Hopper, Dump O/O's & Drivers

Discussion in 'Ask An Owner Operator' started by wheathauler, May 31, 2009.

  1. bullhaulerswife

    bullhaulerswife Forum Leader/Admin Staff Member Administrator

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    Wow thats a great idea. I'll pass that on to my husband. :yes2557::biggrin_25514:
     
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  3. dairyman

    dairyman <b> Hopper Thread Greeter</b>

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    Glad to hear your paying for your OWN trailer,instead of someone elses,Hwy,i think that will end up being a profitable decision in the long run:yes2557:

    Do you get many loads of sand? How hard is it to get that stuff to come out of a hopper,i have never hauled any sand with a hopper?

    Plenty of Ibuprofine and a good walk around the truck every chance you get for the psiatic nerve is all that works for me,so i ''feel your pain'' man,just like a bad tooth-ache all the way down the back of my leg,hope yours gets better,but i know how ya feel ,hurts like crazy,don't it :biggrin_2553:.Wish i could tell you it gets better the older you get,but mine didn't:biggrin_25512:,maybe you can thwart it off a little with a good chiropractor though,either way,your gona pay:biggrin_25524:
     
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  4. Kansas

    Kansas Road Train Member

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    aircap, Ks.
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    Or get ya a set of these http://www.tarpsavercords.com/ Guy in Hutchinson makes/sells them. Neat idea, but for the life of me I cant find the images on his site that actually show "how" they work.

    I owned a set for 1 week before they were stolen...:biggrin_25510:
     
  5. wheathauler

    wheathauler Trucker

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    I should have done like you and not run today. Arms are tired from trying to get truck on road with the wind. There was a van behind me today and I thought it was going to be blown over.

    Darn near lost my electric tarp today... I got it back down but was a little scary. Guess I need a tarp saver too. It had been doing pretty good but that wind was a howling today.

    I'm surprised they stole a tarp saver, wouldn't think it would be that easy to take off. I suppose just a couple of bolts though.
     
  6. HwyPilot

    HwyPilot Medium Load Member

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    Managed to get delivered without a scale "award" this morning, and found a few run-arounds that may save me in the future on I85. :-D

    After checking in, I found out that my reload was stalled - and it was a low-rate so I didn't mind scrapping it. I let them know I needed some rest and a better turn showed up. Even though I need to make a 375 mile d/h by morning to get under it, the numbers look great. If the truck drove decent empty, I wouldn't mind this stuff a bit - I like not having to shift or check the route ahead very much, and flying up the hills is kinda fun.

    While wandering toward my new reload, I passed a large truck and trailer shop and stopped in. I was able to get the 2 front bows rebuilt which was on the short list of repairs (aka urgent). And to think I wasted 10 feet of duct tape on those last night.... :) The front bow was completely worn through and broken, and the 2nd bow was busted in the middle at the top and the support broken off the bottom tube. The shop pulled both bows, bent and welded in larger pipe and stitch welded one of the gearbox brackets in 4 hours time for $383. It looks better than new, tons stronger, and they even brush finished the pipe. I'll be talking to them in the near future about converting the fifth axle to lift, and moving my walks up at the front and rear. First off, I need to get a couple vibrators installed and an air chuck plumbed - I'll probably add a separate air tank for those so it doesn't drain my bags while running.

    If anyone is in the NC area, this is the shop to talk to - Whitley Truck Equipment in Concord, NC. Outstanding people, great service and work they can be proud of. The place has been in the family for 2 generations now, and the founder drove a truck before he opened the shop. He happened to be at the shop today hanging out with his son, and we chatted for awhile (he offered to pull my truck in for me heheh not bad for about 75).

    The lease company came through on the repair bill with no issues at all, and I'm glad I went with them. On a footnote, I rented the trailer to pick it up when I did (didn't have the down payment ready). They'll apply 30% of whatever rent I pay toward a down payment when I buy it, finance it in-house, and take care of any repairs until it's officially under a lease-to-own contract (then I think repairs are on me). The only other issues the trailer has is an ABS light that comes on when I hit the brakes (although the light seems to have lost it's connection for now.....), and the rear door still hangs up when empty. Once I get those issues resolved, I should have a clean slate to buy it. This approach worked out better than an outright purchase by far, and they've stood behind it. Also helps that this is Kansas' old trailer, and he took really good care of it when he had it. The interior is nearly mirror-polished from grain over the years, and the feather meal just slid out of it this morning like it was non-stick. I'm liking this alot and I've got friends to thank!
     
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  7. Kansas

    Kansas Road Train Member

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    aircap, Ks.
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    Didn't have the bolt on, mine was the kind with hooks since I had a leased trailer at that time.
     
  8. wheathauler

    wheathauler Trucker

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    Ok, that makes sense. I forgot they had the temporary kind. Wow at least the wind has quit for a while...what hair I had left was about to blow off yesterday.
     
  9. wheathauler

    wheathauler Trucker

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    Hutch, Kansas
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    Right now running our ### off. Don't know how long it will last but making money anyway...think supposed to end next week. Had rain last night which will help the wheat again...could be a good harvest.
     
    dairyman Thanks this.
  10. RW.

    RW. Heavy Load Member

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    That's good to hear, WH. I wish you Kansas folks would keep that wind to yourselves, its been windy here in IL the last couple days, rain just came through a few minutes ago. I am off to St. Louis tomorrow to the drag races, my annual weekend vacation. Hope everyone else has a great weekend, I sure plan to! :biggrin_25519::yes2557::biggrin_2559:
     
    dairyman Thanks this.
  11. HwyPilot

    HwyPilot Medium Load Member

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    It was windy up here in TN today - but nothing like out on the flatlands! Interesting day today, went back to a place that caused me grief the last time I loaded (5 hours and didn't listen to a thing I said) for a round 2. Sure enough, I tell them 48 and change, and I get 49,800! It looked close on the gauges, and I thought oh well I can always dump some off - come to find out the tractor was at 46,200 - and gross was 79,940 :-D What are the odds?! I went down and bought a scale ticket about 10 miles away and sure enough - steer at 12,300 - drives at 33,900 - tandems at 33,780. Just a very good thing I still had half a gauge of fuel onboard.
     
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