Hopper, Dump O/O's & Drivers

Discussion in 'Ask An Owner Operator' started by wheathauler, May 31, 2009.

  1. dairyman

    dairyman <b> Hopper Thread Greeter</b>

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    Oct 31, 2009
    Ky.,wait'n in line
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    Good to here from you Big John,glad the flatbedding is working out good for ya:yes2557:,its nice to be able to eat home cooking thru the week every now and then too.

    RW.,been hauling air conditioners this week with the 'ol flatbed myself,only hauled 2 loads of feed last week,but i have 3 loads of ddg's lined up so far this week,the distillarys are shutti'n down this month so all the mills are scrambling to get stocked up i guess. Hope eveyone has a safe and profitable week.
     
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  3. Big John

    Big John Road Train Member

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    Oklahoma
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    Well maybe harvest will be excellent this year. They say the wheat here is looking good.
     
  4. farmermatt

    farmermatt Light Load Member

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    Aug 7, 2009
    Lowry City, MO
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    Well it seems everything is business as normal around here I had to take a break to get the corn planted but have been on the road some in the last couple of weeks I still have some more corn of our own to move but it has been hard to get into the bins cause I had to unload the easy ones first because of the sloppy winter

    I hope i can find enough hauling to jeep my sanity during the summer as there is NO wheat in this part of the country ours was horrible but we raised corn acres so I should have an outragious winter plus another customer wants me to haul at least 80,000 bu of his corn next year as well so hence I am truck shopping again I am gonna have to have 2 for the fall harvest there is just no way around it probably nothing like my current one but a decent secondary rig to haul to the bin while I haul south during harvest

    I seem to notice some flatbedding being done by some of you lately I have a 50' doonan stepdeck with a dovetail it is a very solid good trailer '98 model I guess it would be easy for me to test the waters if the pay warrants it
     
  5. wheathauler

    wheathauler Trucker

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    Mar 10, 2009
    Hutch, Kansas
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    Well, spent some money today I bought 8 new tires for my trailer. Here's hoping for a good harvest to help pay for them. I thought about caps but I have had no luck with caps for a number of years. The darn things kept blowing out.
     
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  6. Mjay

    Mjay Bobtail Member

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    May 18, 2009
    Alberta Canada
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    Most guys I have talked to about recaps say the same thing. Spend a few extra bucks and buy new tires, and be done with them. Seen to many recaps fly apart, wreck fenders and stuff. Then you have more damage to repair, plus a shot tire.
     
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  7. HwyPilot

    HwyPilot Medium Load Member

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    May 31, 2008
    Northern Georgia
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    The only time I'd ever feel comfortable running recaps is on local runs, smooth lanes, and slow speeds. I barely missed a piece of 4x4 post laying across a lane the other day - I know I would've lost at least one of the caps on the trailer to that. And there is just too much scrub on recaps due to pivot turns.

    The company I got my trailer from is all about recaps, and most of them run locally. I have seen the tail of one of the hopper trailers that was split open by a cap leaving a tire, and that repair bill is worth more than the price difference in tires.

    Bandag's are anywhere from about $200 to $260 apiece - you can get new trailer tires for $300 - $350, so where is the "big bargain"? I know I haven't found it yet - other than having to buy a full set of tires, or a new trailer to get virgins in my case :p
     
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  8. RW.

    RW. Heavy Load Member

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    Jan 18, 2009
    west central IL
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    I took lumber over to Troy, IN then picked up bricks in Evansville to bring back to Springfield. Lets just say from that experience, I'm not a fan of hauling bricks. Ended up not having any problems, but the way these were loaded, they made me nervous. That was the first time I'd hauled bricks, if there's ever a 2nd time, at least I'll know what I'm in for. Got another load of lumber, but it got switched from IN to WI, still searching for a good load back, there are several, but not for the day I want. I hate the load finding part of flatbedding!:biggrin_25513:

    There's almost no wheat around here either, just too wet last fall to get much in. We got our own crops in ok, but there's been a bunch of corn around the area had to be replanted, and still a lot of beans to get planted.

    I've got a couple places near me I haul flatbed loads for, mostly just IL and surrounding states, plus Ohio, then look on the internet for loads the opposite direction. It seems to me there are a lot more loads listed now on the board than a year ago, and paying better too. I know there's a lot of lumber moving around central and southern MO, might be worth looking into for when your hopper work is slow.

    You're probably just as well off. We've run caps before, and usually have good luck, but we also had one blow that tore up the back of one hopper a few years ago. We got it put back together right, but it about makes you sick when it happens.
     
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  9. wheathauler

    wheathauler Trucker

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    Mar 10, 2009
    Hutch, Kansas
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    I had one blow when I had a freightliner, tore up the fairing quite a bit. I also went from tall 24.5 to LP 24.5...main reason have 22.5 on tractor. I'm curious if LP will give me better mileage and save some weight. It may not change anything but have been running tall 24.5 for six years, time to try something new.
     
  10. Kansas

    Kansas Road Train Member

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    Apr 14, 2009
    aircap, Ks.
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    Took me a big bite of the crap sammich yesterday.

    Squished the front hopper door on my trailer pretty good while negotiating a dirt mount built over a local 2 lane highway.

    As I crossed the mound the drive screws became uneven and airbags started dumping. Lost what little trailer clearance I had and she literally sank into the dirt pile crushing the hopper under its own weight. Took all of about 10 seconds and damage was done.

    Waiting for a $$$$ quote from trailer shop. I am sure its going to take a week to nearly two for them to get this things rebuilt.

    What sucks is I followed another hopper across it. He went a little faster than me, I tried to be extra careful and got screwed. Once I was free they bull dozed the dirt mound before I left. Got rid of the evidence I suppose...
     
  11. HwyPilot

    HwyPilot Medium Load Member

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    May 31, 2008
    Northern Georgia
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    You should have better luck keeping weight off your drives - whenever my trailer leans toward my truck it seems like it's harder to balance a load.

    There probably is a difference in mpg - less rolling resistance because of the shorter sidewalls and narrower tread. Weight may not be much difference, but I'm willing to bet it may have dropped up to 200 pounds off the trailer - and that can't hurt!
     
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