How much pay hauling hay?

Congrats and good luck! Keep us updated.

 

Deemo,,sounds like a great gig, pray it works out to be just that..

 

Hello i'm from nm and would like to know how to get into hauling hay or grain can anyone help me out in finding out who to call or where to go any help would be appreciated thanks.

 

Why hay hauling?

My guess is you will need to get some training and experience first. I don't know of any hay hauling operations that will train.

Here's my standard advice. I hope it helps.

You need to research and find out what the important questions are. You can make an above average living but you will make sacrifices that other jobs don't require. Read the "good companies" and "bad companies" section on this forum and get an idea of what company you want to work for and what kind of trailer you want to pull. Don't just go to school and then try to figure out where to go.

I don't know your financial situation. Don't take training from a company if you can afford it or get it with financial aid. You will be their slave for up to year. If you leave they will trash you DAC and credit record. Check out your local community colleges and employment office.

Just know that most training and trucking company recruiters will do nothing but lie to you. They will let you talk about what you want and then tell you what you want to hear. Trucking is about moving freight to make money for the company. Your home time, family, paycheck and everything else comes second.

It is not like any other job. Local is usually backbreaking delivery work 10+ hours a day, 6 days a week. Often you unload dozens of times a day or you are a salesman. In my area most dump truck jobs pay less than a good factory job. Regional is lots of loading and unloading time, fewer miles than OTR and not as hard as local but will wear on you and push your HOS limits. OTR is out 3 - 5 weeks with 3 - 4 days home, less manual labor and more miles.

You'll probably have to pay your dues before you get the gravy job. Weekends off, if you are lucky enough to get something like that starting out, may be home Thursday afternoon and leave Saturday night or home Friday night and leave Sunday afternoon. Loads deliver on Monday early and you leave in time to get them there. Often your home time will be in the middle of the week.

Regardless of your driving choice, after school you will go through company training. For OTR this can be six weeks to three months with little or no home time. The first phase is usually $400 a week and the second phase is $500-550 a week. Some pay less. One company pays 12 CPM for training.

One last thing, you don’t want to wait around too long after training or you’ll have trouble finding a job. If you get out before you have a year in, when you try to come back a few months later you will find they want you to start over.

 

thanks big john for the advice, but the reason i wanted to do something like hay or grain hauling is to be closer to home, i really don't want to go OTR, i tried to go to a local school but was to expensive and the only finacial aid i could get was through my local labor office but there isn't any funding since the state started making budget cuts. i wouldn't mind doing something like rock hauling or driving a bottom or back dump, i just don't know how to get hired on doing something like that, should i call companies or go and apply in person any advice

 

You're very welcome. Do you have a CDL A? I'm guessing not since you speak of school. Is your MVR and criminal background clean? Is home time more important than paycheck?

 

no i don't have a CDL A yet i'm going to go test for it next month when i turn 21 and my MVR and criminal background are spotless, and a paycheck and hometime are about the same in priority but if i had to choose one it would be hometime i have a fiancee and a 7 month old that i really don't want to leave behind. Trucking has been something that i've wanted to do since i was yay high and now that i am old enough to obtain my cdl i can actually do something that i've always wanted to do and would really like a change in my job life.

 

I assume when you say you will test, you mean for a learner's permit. I can't imagine anyone that will take you on with that unless it is a school or a Mega-Company for OTR.

It will cost you hundreds, to thousands, to rent a truck and trailer, get seat-time and pass the driving test to get your CDL A on your own. There aren't many places to rent equipment and I hear $150 - $200 per hour is the going rate. Then with no experience you will still have a hard time finding a job.