Dump truck work

I drove a dump truck for a guy in NJ a few years ago. He has 6 trucks on the road now. He went from being my boss to a good friend. A few things he told me... Getting work is not that easy. You have to know people. When he got into the local quarry it was through a friend. His first contract was through a family member. I'm not saying it's impossible to find work but it's difficult to find good work. It's a niche market. When the winter comes things slow down- A LOT. Plowing? Great money, if you can get in.

On another note, those dump trucks take a beating. It's not your regular highway truck. You better know how to fix them and weld them back together because things will break and snap. They money isn't bad but the headache is a big one. With 6 trucks running my buddy basically lives at the shop always fixing something. Personally I had an opportunity to get into dump trucks and I didnt take the plunge. Too much risk for my tolerance level.

 

it depends on where you live. I live in an area where there are tons of quarrys and tons of highway and dirt work. I have been in bussiness 2 years. Bought a 379 pete for 40k. Last year i worked for 6 months only and made 100 thousand dollars. Why did i stop after 6 months, Becuase i made enough money and needed to do some other things during the winter. I shut down early. There is ALOT of money in triaxle dump truck work if you are good with our money and can do your own work. Like the other guy said, your truck can get beat up if you work off road.
Yes i signed on with a local big construction company and guarenteed work every day and weekends. Nights too if you are a real go getter. If i wanted to put a driver in my truck, i could easily make over 200k a year. But drivers beat other peoples trucks up so forget about it and i make enough money to live happy

 

I did blacktop paving in a friends dumptruck, in this case a Mack Superliner 500 with the 15 speed and a beaver pintle hook trailer to tow his paver and backhoe all together on there with chains securement etc.

We would show up before sunrise when the sky is still blue. And fuel at sunrise. Grab 20 dollars each of gatorade in gallon bottles because that is what we will drink and sweat today. You do not gain weight in this work. And you stand to throw your body chemically far out of wack in this heat. It can hurt you real bad and continue to hurt you and your family or kill you.

We build common roads, driveways and so forth. Whatever the homeowner wanted and paid for we build it. If a large business or company wants a new parking lot, takes 6 weeks and cost 40,000 to get it then we are at work. 6 weeks is not hardly enough time contractually to finish the job on time. But we usually get it done in 4 allowing 2 weeks for weather.

We drive until we pass out at night. Go home grab some eat and sleep right then. Back out we went by 5 am. Trucks are moving with all tools equiptment etc by 6 am.

The money? The boss man paid cash, kept paper records for state. 5 months every year we are told to go get full unemployment and go home. Have a good winter. See you in the spring time when the first tree in his front yard turns green or blooms which ever comes first. Thats the time to go pave for the year.

Thats it in a nutshell. Paving was not all we did. We had a farm and a number of jobs related to that cattle and hay. Among other things like riding the fence line and so on. Every day was different. And outside.

I call that a happy time in my life. I left Maryland when my record cleared up and Arkansas trucking OTR company hired me, finished orientation in two days was on the road to Houston with the load there the third day about july of 1998.

Everything from that year and month to today, 21 years later is tied directly to my time in the paving and later OTR out of Arkansas among many other things in this life here. Medical situation is improving, pending a very important heart scan series in Nov. That will decide if any surgeries and that will also decide if I have heart failure or not formally. If so, then hospice will be notified when the time comes about 9 months from there and all of the rest of it already arranged. I will know the end of Nov which way my life will go. We are cancer survivors from 2006 so death has no fear for us. Only a regret that we have still so much to do for a few people in life. So we aint going out any time soon.

 

Forget it, the long timers will starve you out. Most of the dump truck work is, or was done by bid. These guys have had these hauls for years, and almost guaranteed getting it again and again. Very little happens in the midwest in winter, and the only game in town is road salt, and that barely pays your fuel. As a company driver, you'd have better luck, but there's better places to put your truck, I think.