Garbage Hauling

As far as the tires go, mostly you will just get nails, screws, glass, and metal punctures. All can be patched. It can slice a tire up though. The traction tires NEED some cleat to them. Straight hiway tires won't cut it. When it rains a landfill is a horrible place. Make sure your truck has a tow hook. Usually the dozer and packer operators have cables that they will pull you out with. Haha I've been to landfills more than I would like too admit. When I was taking breaks from running otr I would help my cousin out here and there with his little business. Thats how I know guys that run the same thing you are looking into. Ever thought about running a roll off setup?

 

I just got done with a company that I drove with for 7 years. Home everynite payed by the hour and benifits. When I started all that did was haul bulk contruction materials. (Loved it!!!) Then the company decided to start hauling trash. Brand new trucks and trailers. Instead of taking a layoff over the winter I hauled the trash. When it was cold the trash stuck in the trailer.Flat tires more than 1 most of the time. Snow on the tarp had to be shoveled off untarping in the frezzing cold with the wind blowing like heck and those are the good things! When it warmed up this spring it got a whole lot nicier. The smell the dead animals the human #### from the nursing homes the feeding tubes the womens hygeine products you name it!
Just a little info you do what you want just wanted to give you a little insight you do whats right for you.
Good Luck!
Terry

 

Have you considered a move....like somewhere between the City and where you are gonna be taking your loads? That way you might actually be able to get somewhere where you can keep the truck @ home and leave out early to get into the city to get loaded.

 

Note: this is from a driver's perspective, not a business owner's, so take that into account...

Since I had a very recent experience with this, I just had to offer my .02 -
There is an outfit in the Cleveland area that runs an ad every Sunday (that should have been my first clue) that essentially reads: "local, shuttle run, drop and hook, home every night and weekends" What driver wouldn't consider responding? So I went for a driving test, and that's when I found out that I'd be hauling muni waste. Not a deal breaker for me (yet). Then, I found out I'd get paid by the load @ $45 per load. Day one had me do a driving test and a ride along with another driver. I agreed to start the next day, still figuring that it might work for me. Day two: get to the yard, take a beat-up tractor to the waste transfer facility, wait an hour (three tractors ahead of me) to pick up a loaded trailer (don't forget - paid by the load, not by the hour). It's a 92 degree day, by the way (about two weeks ago, mid-July). Tractor has no A/C. Also no working odometer or speedo. Didn't discover these until under way, with trailer. Finally get a trailer and hook up. Have to weigh on departure, as we CANNOT run overweight in Ohio. If the trailer is over, then you are required to backup and offload some weight. And of course, that would take time if said offloading is necessary. I'm OK weight-wise, so I go. I'm hoping traffic flows decently, as, well - I have no speedo.

Five miles out of the transfer station, I'm caught in traffic: MAJOR construction at I-271/Rt. 8 (if anyone reading this needs a location). Delays. This is an issue, as this would mean delays coming and going every trip to and from the landfill, every single day. Get to the landfill (fortunately didn't see staties, but I tend to err on the side of slowness if my speedo isn't working!) Oops - you MUST go 10 MPH at the landfill, or you will be ticketed. HMMM - can I get behind that guy ahead of me? Guess not. Let's hope my speed-detecting telepathic powers work. Well, they do. Get to the untarp station and untarp the trailer. Remember: it's 90+ degrees out, so you better have rugged olfactory sensors, if you get my drift. Untarp the trailer (I have help with this, so it goes quick). Don't look down, because, well - I'm just not into viewing muni waste - but hey, that's just me....

Back the trailer into a "tipper" (which is actually pretty interesting, by the way). You unhook the trailer, and this device tips the entire trailer into the landfill. Cool. About the only cool part of the day, because it's 90+ degrees out, and I don't have A/C (did I mention this yet?) Once trailer is back on the level, I hook it up and drive back to the tarping station where I am now required to walk into a trailer that only seconds earlier contained several tons of waste and filth, to sweep out what remains. This is because "Litter Control" (yeah, I didn't know there was such a thing, either) won't stop you and fine you. Let's hope it's not too disgusting. I have a weak gag reflex, so this part of the job is not to be taken lightly. After I crawl out of the trailer and hope that I'm not crushed in two by the heavy steel trailer door that is propped open by a makeshift steel bar, I can drive off. Assuming I've finished the paperwork, which takes another precious few minutes. Now I can return for another load. I won't bore you with return trip details, but they do include no A/C, construction delays, and people behind me who are pissed off on the two-lane rural road that is part of the route, as they cannot pass me (and yep, I'd be pissed off, too). Total turnaround time: 5 1/2 hours. For $45. No benefits. Hope you don't catch something at the landfill! Taco Bell is looking real good right about now.

A note: the owner seems to be doing well, nice Ford SUV, not someone I'd care to get to know better, from what little contact I had with him. Oh, and he doesn't drive any of the semis. So, if you are going into this: buy the equipment, put very little $$ in it, and sit in your office and have someone else make the runs.

That ad ran again last Sunday.

Needless to say I didn't return for day three.

 

NewHauler,
Having pulled several trash loads out of Jersey (in a drybox, after pulling new lawnmowers in), it can be ROUGH work. You might want to consider getting a tipper trailer, instead of a walking floor, since they are simpler in design and cheaper.
One good thing, pulling MSW (Mixed Solid Waste) you scale in, scale out, so you can't run illegal (we pulled the trash mostly from Jersey City), haul it to eastern Ohio (Amsterdam-near Wintersville, some went to Poland- near Canton) and hit the tipper. Prepare to lose your mudflaps, when you hit chuckholes and tear 'em off. Prepare to get stuck when it rains (unless you have full crosslocks, then you might be able to keep it going).
If you haul this crap in a drybox, get ready to explain to the guys at the Streaking Beacon that you need a washout (without saying you hauled trash, saying that will get you denied). All in all, it can be a real gross job, but the tipper gives new meaning to 'No touch freight'.

 

The loads pay by the ton, so the minimum weight (to make the load worth it) came out to 40K; most I hauled were around 43k, had one around 45k. The pay worked out to around $2/mile to the truck ( roughly $800 for roughly 400 miles, actually was around 450 miles). Now I was pulling for a company that paid us a flat rate/mile, but in casual conversation I was able to find out how much the load paid (from the broker).

So as you can see, they actually pay reasonably well, even once you factor in running I 80 (thru PA) and up/down rts 7&11 in OH, or you could run the toll road, but that (of course) increases your costs. And, again, if you pull it in a drybox (which actually works out ok) you will still need a washout (around $30). Just threw these in to give you an idea of the costs involved, good luck with the venture!