Newbie looking for a career change! (Dump truck maybe?)

Ummm, that's a tough one! You are going to have to loosen up on some of those demands.

Being based out of Tulsa probably won't be a tough one to solve.

Weekends off? Highly unlikely if you plan on owning your business.

Salary of $40,000 with bene's.... Probably doable but it may take a few years before you build up to that. You aren't just going to buy a dump truck and have the cash flowing in. In fact, you will most likely be spending quite a bit to get started. Especially as a new driver, owning your own truck, insurance is going to be sky high! Fuel will also be a huge expense. Breakdowns and maintenance you can somewhat control but will be expensive nonetheless. Hopefully you are mechanical and can take care of most of the things yourself otherwise you will be paying $150 an hour just to have your oil changed! Also if you are doing your own maintenance and such it will be during your off hours at night and on Sunday when you aren't driving.

Being home every night is fully possible if you are driving a dump truck. However a lot of dump truck work is done at night and you are going to have to take what you can get and drive every mile given to you. With that being said you will most likely be getting paid percentage if you are running a dump truck.

Most dump truck contracts aren't a far drive. They are usually within 150 miles. Dirt is everywhere and there usually isn't a need to go to far to get it. There are some specialties though such as for golf courses (green sand) and other materials that may require more distance driven. My good friend owned two semi dump trailers and I drove for him for awhile. We hauled mostly for Tarmac (concrete plants) hauling mixing sand and rock from the sand mines to all the different concrete plants. With dump trucks and dump trailers you aren't just picking up a load, dumping and going home. The only way to make money is to get in as many loads as possible until the plant of mine closes for the day. So depending on the distance you could run 10-25 loads in one day! If you are getting $50-$100 a load you want to do as many as possible. My buddy had a pretty sweet little gig going. He owned two trucks, of which one he drove and I the other. He did pretty well for himself but his life was his work. When he wasn't driving he was working on the trucks. You really have to pinch every penny and paying someone else to work on your trucks isn't going to leave a whole left over for your pocket.

Another option would be to buy a trailer for that dump truck and bobcat and do debris removal, tree work, dig swimming pools, do grade work etc... This way you will have different sources of income coming in.

One more thing I forgot to mention is that in the local dump truck world it can be very "cut throat". Guys that have been in the biz for years have good established relationships with their customers, also the guys that run the mines etc... They usually have all the good runs and money makers on "lock down". Therefore making it tough for a new guy to just buy a truck and jump in and start making money! Keep in mind, you will be competing to take away their business and income and they aren't going to like it. That was one thing I remember that was a big deal with my friend that owned the biz. He had to do a lot of selling and customer ### kissing, bribing you name it. It took him a good 10-15 years before he was respected and given the opportunity to make the good money.

Hope this helps man. Just keep your eyes and ears open for any and all opportunities that you can think of.

Good luck...

 

No problem man!