Do OO prefer lighter loads due to wear and tear?

Like AC/DC said in a thunderous rhythmic tone...

$ MONEY TALKS $

 

Sure does! And...BS walks.

 

Truth is drivers are dumb and lazy, they want a light load so they don’t have to worry about how it’s loaded, let the forklift driver cram it in, slam the doors and go.

 

You said it. I just had a load last week that damaged my van trailer. I wasn't allowed to observe it being loaded. They asked me if I wanted it all floor loaded or did I need them to pack it in high and tight?

I said "keep it on the floor".

It was large rolls of foam rubber. The whole load only weighed 4,600 lbs.

BUT...

They were ROUND...they used all the floor and also shoved them in on top...the shifting back and forth took out one roof bow completely, bent another and separated the roof from several others.

And, of course, the shipper won't accept responsibility for the damage....at least not yet.

I am filing it as an insurance claim and letting them go after the shipper.

My insurance company has much better lawyers than me. My first claim in 24 years.

 

And hopefully we ain’t walk-in!

 

The whole idea of a 53' trailer is so you can load more freight, hence more weight. You need to know you're rig and how to load it so you can be legal on you're weight. Moving the axles and the 5th wheel are the way to make you're trailer legal weightwise. Doing that can sometimes be tedious. I hate to say lazy, but it is work, maybe your Dad doesn't like doing it. By not loading your truck fully you're limiting yourself greatly. As far as wear and tear goes, where you go can be harder on your truck than the w8. If you're going up and down hills and mountains or going around sharp curves or worst of all(as far as most truckers feel) is stop and go city driving. All of those things will put more wear and tear on your truck(tires, brakes, suspension parts, engine, etc) than say straight flat open road driving. Again, it comes down to how much a driver wants to work(although, a good, well spec'd road truck, you can set the cruise and the truck drives itself).Hope that helps, good luck with you're business and hope it grows.

 

45,000 lbs of supersacks pulls better than 6500 lbs of foam insulation sheets. The weight doesn’t matter much to me. Sometimes brokers think that a light load means cheaper rate. Not the case. Still takes time to load, secure and deliver. The wear and tear difference on a few tons is negligible.

 

I’d keep learning everything you can and then see about taking control over a couple trucks and see what you can do compared to what your Dad is doing. You may find new lanes or routes, and can get into a different mindset then the same ol same ol and do much much better revenue and profit wise.

Can you answer the question of whether the 10 trucks are owner ops? How many trucks do you actually own? Sounds like you have ALOT to learn about the operation but you’ll get there.

Does your Dad book loads for 10 trucks AND drive or do you guys have a load planner/dispatcher to help out in the office? Who does the accounting and back end of the business?

 

I prefer flat roads and light loads even if i make less $, every pound you pull goes through your pocket in diesel and maintenance. better mpg, less pressure on emission system, motor transmission, rear ends, axles, bearings, suspension, brakes ,safer to stop on shorter distance or downhill, better acceleration to merge on hwy. The weight sits on air springs, it's more smooth and comfortable with 10-20 psi than 50+ psi in air springs. I got 1,830,000 miles on my Volvo D13 without inframe, original Eaton 13, and rear ends, running relative light ,average around 25,000 lbs,mostly flat roads Ontario Canada to Laredo,Texas. I learned hard way years ago,, pulling better paid heavy reefer from CA via I-80,15,40 blew 2 motors , i was almost bankrupt.

 

I said before I like light loads but I'm not afraid of heavy ones. I wanted to add another reason I like light ones. Less chance of getting pulled in at scales. A few of my semi-regulars (brokers and commodities) are 20k or less. I'm on ELD. I'm a pretty new authority. I REALLY hate the idea of the DOT slowing me down when I schedule my own loads and it's always tight due to the ELD.

Knock on wood, I get bypassed at the scales almost always in the states I run in. If you run light, less chance of dealing with the DOT in my opinion.