Bulk loads.com

You could get a load or two from them to fill in when your regular customers are slow, or to get you from a slow area to an area with more loads instead of deadheading, but it's hard to be profitable by pulling mostly load-board loads. Why? Because, as @Tall Mike said, the crap that nobody else wants is ultimately what gets posted on load boards.

 

That's kind of my aim. Things got slow so trying to drum up some new work. Don't really intend to hang my hat on it because my ultimate business model doesn't have room for middle men but given the situation, maybe just a little. I'm thinking I'll do a little experiment and see if this brings in more interest than advertising on Facebook.

Word of mouth has been working great for me, actually. But I'm heavily involved with ag and things are just slow this time of year. Once winter is over and the ground is thawed out, I suspect that I won't be able to keep up.

 

Would you work with a broker directly, instead of just off the load board? JerseyGirl Logistics posts on the Tanker Cartel Facebook page. Amber Bowman Stelman is also a Broker for Tanker loads on Facebook. She also used to post on Tanker cartel but stopped after a while.

 

Don't know personally as a company driver, but we get most of our loads from 2-3 ag brokers and one of the major suppliers of feed locally. I'd try going to a few local farms and finding out which brokers they use or get product from. Start with that question and it may lead to being able to work directly with them instead of brokers. I could see how it would be a challenge though, because the volume of product needed usually is too much for a single truck so they need brokers. Even we recently started getting one of our main feed products from a new broker using his trucks instead of our own because the price was so much cheaper than we could do it even with our trucks. The other way we get loads is networking with other trucking companies. There are times getting a specific contract requires more trucks than you have so we often team up with other companies allowing us to guarantee more trucks to haul the loads.

 

My business model (which isn't new to anyone) has so far been being direct to the customer and, ideally, I'd like to stay that way for sure. You sure hit the nail on the head about getting contracts when you only have one truck, though. That part has turned out to be a little more difficult than I anticipated. I do have a lot of contact and networking going on with other small guys though, so I've got that going for me. However, most of those guys are in construction so it'll be a month or two before the weather breaks and they're running full time. I'm likely going to be fine waiting it out and doing small jobs to fill in for the mean time but, man... sitting at home and climbing the walls sure isn't fun either!

 

I've never run a hopper but from watching all the hoppers that run similar loads to mine it seems they are very limited on what they carry without being a nightmare to unload. With our belts we primarily haul feed, but can haul dirt, landscaping products like bark, gravel, compost etc. One common load is gypsum fines. We had a couple guys pull into customer using hoppers and fought for 4+ hours inside Hooper with shovels to get it out. But I also know the belts are probably heavier trailers that if your state limits axles can make it hard to profit on weight limits. I've seen 2 axle belts but where we run we use 4 axles and can haul 32+ tons of product. PM me if you're interested in picking up loads in Idaho to go east. Our gypsum customer makes a fertilizer/soil mix and has always had a sign looking for long haul trucks. Not sure what you'd bring out but I can get you the company name if interested. I know it's usually hoppers loading at his place.

 

Right now all I have is a side dump trailer and planning on expanding from there. I've been hauling manure mostly but have been known to haul a few loads of ag lime here and there. I've had a few guys hit me up about getting a hopper bottom to move grain for them but it isn't too far up on my list of priorities because it doesn't seem to pay out very well around here. Then again, hoppers have been relatively cheap lately too so maybe it would pay out...maybe...

I've been considering a belt or chain trailer of some sort but I'm probably a ways off from getting one, financially speaking. I've been seeing guys doing a lot with them and that really resonates with me as I would prefer to have machinery/trailers that have more than one function or purpose. Right now with ag lime, I'm pulling a little over 29 tons so if I can get my hands on a belt trailer that can do more than that, I'll be strongly considering it in the future. I occasionally haul chicken litter, which is an ok fill-in job but I'm usually the last guy called because I typically only get 20-25 tons on my side dump depending on moisture, sometimes even less than that. If I had the room, I could take another 7-8 tons or more. So, there's another use for a belt trailer. All sorts of things that can be done with that verses a hopper bottom. I've seen a few guys at the quarry hauling white rock with hoppers. I guess, use what you've got type of thing but I bet that beats the tar out of those trailers.

Thanks for the offer on the loads out of Idaho but I'm intrastate only here in Nebraska. I would've loved to go see Idaho again, though! I had a family member that used to live south of Boise/Nampa and that is some beautiful country up there. As a matter of fact, I proposed to my wife in Silver City. Spent some time in central Idaho, too. If I didn't have stakes set here, I'd totally live out there.