Starting a dump truck business.

cnsper · Aug 2, 2016

Do everyone a favor and hit enter once in a while. I got about three lines into your response before my eyes started to cross.

BJW27 · Aug 2, 2016

I think sharing some honest experience in the field, regardless of the length, is a bit more important than whether or not you're capable of reading what I wrote...

Agtrucker · Aug 2, 2016

BJW27 said: ↑

Good luck to you. I've been running a tri axle for myself primarily in NJ & PA for the past 3 years. I've been in business for myself in the construction industry for about 10 years. The best quote I heard about trucking - " The 2 happiest days of your life, the day you get your truck and the day you sell it." I can relate. It definitely is a feast or famine business. Connections are everything, and if you don't have any that count, you're at the mercy of some quarry dispatcher who has favorites, and you're most likely not going to be at the top of the list. It's very difficult to stand out in a trade where the only real requirements are that you have a truck, show up, drop in the right spot, and don't get in any accidents - it can be tough to be able to effectively leverage your character. It would be kind of like getting carpentry work just because you have a hammer and saw. Anyway. It's really important to realize that the regional differences in running a dump truck can make it more or less profitable. I've never run in Ohio, so I can't attest to how they do things. Here in NJ, we can gross 80K with a triaxle, though typically rates balance out with whatever a states gross is. Don't have any illusions about getting rich. I'll give you some quick numbers. I average about $800 per day gross, some days it's been as much as $1600, the low end would be $600 per day ( or negative if something breaks). Here's a typical day for me: get up between 2:30 and 3:30 in the morning, try to be on the road between 3:30 and 4:30, go to PA to a concrete plant with a load of sand (I'm preloaded from the day before), get stone from a quarry in PA, bring it to an asphalt plant in NJ, back to the sand pit for another load to the concrete plant, another stone load to NJ, to the sand pit for my preload, fuel up, park it. It's usually about 4:30 by the time I shut the key off. Every day is pretty much a 12 hour day. Those 2 rounds add up to about 375 miles. I also have about 5 of my own customers - landscapers/excavators that I manage to filter in. I don't usually take on hourly/ rental work because I stay busy with my run, though I don't turn it down if it comes up and things are slow. Hourly rates for a triaxle around here range between $75 to $85 hour. I won't go below $75 hour, and even that's too cheap. Some costs: $1650 mo truck payment, $1000 mo insurance payment, about $3000 mo in fuel. Tires, oil/lube, registration, IFTA, maintenance, heavy use tax, tolls factor in at least $1900 mo by the time it's all done with. Plus I'm paying $1000 mo towards the loan that I had to take out to rebulid the engine in November. Add in the $500 mo to Snap On, and the $600 mo in credit card payments (which are pretty much always nearly maxed out to keep running) and we're at $8650 per month in operating expenses so far here with our little tally, and that's if nothing unforseen happens - which it most certainly will. Now for my living expenses: $1300 mo for health insurance (myself, wife, chlid), $1400 mo rent, $250 mo for our cell phones, $200 mo for cable, Internet and phone/fax - that's a total of $11,800.00 per mo. So if I'm averaging $800 per day and we figure on 20 working days per month, that's $16K gross, minus the $11,800 in expenses, leaves me with about $4200. Take out taxes and unforseen/ unscheduled maintenance, and basic living expenses like food and such, and it dwindles down to nearly nothing. I'm driving 12 hours a day 5 days a week and most weekends (at least Saturday) are spent working on the truck or going over it. My truck is a 2003 Peterbilt 357 with a C12 Cat, 8LL Trans, Chalmers suspension, half round 16' unheated steel Ox body. I paid $56K for it, and have had to put at least another $65K into it just to keep the wheels turning, not to mention the combined downtime of about 7 months in the last 3 years. I am literally chained to the truck. It's paid for by the end of the year. Dump trucks have an extremely hard life - life expectancy on components is nearly cut in half compared to a road tractor. Being able to work on your pickup or hot rod is not the same as wrenching on a dump or piece of equipment. You need the skill, tools, space, service manuals, and enough sense to know when to get or ask for help. I do about 95% of all the work myself. I've easily invested another $20K in tools just to support the truck. Your typical hobby mechanic is just not going to have things like a 1" impact lol. Unscheduled downtime and parts have cost me a fortune. Becoming a truck mechanic has been an education to say the least. In fact, the easiest thing about owning a truck is actually driving it. Everything else is a #####. Lol. Keeping up with the invoicing and never ending paperwork to stay in compliance... Once I started running it though, the only thing I could do to generate the kind of money it takes to support it, was to run it. I don't really see it as a long term thing for me, it's just not worth it - for me. I've stayed in it out of sheer determination. Trucking for yourself is one of those things that you have to either love, or for whatever reason, not be able to do or want to do anything else for a living. Like any business, you have to eat, sleep, breathe, and #### your business if you want to have any hope at all of being successful, or even staying afloat. I do think that if you have realistic expectations of what you're getting into and have a ton of cash available to float the hard times, then perhaps trucking could be a viable way to make a living. There are definitely better ways to make a profit though, but that depends on your skillset and motivations. The factors that will make or break you in running a dump truck are no doubt, based on my experience, the right truck and support system (being either a competent mechanic yourself, or having one available), good connections to run for, experience in the construction industry (which will provide a source of contacts), an abundant amount of working capital, and an understanding wife lol. Make no mistake about it though, it's not easy money by any means.
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Good post!!

