Dump truck O/O

Get guaranteed work before you buy a truck. Have a solid contact that will give you work.

 

Buy large fuel tanks. Larger than normal. We had two tanks closer to 400 total than the usual 335 road tractor trailer stuff. We are not just fueling for the road, where that is not too much most days, we are also a rolling fuel tanker for everything like the Paver etc. It might be a few days on that fuel.

 

It's not so much a negative, we were a small paving company for hire anyone who wanted anything paved we were it. We had jobs ranging from around 40K that took 6 weeks to build a complete parking lot to code and did a few associated work with that as well. Or we can have a stone roadway between trees in half a day in the rain if you needed it. (Not smart but it's been done) Sometimes we are looking for other work while wrapping up this one and there was the farm to soak up the necessary labor for hay that stayed on it to sustain the cattle herd.

There was work. Generally. Sometimes Im handed something and told do this and I know absolutely nothing at all about "Do this" the look on my face must have amused by boss who would show me in a few minutes what "Do this" should look like more or less.

Add a new skill to my list. Sorta. I am much better off on a horse farm because those beasts actually think and evaluate you to see what is going on. Hopefully you gots some of that delicious 5 gallon bucket of hot mash oats and so on. That's like a T Bone steak in front of someone who is not doing well without food and will kill to have same.

 

If you are going to try it buy a used dump, nothing more than $30,000 and pay cash for it. This way you don't have the payment looming over your head all winter when it is parked. This will also let you decide if you like the business before dumping $150k into a truck. Make sure it is a tri-axle, tare weight around 24-25k and high sides so you can haul max payload. Most contracts want to see between 22-24 ton payload. Insulated body is a must for PennDOT work in the fall and spring as well as a good asphalt tarp with sides.

My family had been in the paving and excavating business for 20+ years and I have a close friend that is a 1 truck dump operation and another with 5 trucks. Both say it is difficult at best. Rates in Pennsylvania are low, $75-85 per hour on most jobs and the work is very seasonal. The year round work really sucks and is just barely break even hauling salt or anti-skid for the DOT.

The Marcellus Shale play is on a down turn again so don't count on steady work hauling for pipeline or pad construction, at least not in 2019, maybe forever if Wolf gets his severance tax imposed. Just this week the Baker Hughes Rig Count went up overall for North America but the Marcellus lost 6 rigs. Most drillers in the natural gas segment are scaling back production this year, notably Chesapeake -a large player in the Marcellus. I have a large utility construction contractor that is a leader in the Marcellus Shale, especially with pipeline construction, and they have yet to bid on a single pipeline project for 2019, if that tells you anything.

Keep in mind you will need to be a fully compliant motor carrier with both US DOT/MC number and PA PUC authority. These are easy to get, but require expensive insurance and regulatory compliance hurdles. Not to mention the 1% of gross non-regulated transportation revenue that the PA PUC takes as their annual assessment. Hauling to the pipeline and well pads is usually regulated work, meaning they get their cut whereas hauling on highway projects is unregulated (no operating authority required) and assessment free.

Lastly, since you have experience you already know how much fun motor carrier enforcement is, especially when you are supporting drilling. You also know how much hurry up and wait there is, as well as last minute project delays and cancellations that result in you having no revenue days since it is too late to book other work.

My advice to you is to get insurance quotes, look into registration and other operational costs then decide if you can run a truck for $75 per hour only working at most 8 months of the year but having payments (including your salary) for 12 months a year. This will build in the cushion for the seasonal slow down and other lost production days. The contractors that hire dumps will give the work to their long time contacts long before they feed a new guy, so expect to be starved out for the first few seasons.

 

Good luck, it can be done but it isn't going to be easy. Since you have been around the industry you should have some local contacts to speak with, see about getting work lined up then run the numbers. Most likely you will make less than a company driver your first year, it takes some time to become the go to guy they always call.