factors like dust dirt and water (rain) all will effect how often you should grease.

I know some people who NEVER, or rarely grease, maybe every 3 mo or at oil change intervals. Grease is CHEAP and, although it can get a bit messy and be a tough job if you are old and fat like me, it's cheap insurance. I have a son who is now a diesel mechanic. I showed him how to grease my truck and have been paying him to do it since. He does a nice job for me to, he is very observant while under there, sees other things going on.

So, the moral to the story is, you or someone you trust should be crawling around under your truck frequently to keep an eye on things. It's all part of good preventative maintenance.

 

I'm not sure where you are running out of, but I run out of the Cleveland terminal. There are several different companies here and I haven't had any problems or have heard of companies screwing over the o/o. I however do hear about the various companies offering different pay rates. As for the D.O.T. ,knock on wood they look at you but so far I haven't had any problems (so far). They rail yards up here have been getting there acts together and are servicing the chassis much better than they have in the past. Lastly the pay, I bring home 1,400 to 2,200, not bad for only working maybe 8 hours a day. I do have friends at other companies that bring home 3,000 a week, but they run there butts off. I have kids to get home to every night so I will stick with the 8 hour days for now.
Pulling containers is not for everyone, I do like it, but there are days I want to through in the towel because of the ######## of dealing with the railyard, maybe the chassis is crap or you need a flip or your box has a whole in it, or the box is overweight, it all comes with the job.

 

$1,400-$2,200 a week...i sure hope that's your net and not gross!!!

 

How much do these loads weigh?

 

Best answer I can give you is my overweight permit is up to 100,000 lbs (truck, trailer and cargo) my heaviest weight since I'm hauling cans is 112,000lbs