Hopper, Dump O/O's & Drivers

Putting on eight new drive tires today. I guess I'm optimistic going to be busy for a while. I got a call today from a broker I've never even used. Poor guys must be getting desperate what a shame.

The brokers who treated the guys right will get trucks but the others are having a tougher time.

 

glad your staying busy wh

 

Me too. It's a situation I haven't been that familiar with for a year. I can't tell you how strange it feels to actually have a broker call. Used to happen all the time but last few years very rarely.

 

Yep, its nice for a couple months during harvest to be in demand instead of the other way around. Have to make the most of it while it lasts.

What kind of drives did you get, WH?

 

Goodrich DR 444. They are more expensive than the Chinese tires but I like them.

 

Well, ADM is filling up a huge manufacturing building with wheat. They have four augers on two sides of the building going through windows and eight trucks hauling wheat there. I can't remember how many millions of bushels it will hold. Evidently ADM's hutch terminal needs storage bad.

 

Does that ADM job pay very good, WH? Are you getting any of it? Is it just hauling it across town or something?

 

Pay by hour not sure how much. A big hopper trucking co. got the contract. The length of the haul is probably only 3-4 miles.

 

I was sitting out in Fontana, CA years ago with a empty flat and a broker walked up to my truck and asked if I needed a load. Well I guess he was a broker but could have been something else. I told him I already had one just can't load till morning and he went knocking on doors. I figured if your at the truck stop looking for a truck to haul your broker freight you are bad, bad news.

 

What is your guy's turn around time on getting paid from your customers like ADM, Cargill, local elevators etc....? I here some of the local guys say they just go by the office and turn in their tickets and get paid either that same day or the next day.

and when these brokers call you and have loads then give you a cheap rate do you came back with a higher rate of what you will do it for or are you wasting your time negotiating?