Thumbnail sketch of Hopper Bottoms???

I pulled hoppers for a few years..good times bad times..

Hoppers are probably the last of the cowboys when it comes to trucking..There is no way to adjust your weight, so if you're heavy, you're heavy unless you pull around, wait in line to drop product..

Same way if your light, pull around and wait to load more product..

Axle weight? Get to know your air suspension guage..or if your lucky you will have scale read out in cab.

The product you're loading/unloading will hang up in the trailer..vibrators will help a little, but your going to need a plastic dead blow hammer..

Deliver to farms or other receivers without a pit and you drop your load, then pull forward through it..back next to it and do it again..if while dropping the load lifts you slightly and your tractor tires spin.. You're probably stuck.

Always maxed out on weight/product..

Highly recommend you not work on percentage based pay if possible.

Its a good job, shippers and receivers are friendly..Usually run illegal, heavy or over hours. It's a side of trucking MOST will never enjoy.

Good luck, and good choice.

 

Everything that was said above...

The last week i pulled a Hopper, I ran over 4,000 miles in one week.
After pulling one for awhile, You will never ##### about waiting an hour to load or unload a van, etc

 

I've only been doing it for a month after running reefer and am with a small local company and working 3 times as hard and making half as much. I do know there are much better companies out there but it is where I need to be for now. 15, 16, 17 hour days are common. I've had to redo my logs up to 4 times in a day to stay "legal".

As a big plus, the people you deal with are a lot friendlier. The people I talk to at Foltz seem pretty happy.

 

u haul dirt. u get paid dirt

 

So ethos, just a question for you: Since you like to run west, why don't you consider applying for one of those SNBC jobs you mentioned in another thread where they're looking for a few drivers to run regional out of Cali right now? IF you were to do this, one transition you'd need to make that I know of would be to go from a state where you pay zero state income tax to CALI's obscene state income tax (fortunately, their state income tax rate is on a graduated level just like our Federal tax rates are...)! But hey, you make an excellent per mile rate and being happier about where you run would mean a great deal! Besides, after the deductions you get for dependent family members and your per diem deduction, losing maybe just a few thousand per year may not be so painful, compared to the benefit of running west ALL of the time! As well, a long time back you mentioned you'd inherited some money and were wondering what to do with it. Since you're probably not under financial pressure, losing a few thousand per year may not be too much of a hardship on your family. Just thinking and analyzing out loud... Hope its okay I do this.

 

this is what you asked for right