Starting a dump truck business.

I don’t know much about the dump business but what you said at the end of your post is the most important thing. Your busting your but at a factory for the rich man will get you no where but check to check and having misleading security. Take the risk , work hard and youll’ll have guaranteed success in time. It’s better to try and fail and fail and then fail again then to be content ....... i’ve missed more than 9000 shots , I’ve lost over 300 games, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot 26 times and missed, I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life that’s why I’m successful . Not my quote but a quote from Michael Jordon that helped me start my first business and know I have 3 successful businesses. Hopefully it helps you. Good luck bro!!!

 

Thought I'd re-start this topic as I'm in the process of nbuying a dump truck and going out on my own. I don't currently drive a truck, but have about 4 years experience driving straight flatbeds, concrete mixers, end dumps and dump trucks, and hauling grain. One of the guys I used to work for driving a dump truck has agreed to hire me out as an owner-operator once I get rolling. He has about 40 trucks of his own in the KC area. He has the exclusive contract for one asphalt plant and one quarry, in addition to contracts with at least 3 other quarries. Having worked for him in the past and seeing how busy they are, I have no worries about staying busy, at least from March through early December.

I plan to buy a KW or Pete quad-axle that will legally haul 19-20 tons in Kansas and this will be all intrastate operations. I also won't buy anything that doesn't have a CAT or Cummins and want an 07 or older so I don't have any EGR or DEF. Asphalt pays $97/hr for a quad axle and 0-10 mile hauls out of the quarry pays $4.50/ton. He will take 10% of the hourly or per ton rate for brokering the loads.

So here's where I need a bit of guidance... I'm unable to leave my current job and get this going until August and I want to make sure my timeline and process to get to that point makes sense.. So my biggest question is: how is the buyers market for dump trucks right now? Am I better off to buy a good truck that meets my perameters when I come across one and just let it sit for a few months until I can get rolling? Or wait until I leave my current job and hope I can find a good truck quickly? We have plenty of money to make the payments if we buy a truck sooner, so that's not an issue. Just looking for advice on how likely I am to find a good quad-axle in my less than 60k price range in a short amount of time if I wait?

 

Anything is Possible but you're trying to get a lot of truck for a little money and also get it financed which could be difficult lining all of that up then you're buying something that could have a lot of potential problems that you won't find out until you put that truck to work I would spend a little more money up front to get a better truck $20,000 divided up over payments is better than getting a cheap truck and then dropping 20 grand out of pocket plus a lot of frustration but if you can buy a good used truck from somebody you know the history about it and it's well-maintained and you can tell then it's probably worth taking a shot but just going out to find the Unicorn truck that's the right price and in great shape could be difficult

 

Oh yeah I'm sorry I forgot it seems like the market is totally nuts right now dump trucks are busy and they have been for the last 5 years in California tons of people are buying and upgrading trucks spending over two hundred grand on the Super Truck of their dreams and then they got to work day and night to pay the $4,000 payments but to each his own. It seems like it's hard to find good deals right now because of the high demand for dump trucks lately unless you're buying an older California truck that is no longer carb compliant you have more chance of getting a good deal but trying to do anything quickly when it comes to buying a truck is difficult if you come across a great truck you might have to purchase it and pay a few months worth of payments until you're ready to work

 

It depends do you want to pay for a truck for a few months without needing it or do you want to finish your job and then wait a few months without working to find your truck if those are winter months then you'll be fine if it's in the summer you could be losing a good season to start off in just my two cents although I wrote enough said it's probably about a nickels worth

 

Also putting 20 tons on a truck chassis is pretty hard on it so it's a little difficult to find a good money making truck someone is willing to let go of usually it's a problem to them so they get rid of it on the used Market just be super careful maybe get a mechanic and or even have it Dyno tested I drink a lot of coffee and I'm rambling I do apologize

 

Whew!!! I about pulled the trigger on buying a dump truck. Ran across this thread in my research. Wow this thread is brutal!!! My knees are nearly knocking at the thought I could be neck deep in this.

 

Being in Columbus, you won't need apportioned plates/IFTA. Just get a business plate and skip the hassles. If you ever do go out of state, you can get trip permits.

You won't need MC number unless you are hauling other people's non-exempt property. The big one would be if you got an equipment trailer and hauled for a third party. Technically, if you are hauling asphalt, or other non-exempt loads, that you don't buy and resell, you'd need MC, but plenty of people skip it.