Hopper bottom

I may have a job opportunity with a small farmer hauling peanuts or soybeans in a hopper bottom. Amy advice or thoughts

 

Unroll your tarp before you unload or the vacuum pressure will suck your tarp in and bend your bows. If the trailer doesn’t have a vibrator(s) a rubber mallet would be a good investment.

 

Would it be a good idea for a rookie and is ton pay or weight pay normal

 

I think it’d be a great idea. You wouldn’t be dealing with grocery warehouses and people at mills and co-ops or wherever you’ll be goin, are about 37 x’s nicer than any shipping or receiving clerk you’ll ever find. Fellow drivers are usually willing to help if it’s your first time somewhere. And yes % pay of the load is the name of the game in bulk hauling. Perfectly normal in your situation. I’d almost be leery of it paid anything otherwise.

 

How are they loaded and unloaded, backing into docks involved

 

No that’s another beauty you’ll never bump a dock. Heck you may never reverse again. 99% of the time you pull over a pit, crank your hopper open and let er rip. Once your first one is emptied pull up if the pit isn’t big enough and do your second one. Some places like ADM and Cargill have pits big enough and deep enough to do both at the same time. If not though or it’s a smaller pit don’t overload it a lot of times that can jam up the conveyer. Just keep a good flow.

 

No idea what you're talking about. What's ton pay. Im guessing lets just say your load pays 15 a ton and you put 20 tons on it thats 300 for that load. Am i correct. The outfit im looking at runs from south Alabama to Florida, south Carolina, georgia, Arkansas and Mississippi usually stay out 3 or 4 days maybe more depending on the driver

 

Yes that’s correct. But then let’s say you get 25%. So if it’s 15 a ton, you load 20 tons, the truck makes $300. You’d get 25% of $300.

 

Find a Chicken food plant thats close by and watch the drivers unload their hopper trailers they work all the time

 

From my understanding he hauls peanuts to the warehouses and to various plants