suggestion - dodge or ford?

Discussion in 'Expediter and Hot Shot Trucking Forum' started by paulpost, Jan 24, 2016.

  1. flatbedcarrier

    flatbedcarrier Medium Load Member

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    I’m not looking to haul more weight with the trucks and trailers we’re running. My main goal for the trucks we run is to get a good rate per mile for them, while keeping the load weight down. Just because a truck can legal more weight, that doesn’t mean it’s a wise decision to load it down, Right?
     
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  3. Soupflakes

    Soupflakes Bobtail Member

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    Sure but then you're limiting available freight loads that you can haul. The more weight you can haul means the more freight available to you, correct? Unless there's just that much lighter freight that it's not that big of a deal to expand your freight options?
     
  4. flatbedcarrier

    flatbedcarrier Medium Load Member

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    I’ve been around and involved in trucking for approx 40 years. My family was in trucking so I was learning the business at a very young age. Even when I ran semi trucks I loaded them the same way I load a hotshot. Nobody is ever immune from a slow down but I have made a lot of connections with the right types of freight that help me to keep the trucks I load busy. I came up with a self imposed load weight limit for the hotshots we run. That load weight limit is 16,000 lbs, and the trailers we pull weigh 7,550 lbs from the factory. What I’ve learned over the last 16 years running just Hotshot type equipment is that when you exceed theses weights you lose the benefit of running a hotshot. Yeah you see hotshots on the road all the time hauling much heavier then we will. In my opinion they just haven’t learned how that’s going to effect them yet. There trucks typically won’t survive the 60 or so months of their loan term. Not only that, I feel running heavier than we do, with the size equipmentbwe do is unsafe.

    In my opinion, if a guy wants to haul heavier then we do, he should go ahead and buy a bigger truck. The downside to running a bigger truck is that the operating cost is substantially higher.
     
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  5. Soupflakes

    Soupflakes Bobtail Member

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    Well that's definitely something to think about then. Do you mind sharing what trailers/specs on the trailers you run? Also any advice you could think of to someone just starting out?
     
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  6. flatbedcarrier

    flatbedcarrier Medium Load Member

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    34B99060-D266-4F86-A2D1-22496A5E4340.jpeg
    We run what we refer to as a 3 axle 40’ Lowboy. It’s essentially a car hauler style trailer set up to haul both vehicles and freight. The trailer deck is 40’ long and 102” wide. The deck height is 30” tall. It has three 7,000 lb axles and the gvw is 24,999. There’s more than one reason we like this trailer. One of those reasons is we’ve found it to be very versatile. Hers a picture of one. If you need more info on it you’re welcome to private message me on here.
     
  7. Lite bug

    Lite bug Road Train Member

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    This is the best answer to the question that is asked all the time. Some people will say just get a bigger truck and you won’t have to worry about it. Well there is a reason a hotshot set up able to be competition in the trucking industry.
     
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  8. rabbiporkchop

    rabbiporkchop Road Train Member

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    Cummins engine with High pinion Dana 60 front axle from the Ford.
     
  9. MAGA1

    MAGA1 Bobtail Member

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  10. Soupflakes

    Soupflakes Bobtail Member

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    Whoops I need 2 more posts before I can PM you. Lol. So I've been doing a bunch more research and as far as I can tell ford out performs ram in terms of towing. Again flatbedcarrier what you said makes sense. Do you find any limitilations because of that style of trailer? I would imagine having the wheel wells does limit you a small amount. Maybe it's not as much as I think. Once I get one more post I'll PM you.
     
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  11. flatbedcarrier

    flatbedcarrier Medium Load Member

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    I could probably count on both hands how many times that we’ve had to turn down a piece of freight or a full load do to the type of trailers that we use, and we’ve been using this style trailer for approx 16 years now.
     
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