Think it'll work?

Well, what do ya know, I'm in northeast Nebraska, too! Small world, haha!

You're right on the daycab thing. I intentionally made my DOT number for intrastate hauling only because I don't want to go OTR and it's WAY easier on the paperwork end of things. I have a 150 mile radius to work with (minus where the state lines cut into that) and it's more than enough for what I've been doing so far. I rarely leave my own county and, if I do, it's only one county line that I cross anyway.

For flatbedding, I have a pretty specific idea in mind for that. My former employer (equipment rental place) hires 3rd party haulers and I was told to give them a call when I decided to get into the game. They have many locations in Nebraska and I have relationships in each of those stores so I could more than likely find some easy local work hauling machinery for them. There's also a lot of their competition that needs the same services, too.

I'm intentionally trying to stay out of hopper bottoms because the corn market is in the tank and after what the USDA pulled last week, it doesn't appear that it's likely to get any better this year, either. I've had a number of guys approach me about it though. Best price I've heard so far was 13 cents per bushel... If I got a 1,200 bushel trailer, that's only about $150 per load. For some of these guys that want me to haul, I'd either be sitting in line for a few hours at a local corn processor or drive to one farther away to avoid lines. Either way, the math doesn't math. But... If I come across a good deal on a trailer as a result of the market, I may decided to buy one for "just in case" but it's going to have to be a really good deal. The corn market can't be dead forever. When it comes back, hauling corn/commodities with either be worth my time or the trailer will be worth some more money.

I'm nervous for the farmers, though. One farmer around here got shut down by his banker last week I heard. I have a number of friends that farm and they're struggling pretty hard too. I'm not a farmer but my business model is aligned pretty closely with them. If they suffer or go under, my odds of success go down drastically.

 

HA! I'm not far from you at all! I'm just north of Columbus. I used to pull a 930 Landoll trailer and I would probably go with something like that. My old employer had recently started getting Landoll 440's but I absolutely hate those! I am torn between getting a drop deck like a Landoll or getting a lowboy/detach. I have a few people that want me to get one but I'm not sure which way to go. The bank account is a little ways away from me needing to make that decision anyway. Each load for a lowboy is probably worth more money than a drop deck but I kinda think I would stay busier with a dropdeck than a lowboy. Who knows...

Welfare wagons! Haha! I had a local farmer call them poverty wagons. I think welfare wagon fits better!

 

Yeah, I stress about it a lot but there's plenty of work laying around if you know where to look. People are going to start calling me picky but I'd rather not haul a combine (or other wider types of loads) simply because it's one of the few things I've never done before and I don't know all the in's and out's of the permit process. I'm not scared to try it though. Hauled lots of manlifts, telehandlers, excavators, tractors, etc over the years though. I've hauled lots of hay and cornstalks for guys over the years, too. There's LOADS of construction always going on in Columbus and always seems to be something happening in Norfolk, too. I'm hoping that the construction guys have enough going on to keep a guy busy this summer.

 

I'd heard that too about the Spencer dam and have that on my radar. I bought my trailer from a guy in Spencer, actually. That sure is spooky looking at that old dam. Even seeing where the river used to be and where it is now is creepy. I remember Chinook helicopters flying around Columbus to get hay bales to stranded cattle. They were flying in giant sand bags to over by Genoa to try a patch the Loup canal when the river overtook the diversion dam at the head gates, too. That was a wild year!