Dominick253 · Aug 2, 2016

joe016 said: ↑

Yup I would suggest like everyone else say go try working for someone else see how it goes it not as easy as you think you can go broke real fast like if you have a headgasket goes out $8000 to $12000 then make sure you going to get regular work is it seasonal work there are you getting pay hourly or by the tons etc.
Like I say a truck you have problems with can take you to the cleaner.
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He said he'd have $20k cash to cover breakdowns. If he does the work himself that much can cover an inframe and a new trans and clutch... Just parts though.

SL3406 · Aug 2, 2016

BJW27 said: ↑

Good luck to you. I've been running a tri axle for myself primarily in NJ & PA for the past 3 years. I've been in business for myself in the construction industry for about 10 years. The best quote I heard about trucking - " The 2 happiest days of your life, the day you get your truck and the day you sell it." I can relate. It definitely is a feast or famine business. Connections are everything, and if you don't have any that count, you're at the mercy of some quarry dispatcher who has favorites, and you're most likely not going to be at the top of the list. It's very difficult to stand out in a trade where the only real requirements are that you have a truck, show up, drop in the right spot, and don't get in any accidents - it can be tough to be able to effectively leverage your character. It would be kind of like getting carpentry work just because you have a hammer and saw. Anyway. It's really important to realize that the regional differences in running a dump truck can make it more or less profitable. I've never run in Ohio, so I can't attest to how they do things. Here in NJ, we can gross 80K with a triaxle, though typically rates balance out with whatever a states gross is. Don't have any illusions about getting rich. I'll give you some quick numbers. I average about $800 per day gross, some days it's been as much as $1600, the low end would be $600 per day ( or negative if something breaks). Here's a typical day for me: get up between 2:30 and 3:30 in the morning, try to be on the road between 3:30 and 4:30, go to PA to a concrete plant with a load of sand (I'm preloaded from the day before), get stone from a quarry in PA, bring it to an asphalt plant in NJ, back to the sand pit for another load to the concrete plant, another stone load to NJ, to the sand pit for my preload, fuel up, park it. It's usually about 4:30 by the time I shut the key off. Every day is pretty much a 12 hour day. Those 2 rounds add up to about 375 miles. I also have about 5 of my own customers - landscapers/excavators that I manage to filter in. I don't usually take on hourly/ rental work because I stay busy with my run, though I don't turn it down if it comes up and things are slow. Hourly rates for a triaxle around here range between $75 to $85 hour. I won't go below $75 hour, and even that's too cheap. Some costs: $1650 mo truck payment, $1000 mo insurance payment, about $3000 mo in fuel. Tires, oil/lube, registration, IFTA, maintenance, heavy use tax, tolls factor in at least $1900 mo by the time it's all done with. Plus I'm paying $1000 mo towards the loan that I had to take out to rebulid the engine in November. Add in the $500 mo to Snap On, and the $600 mo in credit card payments (which are pretty much always nearly maxed out to keep running) and we're at $8650 per month in operating expenses so far here with our little tally, and that's if nothing unforseen happens - which it most certainly will. Now for my living expenses: $1300 mo for health insurance (myself, wife, chlid), $1400 mo rent, $250 mo for our cell phones, $200 mo for cable, Internet and phone/fax - that's a total of $11,800.00 per mo. So if I'm averaging $800 per day and we figure on 20 working days per month, that's $16K gross, minus the $11,800 in expenses, leaves me with about $4200. Take out taxes and unforseen/ unscheduled maintenance, and basic living expenses like food and such, and it dwindles down to nearly nothing. I'm driving 12 hours a day 5 days a week and most weekends (at least Saturday) are spent working on the truck or going over it. My truck is a 2003 Peterbilt 357 with a C12 Cat, 8LL Trans, Chalmers suspension, half round 16' unheated steel Ox body. I paid $56K for it, and have had to put at least another $65K into it just to keep the wheels turning, not to mention the combined downtime of about 7 months in the last 3 years. I am literally chained to the truck. It's paid for by the end of the year. Dump trucks have an extremely hard life - life expectancy on components is nearly cut in half compared to a road tractor. Being able to work on your pickup or hot rod is not the same as wrenching on a dump or piece of equipment. You need the skill, tools, space, service manuals, and enough sense to know when to get or ask for help. I do about 95% of all the work myself. I've easily invested another $20K in tools just to support the truck. Your typical hobby mechanic is just not going to have things like a 1" impact lol. Unscheduled downtime and parts have cost me a fortune. Becoming a truck mechanic has been an education to say the least. In fact, the easiest thing about owning a truck is actually driving it. Everything else is a #####. Lol. Keeping up with the invoicing and never ending paperwork to stay in compliance... Once I started running it though, the only thing I could do to generate the kind of money it takes to support it, was to run it. I don't really see it as a long term thing for me, it's just not worth it - for me. I've stayed in it out of sheer determination. Trucking for yourself is one of those things that you have to either love, or for whatever reason, not be able to do or want to do anything else for a living. Like any business, you have to eat, sleep, breathe, and #### your business if you want to have any hope at all of being successful, or even staying afloat. I do think that if you have realistic expectations of what you're getting into and have a ton of cash available to float the hard times, then perhaps trucking could be a viable way to make a living. There are definitely better ways to make a profit though, but that depends on your skillset and motivations. The factors that will make or break you in running a dump truck are no doubt, based on my experience, the right truck and support system (being either a competent mechanic yourself, or having one available), good connections to run for, experience in the construction industry (which will provide a source of contacts), an abundant amount of working capital, and an understanding wife lol. Make no mistake about it though, it's not easy money by any means.
Click to expand...

Having been in the dump truck business for almost 20 years, this probably summarizes the experience the best I have ever read. Good post.

Rookiex1290 · Aug 4, 2016

BJW27 said: ↑

I think sharing some honest experience in the field, regardless of the length, is a bit more important than whether or not you're capable of reading what I wrote...
Click to expand...

You sir have seen some things. I do appreciate you're advice and honesty and thank you for taking the time to write it out. I do have a good share of contacts allot of my family and friends are either 1.excavators 2. Home builders 3. Dump truckers and two of them are head engineers for the road division at kokosing and Corna kokosing here in Ohio. I was at a wedding this past weekend and they asked if I wanted to haul stone for them next year to get me going on the road projects and asphalt kokosing is a big outfit around here they said the manager of the Olen division is one of thier close friends and while I'll have to do some paper work they will definitely be able to get me in on next years road projects around Columbus. I'm going to ride with my friend in his seven axle week after next all week and then again next month all week to get a feel for things he wants me to meet some of his contacts in the field and he has a big contract with a home builder locally and will need help next year even with the trucks he has he is going to need more. I'm pretty good with a wrench but my best friend is a heavy diesel mechanic he actually owns his own shop and this isn't some distant friend this is (the best man at my wedding) he works on everything from excavators to dumps to end dumps and his a fabricator as well has a entire machine shop including a CNC. I will need better tools definitely with out question and that may have to be something that grows overtime. I already work 12 hours a day swinging shifts lol believe me I feel you on long days l.

