Freight out of Montana?

I’d like to run maxi loads if the money made it worth it. Not sure if there’s enough work out there to justify tugging around the extra weight. Lumber, rocks and scrap doesn’t seem like it would pay enough. Considered running doubles as well.

Yeah and it’s getting worse. I spend a lot of time turning people down. Had a broker today that offered me an OS load for $2.26/mile Missoula to Boise (which is usually a dead zone too). Have two direct customers that have been getting me by this year. Winter I plan on plowing snow, and taking any decent loads that come up. If next year doesn’t get a little better than this one I’m going to try to get out. Figured I’d give it two years as an O/O anyway.

 

The nine years I run maxi for Cliff we never put a load of rock or scrap metal on any trailers. I don’t have access to load boards to see what’s out there as far as rates. But with the direct loads and contract stuff the rates have to be enough to make the weight, cost of equipment, etc worth it.

The time I spent pulling maxi there were quite a few that came and went. Even Watkins Shepherd didn’t last in the maxi game. The ones that didn’t last were trying to run the maxis like their regular highway trucks. Meanwhile Reed, Lott, Amoth, Aamodt and all the others that have been in it for years keep plugging away.

 

Seems like you’d need a contract customer for such a thing rather than trying to run the spot market with 8 axles. Based on the load boards the loads that pay for more weight are the ones shipping loads like scrap metal, lumber or rock. Judging by the spot rates it isn’t worth the extra cost of running a maxi rig. The customers I have are for 48K loads. Often they’ll try to sneak 50,000 on which is fine if they want to pay more. None of them move maxi loads though.

 

That’s why I’ve never tried to own a truck out there. I couldn’t do what I like doing with my own truck because it’s pretty much tied up.

 

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