Bison Dry Bulk ?

There was a set in Bison's yard in sherwood park last week. Parked in the back. I could see em from the service rd off 16.

 

Farmers don’t care who hauls as long as hopper is clean, slides are closed, and don’t overfill and spill grain. 90% of the transport is through brokers and their only goal is to get the cheapest trucking possible so they can make more money on the trade (and not pass the savings back to the farmer). If the broker starts getting complaints about the trucker from the farmers then that trucker is off the list, they don’t want to deal with that. No shortage of trucks and super Bs around, no barriers to entry. All the surplus frac sand haulers have switched to grain to keep trucks moving. Not sure I would be investing in 40 sets right now but I am sure they have done the economic justification for it.

 

I'm told most of the Bison customers for the hoppers, they already haul Dry and Reefer freight for them, So I would imagine this is like them adding Searcy (decks), they wanna be a "total transportation solution" for the big companies/contracts.

 

Or an attempt to stay one step ahead of the banker.

 

Wow, welcome to the corporate meat grinder 5000!

 

Their will be a lot of angry drivers once the weak spec trucks start pulling full weight loads lol

 

I've worked for Richardson in every commodity they ship, including crude oil. From my experience they pay average rates with fuel surcharges. Like anything, rates will change based upon demand and market value (unless signed onto contract work). But Richardson does not screw around when it comes to safety. Flip-flops and addidas track pants won't cut it for required PPE. Strong communication skills are considered essential for safety, especially in the oilfield. So if anything good comes from Richardson's buyout of Bison, they will require drivers to conform to strict safety measures. The bad side is... Richardson is creating a monopoly on transportation of goods. This will eventually impact the availability and rates to most 3rd party carriers, currently hauling for Pioneer terminals. The mega carrier/box-store mentality has finally arrived to the agricultural sector. Who knows... one day we might be hauling grain for Amazon, with an in-cab camera pointing at us while we drive.

 

I have a few buddies that have been hauling out of a rolled oat plant for 2 decades even after Richardson bought it. They seem worried now which I fully understand .

 

Maybe they will get incentive to move on and run somewhere else, for more that 45 a mile or what ever it is at Bison.