Hi from Montana

Discussion in 'The Welcome Wagon' started by JPSouth, Nov 20, 2022.

  1. JPSouth

    JPSouth Bobtail Member

    5
    21
    Nov 20, 2022
    Southwest Montana
    0
    Hi forum - been around trucks and trucking most of my life as an employee. Started the bigger rigs as a wheat harvest hand, 7 runs to TX and back up to home in MT. Then time at a sand/gravel/ready mix business where I eventually wound up in Oshkosh concrete mixers and did that for over 20 years, occasionally some lowboy and air trailer time. Took a break from that for a few years to pull fuel tankers for a local distributor, a little interstate time but mostly local hauls.

    Then a few years ago a red light runner and I met in the middle of an intersection, changed things drastically for me, decided to try my hand at my own business and have been doing dump truck work, sitework/excavation, all kinds of varied work with that. This year I decided to concentrate more on hauling aggregates and recently bought a '98 Peterbilt 378 NW transfer set, so now my '97 Ford L8000 has a big brother.

    Glad to be here, I see a lot of interesting topics to go over. Lots happening in the trucking world the past few years, sometimes JJ Keller isn't enough. Getting to where a CDL and USDOT# requires more preventative maintenance than my trucks, so more reference from those smarter than I is a plus to keeping a business running smooth.
     
  2. Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.

  3. D.Tibbitt

    D.Tibbitt Road Train Member

    19,660
    130,552
    Apr 26, 2013
    Gettin' down westbound
    0
    Welcome !! What part of montana do you mostly run in ? If you were running mixer trucks, did u ever work those jobs out in big sky area ? I was running landscape boulders in and out of the yellowstone club for the last couple years. Wonder if we crossed paths and didnt know it... Ive since moved out to do my own thing with my own authority and havent been back up in that area since then.. But i miss it.
     
    Last edited: Nov 20, 2022
    pumpkinishere, Boondock and Siinman Thank this.
  4. JPSouth

    JPSouth Bobtail Member

    5
    21
    Nov 20, 2022
    Southwest Montana
    0
    I'm in the west end of the Gallatin valley, run in 4 of the neighboring counties. I spent a good share of the 90s running batch plants and hauling mud in Big Sky, and then some of the 2000s until 7 years ago running the canyon up there when working out of a plant in Belgrade. More trips than I care to remember to Big Sky and the Yellowstone Club. With this transfer set, I'm sure I'll be heading back down that road again..the canyon and Big Sky are very crowded houses now, good place to keep space between you and the next guy.
     
    pumpkinishere, Boondock and D.Tibbitt Thank this.
  5. D.Tibbitt

    D.Tibbitt Road Train Member

    19,660
    130,552
    Apr 26, 2013
    Gettin' down westbound
    0
    Right on man! Yeah its so bad , so much jobsite traffic everywhere I go. if u can believe it , we were taking 48ft flats and 53 stepdecks with sleeper trucks up some of those residential roads inside the yellowstone club... Insanity at its finest..cant tell you how many almost wrecks I got into everyday with dump trucks coming around the blind corners.. Even running the cb radio and calling out the corners , it was still just incredibly stressful alot of the times... I think last year they were building a portable batch plant right at the entrance to big sky from where u turn off 191 onto highway 64 to big sky... One of the mixer drivers told me they have work up there for the next 20 years... Crazy crazy
     
    pumpkinishere and JPSouth Thank this.
  6. motocross25

    motocross25 Road Train Member

    3,193
    9,421
    Sep 23, 2010
    Overland Park, KS
    0
    I was just gonna say @D.Tibbitt is your man on here, but he already made it and is all over it! Welcome to the forum.
     
    JPSouth, pumpkinishere and D.Tibbitt Thank this.
  7. pumpkinishere

    pumpkinishere Heavy Load Member

    931
    4,972
    Apr 21, 2021
    0
    Yes welcome to the forum. Beautiful area beautiful country out that way. As a matter of fact I guess I was a late bloomer in watching Yellowstone but I love the settings just purchased season 1 and 2 half way through the2 nd season already. I love Montana. Problem is going to Montana can make decent money it’s just hard getting out at times.
     
    D.Tibbitt and JPSouth Thank this.
  8. JPSouth

    JPSouth Bobtail Member

    5
    21
    Nov 20, 2022
    Southwest Montana
    0
    I haven't seen that show, guess most of it's filmed over in the Bitterroot and Utah, heard some downtown scenes were done in Butte. We have lousy reception at our place, TV went belly up several years ago and we didn't bother to replace it so I'm probably a light-year or two behind pop culture. Those of us who grew up here generally have a good laugh at some of what's depicted in movies/TV, it's pretty far removed from what actually is. But I guess it's just entertainment, still odd that some people buy it as reality. Several decades of 80 hour weeks here have taught me you can't eat scenery. ;)

    Some of the state, including my locale, has seen a tidal wave of wealthy people coming in, which has definitely made it easier to make a living in construction. But the cost of living here has grown exponentially along with it, and I constantly wonder how many exist with the relaxed schedule they keep. My present customer base, OTOH, is reeling a little from the present economic situation and that's why I'm going back to my roots in a truck cab, with some dirt and concrete on the side. Same as most of the rest of the country, trucking companies here see a driver shortage, and part of it is the crazy high price of renting/owning a place. So local O/Os can do okay if they have the right rig, know a few people and keep the phone handy.
     
  9. pumpkinishere

    pumpkinishere Heavy Load Member

    931
    4,972
    Apr 21, 2021
    0
    We have a nephew that move to Billings Montana about 6 months ago. He his wife and daughter are living on a ranch as ranch hands and I guess making a fairly good living. They were operating some massive equipment this past summer helping in the fields and then they show us videos of them moving the horses. Just a cool scenery. I love horses, I guess I was a little spoiled as a child because I had a pony growing up and my aunt and uncle had horses but through my adult years I haven’t been around horses much but horses are very beautiful animals so in my opinion if it has horses it’s beautiful. Lol
     
    D.Tibbitt Thanks this.
  10. pumpkinishere

    pumpkinishere Heavy Load Member

    931
    4,972
    Apr 21, 2021
    0
    Actually it’s Jackson Montana but very close to billings. That’s where our nephew moved.
     
    D.Tibbitt Thanks this.
  11. D.Tibbitt

    D.Tibbitt Road Train Member

    19,660
    130,552
    Apr 26, 2013
    Gettin' down westbound
    0
    What's the lowboy work look like up there ? I went out and bought a rgn and running that now.. Wouldn't mind getting back up and running montana/idaho/washington if I could find some local work in that area... the spot market up there is pretty bad for the most part
     
    pumpkinishere Thanks this.
  • Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.