Doing a College Project over the Trucking Industry

You guys are just trying to confuse this poor young chap...Heavy Haul is EASY, just load the darn thing n go!

All you wanna be or future HHer's should really take note of this thread...this person has, or is getting a good post-secondary education and "he" is still finding bumps in the road and having issues with the plan.
Next time your looking at one of those load boards and you see all those high dollar HH loads, remember this. There is so much more to learn & understand than you have even started to consider.
There is no such thing as high dollar Heavy Haul loads just sitting out there for the taking. Any decent load will be scooped up quickly, and the high dollar sitting there for the taking loads are there for a reason. It's usually too cheap due to the costs that are unknown to the general freight trucking public. It's a rude awakening when you've got a load/rate for >$15,000 on the wagon thinking you've got 'er made in the shade, only to later find out the costs are ~$16,000!

Pwnm30rdi3, I wish you luck with this project. The most important detail to know about HH is that once you break 100,000gross weight, the understanding and knowledge of the issues & potential issue the unit will encounter enroute become exponential as the weight and size increase. These issues become compounded in the different areas of the country and can bite the inexperienced operator in the backside very quickly, with serious financial repurcussions.

Example: 14'W X 14'H X 35'L @ 115,000 payload, I mean load on the ground not counting the unit hauling it. I will be 14'W X 16'6"H X 117'L @ 185,000 gross weight when loaded. I have done this approx dimensions/weight load many times from various points around the country.
From the docks in Houston, TX to the Canadian border at AB/MT I-15. This is load and be there in 5 days weather permitting.
From just outside Cleveland, OH to the Canadian border at ND/SK US-52. It's 5 days just to get the OH permit! It took 11 1/2 days to complete this (not counting the 5 days to get the permit) due to having to coordinate all of the state and county police escorts, utilities & crews for rail, cable, telephone, and power lines. Until you have the permit, you don't know the route, or who to make prior arrangements with.
The final routes for these two examples...within 20miles of each other.

Because of the travel restrictions I face daily, I only move on average 2 loads per month. That means I cannot afford to make a mistake and break even or lose money on one. Otherwise I need to make all of my money on only one load. Good luck with that. A buddy of mine that runs around the continent as I do moves approx 6 loads per month (he doesn't do O/S HH). He can make a mistake once in a while without as much of an issue as he has more opportunities to make it back. In the above examples, if you make the wrong mistake and get caught by the DOT & they decide your permit is invalid, the overweight fine starts from 80,000. Yup, that means overweight by 105,000lbs! Your probably looking at somewhere around a $10,000.00 fine, oh and your permit is invalid so start the whole order a new one and wait thingy again. Since you violated your last one, this one will probably take 10 days to get, if they will even reissue one.

There is only one way to do this job...Correctly, the first time, every time!

 

The thing with HH is everything is expensive, the old saying of "if you wanna play you gotta pay" has never been more true when it comes to this business.

The first truck has frame inserts (double framed) which is good, but it has a light front end and the pusher axle on it can not take the weight that you are going to need to haul a load that weighs 85,000lbs.

The second truck is a freight hauler truck, that is all.

This would be more along the lines of what you would want, and yes, you can run local with an OTR type truck like this.
http://www.truckpaper.com/listingsdetail/detail.aspx?OHID=5242249

I wouldn't pull either of those trailers if they were given to me. My opinion, they have had more stress put on them over the years and are not good for much of anything any longer.

Anything over a 50 ton trailer for a 3 axle is pretty well pointless, all you are doing there is adding weight without being able to increase capacity, axle weight will be the limiting factor.

If there is I don't know of it. When you do this for a living you get to learn when and where you need them, if I don't know I have some people that I can call, otherwise each state has that information available online. As an example google search for "Arizona oversize provisions." That will usually get you a link to the state and what their requirements are.

I would say figure on paying one $1.50 per mile, if you need one with a high pole they will be more, $1.60+

Yes, to haul a load that weighs 85,000lbs you are going to need a truck with four axles that has a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 80,000lbs. and a 3 axle trailer at the minimum with a 45+ ton rating.

 

Well spoken Oscar.
There are alot of variables in this line of hauling.
This is a good project for the person writing his paper and bussiness plan.

Me, I had my maintance set at apx. .30 a mile now.. I even had it higher when I was running my big trl.
Tires are a big costs when running a 13 axle setup.
Happy I down sized...

As for picking up early or even late. Depends on the ld.
Like allready said if it's a crane ld. no it cannot normaly be reset.
Jobsite load outs and unloads are all planned. So if that piece of the puzzle is missing they have to wait.
That costs big bucks.
Some drive on units, yes they have some wiggle room on dates.

Good luck with your paper..

 

Check OOIDA website. Business website for truckers.

 

The red Freightliner was sold. It looked better in the pics than on person

 

running a tight 4 axle grouping in some states will not allow you to have 80k back there. Wy. is one of them.Trust me I know the hard way.
Neither will Ok/ Mo/ and a few other states. If running that setup you will want to go with a 3/ 1 setup with a mim. of 14'6" spacing from number 3 axle to number 4 axle..