Hopper, Dump O/O's & Drivers

Yeah, our customers have been whining about the fuel surcharges for a while now. One shipper even called to complain that one of our trucks was sitting in the lot running the engine and the apu at the same time.

 

I know two local guys that use them year round but they have regular rock haulin gigs. They have been hauling wheat here lately because of the cheap rates hauling road material or the lack of work. They also haul fertilizer and lime a lot to with them but one said he is trading trailers and buying a hopper because of the weight and he can run a hopper year round.

When I first started driving I worked for a farmer that run three trucks pulling hoppers. All new Jet steel hoppers. I was young and didn't know any better but I had taken a load of wheat to the port and loaded rock back home for a farmers driveway. It was winter time and real cold that night. I get to the farm house and go to unload the back hopper first, the rock was wet when loaded and you guessed it it has frozen to the trailer and won't open. I try the front hopper and I get it cracked open. Well after messing it with it for awhile I call the boss which wasn't much help and then one of our other drivers shows up with a pry bar. We ended up stripping the gears on the back hopper and we got the front hopper open and unloaded. I took it to the shop and the next day we put propane heaters on it after fixing the gears. I told the boss I will never ever again haul rock in a hopper, that is why they build and sell end dumps and I never have. I see a lot of guys do it here in Oklahoma and knew one company in Kansas years ago that would haul rock out to western Kansas and wheat back to Arkansas City or Wichita but you just tear the hell out of a hopper.

 

thanks for the comeback everybody.

 

Dang WH,thats crazy hot,be carefull. Ya'll still bad dry? My cousin that pulls a step-deck ran through Ok. last week and he said it was terrible dry.

 

Its 99 here with heat index of 118. The corn is tasseling and this heat wont be good for pollination. A lot of my work has slowed down consideribly. I was crazy busy until the middle of last week, and its like someone just turned off the spicket.

 

I sent you a pm wheathauler