Hopper, Dump O/O's & Drivers

Well,the temp's got up to a nice balmy 48 today,felt like a dang heat-wave,sure was good to see the sun for a change. I actually washed and greased the truck/hopper today in just a shirt and hood,and didn't have to fight the grease-gun so hard to get the grease to come out. I for one,will be kinda glad to say a final goodbye to 'ol man winter this year.

Big John,them 6nz's are getting harder and harder to find,dang good motors too,sounds like you have got 2 good rigs to ''mull'' over,good luck,thats not a bad dry weight for the big motor either,my 'ol day cab comes in at a tad over 16,000 with 1/2 a tank of fuel in 'er. What's the WB,235 or 245? Does it have the air-trac under it?

R.W.,sounds like your slow this winter too,beans are about all iv'e hauled in my neck of the woods since corn yeilds were down so bad around here.With bean-meal prices so high,soy-hulls and potash are about the only thing i have been getting back from the river terminals this winter. Slow would be an under-statement.
Wheathauler,sounds like you have got a decent week lined up next week at least.I may get to haul some wheat this summer from the sound of things,a lot of the farmers i haul for are gona harvest their wheat instead of burning it down,since prices are so strong this year. We'll see i guess,i don't normally get much wheat to haul in my area.

Everyone have a good weekend,maybe the weather will be better at least,but who the heck knows,the way this winter has gone.

 

I might go with the tall rubber on both tractor and trailer. I have 22.5 on truck and 24.5 on trailer. I can't use my used truck tires for trailers later on. I could change the size but would be expensive.

I hope you and RW get busier but it doesn't sound good with lack of grain to haul. Wheat would be different for you. Does it harvest in June like it does around here?

 

hey fellas, this summer sometime I may buy a cheaper steelbody truck for local work, hell i figure i pay as much for my new pickup as i could for an older tri-axle. I cant find anyone that can tell me somewhat accurate insurance rates for local guys. Ive got 2 years exp. no accidents or tickets and I dont think I would need cargo insurance or anything to haul dirt and limestone, and I wouldnt travel over 300 miles in any such direction. any ideas?

 

It depends on a lot of things other then a clean driving record. Your credit history is one and if the customer requires it you will need cargo insurance. Local construction company here requires the 1 million liability and then another million blanket policy. Then you have physical damage and the area you will be running in, any big cities? I bet your insurance in PA is hire then here in Oklahoma. Try and find from other local haulers who they are using and check with them, that is what I did.

 

Ill have to ask some of the local guys around here, that's weird that the construction company requires cargo insurance, and the only city close to me is Pittsburgh, but most of the work i would be getting wouldn't be in the city.

 

saw this the other day-scared me a little at first- then I remembered what it was.

 

I have a dry van that I am using now making good money but see some guys hauling wagons all year and was wondering. I am getting some good loads for my van hauling seed and specialty corn.

What did the elevators do two seasons ago when you would sit for hour plus to make a drop?

 

Call a Progessive agent. don't go direct. They have some good rates if you are staying withing 500-miles.

 

What do you mean "burn it down"? Do they normally just use it for a cover crop or winter pasture or something?

I'd imagine hauling seed pays decent doesn't it? I've never done it before, I've heard the seed companies like to use smaller carriers instead of the giant companies that might not take as good care of it.

The elevators raised the rates a little that harvest because there was a glut of corn and shortage of trucks because we were all sitting in line. There were days we were done hauling by early afternoon because everywhere was full of wet corn and couldn't dry it any faster. But harvest drug on till late December and we actually made up for it ok. This past year was the opposite, not enough corn, and not enough demand for trucks= rates dropped off.

 

The seed deal pays ok to good. At present I only have one direct account because I got started as O/O late in the year. So my seed loads are from brokers. They do want to deal with local companies mainly because they are looking to have drivers help with the unload. So they need to have a pallet jack onboard and willing to help. That helps with the rates. Also, when a local farmer, i.e. customer, asks they have a better chance of getting this business.

I was driving for the farm for both years but have never gotten a straight answer on how all that was handled. And one of the companies I talked to this year to haul for up coming harvest gave me hourly rates. The rest have given me bushel/mileage rates.

If our hooper was not in the shop I had a couple loads I could take this week as people in our area are running out. We are getting a lot of calls on our bins but only sold one to Cargil. Now it is going to be to wet to get into any of them for a little bit.