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O/O Logging/Dump truck to Over the Road....

Discussion in 'Ask An Owner Operator' started by NCstroker, Sep 8, 2007.

  1. Sep 8, 2007 #1
    NCstroker

    NCstroker Bobtail Member

    42
    2
    Feb 23, 2007
    Raleigh, North Carolina
    0
    Hey everyone, I have basicly two questions I would love your opinions on. I apologize ahead of time for the long post. First question, I have a friend who has owned his own logging truck for years. He has been talking about how he can get his authority from somewhere like getloaded.com and trying something different by parking the logging trailer and possibly buying a step deck or flatbed and hitting the road. What advice would you give him?

    The next question involves me. I have run my own land clearing and timber thinning business for about 3 years. I have my CDL learners permit and will soon take the skills test with help from my friend mentioned above as Im getting a lot of good wheel time driving his logging truck with him showing me the ropes. I think the fact it is a logging truck may help those skills some as Im sure you can imagine some of the places we have to back that trailer into. Im considering buying a truck and dump trailer when I get my CDL. The dump trailer will be for my current business hauling debris from clearing jobs. But I have wondered if during occasional down time if I couldn't still use the truck to make a little money. For example, during the winter depending on weather and builders schedules, I may go as long as 2 weeks without working. Ive looked at sites like GetLoaded.com and ITS. Would it make any sense for me to possibly also buy a stepdeck or van trailer and perhaps hit the road during my down time? Since Im already self employed with an LLC, Im probably already ahead of the game with some insurance like million dollar liability, ect... So what do you think about this idea?

    Thanks!
     
    NCstroker, Sep 8, 2007
    NCstroker, Sep 8, 2007
    #1
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  3. Sep 8, 2007 #2
    Burky

    Burky Road Train Member

    1,913
    231
    Apr 30, 2005
    Southwestern Michigan (Lawrence)
    0
    The biggest issue I see staring you in the face is the fact that the correct specs for a truck pulling a dump or a logging trailer locally, and the specs for trucking don the highway are considerably different. Your truck is going to be optimized for the work that you do the greatest amount, and the gearing and drivetrain may not be really right for the longer road work. or, you could use a truck set up for the road work, but you would soon find that it isn not entirely suitable for the local work and going off the pavement.

    It's always a quandry that you face when you go out on the highway with a local truck, or vice versa, and in the long un it drives your maintainence and operating costs sky high.

    it's aalways nice to hve an extra trailer and an option of pulling something else, but you will be faced with the maint costs of that trailer, without it bringing in the amount of income that it should to cover it's costs. And, parked the majority of the year, they deteriorate some just from sitting, and of course the problems don't pop up until you are out on the road somewhere with it.

    It can be done, if you can control the costs and find decent paying work for it. The boards are not the place to find freight that pays very well, usually you simply compete with others for bottom of the barrel priced freight. And, to make anything out of the boards, it takes a lot of experience running them, to make sure that you can find a return load in the area where you are. Brokers tend to realize that you are somewhere and kind of desparate to reload, and they pay accordingly. Sometimes, it's best to just bite the bullet with gusto and drive home empty, rather than screw around with a poor paying load.

    I wish I had better answers for you, but working boards and only working them part time is not a great plan for making much money. You might be better off just parking the truck and watching a lot of TV duing those weeks and making a vacation out of it. My 02.
     
    Burky, Sep 8, 2007
    Burky, Sep 8, 2007
    #2
  4. Sep 9, 2007 #3
    MACK E-6

    MACK E-6 Moderator Staff Member

    48,482
    222,750
    Sep 19, 2005
    Baltimore, MD
    0
    Yeah. 2 weeks of downtime may not really be worth the trouble to be looking for something else to do with your truck. It definetly doesn't justify buying another trailer to use during that 2 weeks that's just going to sit the whole rest of the year. Best to just take some time off.
     
    MACK E-6, Sep 9, 2007
    MACK E-6, Sep 9, 2007
    #3
  5. Sep 10, 2007 #4
    NCstroker

    NCstroker Bobtail Member

    42
    2
    Feb 23, 2007
    Raleigh, North Carolina
    0
    Thanks for the replies. I can totaly understand what you mean too. You also have me thinking about how important it is to get the right truck. I know when and if the time comes I will be asking a lot of advice since even with the use it will see with my current business may be a good mix of local and highway miles. Especialy if I also choose to upgrade from the 20 ton tag I use to a lowboy for hauling equipment.
     
    NCstroker, Sep 10, 2007
    NCstroker, Sep 10, 2007
    #4
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