Livestock/Grain Hauling Rates

It pays by the bushel/weight. Probably not many guys actually break things down to a per mile. It is no different than any other freight - up and down but mostly too many trucks with not enough work.

 

We're getting anywhere from 3.45 to 4.00 a mile on 50,000 pounds on our cattle loads. Fat cattle have slowed down some so we've been deadheading a little more. Usually we're within 150 miles of our next load.

 

Looking better, when I quit doing it, it had dropped below $3, and the bounce was getting worse and worse each week. That was a couple of years ago when the drought was going on in Texas. Don't think there is to much drought today with all the rain we have had this year. Good to see things picking back up, I may call my contact and go run some critters again for a while. I am getting bored in the office waiting for harvest to kick off here. Any of you hopper guys having problems with grasshoppers in the wheat out of Texas. My friend has been rejected in Southern Missouri two weeks in a row for grasshoppers. I told him the dog food plant should be paying extra for that added protein. LOL

 

I'm currently running at roughly 4.11 a loaded mile that is what it works out to at .26 a bushel at around 950-960 bushels per load. This is running 60-62 miles from pickup to delivery which is ingredion Inc bedford park il (better know as corn products) so my route has 2 tolls to it and pending on which way you go it's either 7.70 or 11.20 X2.
January February and some of march hauling soybeans was getting 2.74 a mile for 122 miles one way no tolls and .38 a bushel at 882 bushels a load. Was the only thing going on and needed to work and didn't loose money doing it

Any other loads if done I don't recall details on

 

Thats what I am starting to see around here as well. Been getting calls for the hopper, the offers are for about $3.5 per mile all miles for runs that are only 100 out and back. I will need to see it jump to where you are running to make it worth hooking it back up. It has been a slower bounce back this year, then the last two.

 

The best part with what I've been doing is I start the truck pull out of the driveway drive 2 miles down the rd and I'm at the elevator. That makes up for the Chicago driving for the most part

 

When corn is coming in and it's a bumper crop you can make a killing from the fields to the elevators. Everybody needs hoppers then. The rest of the year competition keeps it so cheap on everything else.

Guys I know around here pulling bull wagons get about $3.50 a mile outbound give or take. Most of them just deadhead back empty so really it's nothing to get all excited about. I guess if you stayed our a few weeks and could piece together a trip it would work out a lot better so what do you know about livestock? Aside from have you ever handled any, when & where it's moving, etc.

 

Not running either right now, I need to see the bull rack stay above $4 - $6 consistently before I get back in to that again. As soon as I start seeing consistent hopper running at $2.60 or more all miles I will start having the guys drop the vans and run hoppers. My guy from Sioux City is already seeing some action up his way, we were talking about it this weekend when he was at home. I told him if he is ready for me to get him a load to KC that we would just go ahead and trade out trailers. I know I could keep them running out east hauling meal at $3 per mile or more, but when we did that the bounce about killed us.

 

We have a dedicated contracts on pigs that pays about 2.50 per mile year round. Typically bounce 100-200 miles and then get 3.00-3.75 coming back loaded with Feeder Cows,calfs or steers.
Usually get 1800-2500 miles in a round trip.

 

When you factor in the Deadhead the Rates are nothing real special. Just alot of miles in a short period of time.

I typically do between 1.40 and a 1.80 on hub miles after the boss takes his cut for his trailer/authority.