pier / container hauling... if your thinking about doing it, read this first.

Heck at least your getting paid by the hr. Everything that ive hauled lately has been 40k plus. That includes 43k tobacco loads in which the boxes in the can are packed fully top to bottom, front to back, and side to side. Im working on a few things, but come the new year i plan on being outta the can hauling. Some guys make it work. How, i have no clue as it baffles me.

 

Understood, lorha, however, this is trucking and the amount of companies and different things you can specialize in hauling are as numerous as the drivers. If a driver is Not happy with a company, or hauling certain things he can go somewhere else. This industry is unlike any other. Drivers are always looking and asking about other companies and joining different jobs. Because we have options to pick from. Ive heard some drivers went to 12 different companies till he was happy with one he went to. Why settle when u can choose?

 

Lol it does, but it looks good

 

Exactly, there will be something else behind my truck and it wont be a can.

 

I agree! You must make it a practice to maintain your truck all the time especially pulling containers! You have to be a mechanic, a body man, electrician, wheel and tire man...ohhh boy it takes a special breed to mess with these containers. When i'm at a customer and its taking alittle longer to load or unload( happens sometimes) i do some of my best work on my truck at the loading dock...lol. You have to keep up your maintenance because you'll have a landry list of repairs if you dont. And then when it finally gives out ( not if..when) you'll have to fix a bunch of stuff you should've PM'D in the first place. Containers are hard on a truck! I dont care what kind you have mack,KW,Pete,etc. They will beat the hell out of the best truck. I have a 1996 KW W900L 3406e cat 500hp and i just finished upgrading all of my suspension bushings on my AG100 suspension. If you know anything about KW's you know i've upgraded 16 bushings to neoprene from rubber. Road master 3yr/300,000 mile shocks from Kenworth...king pins with stainless steel bushing...tie rod ends...sleeper shocks...wheel bearings,race,seals. I plan on getting a LIFCO clutch. And the AG100 has 8 airbags. I upgraded the suspension to handle those containers. Even with all that done, you still have to keep an eye,ear and nose aware for any alerts of maintenance on the truck. I'll even shut it down for a day or so to make sure i wont have to call THE HOOK on the road. Preventive mantenance is done 24-7 when you an o/o driver! Sometimes you have to give up those saturdays to work on your truck. Just because you've just left the BLUE BEACON with a 60 buck wash job, parked and put the sun shades'n curtains up...turned in all your paper work...go home and kick your boots off...hop in the tub and then grab a bite to eat...get up on that beautiful saturday morning...grab the remote to see what time the college football games start???? A thought runs to the front of your skull and says" Dang...i should go check this'n that on the truck"! Lol...no sir trucking dont stop!

 

I've bought at least 5 mudflaps this year from blowout to tight yards ripping em off

 

Los Angeles and Long Beach ports are really , really bad man... Lazy people , messed up equipment and careless. They careless about how long us drivers wait to pick up or drop off a container , until the day all us truckers go on strike will be the day they get their #### organized.

 

Well, I worked for a little while pulling containers out of the 2 NS yards in Harrisburg, PA. The thing that bothered me most about the work wasn't so much the poor condition of the chassis, but that you had absolutely no idea how legal the load was, and the guy I was pulling for was a small fleet owner and couldn't afford weight tickets. Most of the loads prolly ranged in the 40-48k lbs range which also killed our fuel mileage. Getting in and out wasn't too bad, though the Harrisburg terminal was where all the JB Hunt guys were and those idiots simply need to have their own terminal. That was the absolute worst part about that place. I can't count the number of times one of them would come around a corner and had to be in high range. I've heard since I stopped that they changed things up there a bit to make access much better. I've thought about buying a truck and running with one of the companies down there myself, it's just such a huge risk though with the loads and the equipment. Ya, it can pay well, especially if you get in good with whoever assigns the loads and are willing to run, but if you aren't careful or... ahem... "tricky" you can lose a lot real quickly.

 

You just have to know what to do and what not. But chassis's conditions have gotten better in the past year.

 

All container loads are not top heavy, I haul out of NIT and APM sometimes out of CSX rail yard. Before container I ran otr for 4 years and the are just the same when it comes to safety. All trailers that sits 4 ft off the ground is top heavy so treat it like wise, if its empty, loaded, container, 53 dry van. I pull 40 ft container before with 53000lbs in it and I had no problem on my turns. Some ports are automated gate, craine etc. You get in and out those faster if all is well, if there is a problem with the chasis then it will take longer. Its not for everybody just like otr is not for everybody. I got into container because I get home everyday and hame every weekend. You hve to get there early in the morning so you are one of the first in and out. I get up about 3 or 4 am the port open at 6 soon as they open I'm in and out. Another thing you can do is pick up you load the evening before so you don't have to go to the port in the morning. A lot of day I'm off about 2 p.m. sometimes earlier sometimes later. I like it but I'm looking for a company port or rail that pay percentage to o/o. Any suggestions in virginia area please send me a pm. Thanks