Bdog · Aug 5, 2016

I own a tandem dump truck. If I relied on on it to provide for my family we would be homeless. It is used to support our other business ventures but I have not found anyway to make very profitable. There are just so many other things I can do with my time that pay more than the dump truck does. It is great having it to haul our own materials for work with the skid steer and backhoe but that is about it. Around here the belly dumps are what seem to be in demand but I don't see them getting rich either.

x1Heavy · Aug 5, 2016

Rookiex1290 said: ↑

Hi everyone, I'm going to start a dump truck business around March of next year I've been reading,pricing studying,making contacts here in Columbus Ohio where the DT market is HOT I've been studying for my CDL CLP and so forth. Tuesday I take the CLP and that phase of my push forward will be complete. I I've got 30,000 in capital(start up) but I'll have 40,000 or possibly 50,000 by February. I plan on buying a used tri or quad axle but if I can find a sweet enough deal I'll go bigger. My credit is in the 740-750 range so I should be able to get a truck with money down and I'll have 20000 left over for repairs start up costs and the like. My question is I know I need a USDOT number and to pay the road usage tax an the State PUCO registration and number but why does a dump truck require a MC number being as it is "intrastate" travel? I won't be crossing state lines and also a fuel tax sticker being as I won't be leaving the state either? The terminology when reading the rules is kind of funny because in states you need these items for interstate travel with altered good from their original state and of course the fuel tax and registration for that because one states tax on fuel is different from another? Can anyone clear this up for me?
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A dump truck grosses more than 26,000 pounds in Intrastate commerce (Meaning staying inside state line.) Class B Cdl. You will need air brake endorsement etc.

There is interSTATE commerce over state lines. Usually sleeper trucks, but less common is if you lived in Memphis and worked in three states within 50 miles of memphis.

You will have to put a MCDOT Number on the door of that truck. Everything about the vehicle itself has some form of law written for it. Example... contrasting paint color so that the information required to be on it is easily readable.

You will also be carrying insurance. Im going to think you are also going to be a employer. Which means you need to visit your courthouse and get permits for the kind of work you are about to do and also get started with your state's unemployament offices insurance, drug testing, medical benefits and.... drumroll please....

1099 taxes. You will not be able to move a dollar related to your new dumptruck buseiness without uncle sam having his finger into it.

Fuel will be a wrinkle too. Your paver or backhoe is off road fuel. Your truck will be taxable on road fuel. and on and on and on.

Bigdog69inSC · Aug 7, 2016

I was thinking about a quad axle locally and spoke to a company that has roughly 110 independent drivers. They told me $110 an hour with plenty of year round work but said guys were only grossing $120k per year.

Those numbers made no sense to me. Would that have been net?

bcain · Aug 24, 2016

Bigdog69inSC said: ↑

I was thinking about a quad axle locally and spoke to a company that has roughly 110 independent drivers. They told me $110 an hour with plenty of year round work but said guys were only grossing $120k per year.

Those numbers made no sense to me. Would that have been net?
Click to expand...

Only $120k a year because they either have some down months or maybe they don't work a ton of hours. I have been in both ends. I have drove triaxle and ran equipment. Some construction companies will work uyou to death and others won't work much over 40 hours a week. Dumps work when the construction crews do unless you are hauling out of stone quarrys. Not sure where you are at but be careful. Some companies here in Western Pa that hire O/O triaxles only pay every 30-45 days. Hard to run on fuel and other expenses at first.

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