What is the highest paying bulk product to haul?

I've hauled cement, fly ash and ag hopper as a company driver. I'm going to o/o at some point and would like to get input on what makes the most money that's easy to get into. I'm only interested in bulk options. I have a feeling frac sand will be on the list so i plan to company drive that next. TIA.

 

Need a little more info. Where’s home? What kind of home time do you want? Have your own trailer or need to pull someone else’s?

For someone transitioning from company driver to O/O in dry bulk I can really only recommend Oakley out of N Little Rock AR.

 

Okc is home. I don't mind being out 2-4 weeks. i can purchase my own but would prefer to use someone elses initially. just trying to figure out what type of dry bulk loads are generally more profitable? non hazmat/twic. so far I'm considering what i have experience in, cement, fly ash, and hopper. I'm also interested in getting input on the best load boards to utilize. any free ones? I know of bulkloads.com but have heard its mostly brokers there. any suggestions on the best way to cut out brokers? i have someone that can staff the phone and handle scheduling loads, negotiating etc.

 

From my experience with a pneumatic, as an owner operator the people who own the trailers have the lion’s share of the work. I’m not saying it can’t be done, but it would be hard for a one truck guy to get their foot in the door and start hauling specialty loads. I will say my experience was mostly in food grade products.

In the hopper world it would mostly be commodity brokers looking for trucks to move the product that they’ve spoken for. I haven’t pulled hopper for a couple years and I still get emails from people with 50+ loads of whatever going from here to there between these certain dates.

Since you’re in OKC I’d give Bruce Oakley a good look and see about pulling pneumatic for them. The couple of guys I’ve talked to over there do pretty decent. It’s mileage pay, they have a certain rate for loaded and empty miles plus fuel surcharge.

 

You should definitely call Oakley in N Little Rock. That’s a strong area for them. Malarkey Roofing is a big customer of theirs in OKC. They have Port 33 over at Inola/Catoosa/Tulsa. I know 3 guys that all run for Oakley. They all pull hoppers. The two in OK are dispatched out of Port 33 and get home at least every other night. They make about $2300-$2700 a week after fuel and Oakley’s deductions depending on the week. The guy in AR is dispatched from NLR and he runs 2-3 weeks at a time and they’ll send him all over the southern states. He makes about $3000 a week after fuel and Oakley’s deductions. He had been pulling one of their pneumatics for a few years but switched over just because of preference. He was making closer to $4000 a week doing pneumatic but he also stayed out a lot longer, like 2 months at a time longer.

 

I don't mind staying out for extended periods of time if the money is there. I was hoping to cut out middle person(s). any suggested dry bulk load boards?

 

Running load boards is inviting middlemen in.

There’s two ways to “make the most” pulling bulk as you asked. They are as follows:

1. Have your own customers/book of business. That takes years, experience and serious capital investment to put together. More so than one truck can provide for in most cases. Jumping from company driver to this stage, while not impossible, is frankly impossible.

2. Lease on to a reputable carrier.

Buying a truck and trailer to run load boards on is a quick way learn options 1 and 2 above are the clearly superior options.

 

You’re not gonna cut out the middle guy in the bulk game unless you become the middle man for others. With a hopper most places want to move multiple loads over a certain contract period. Unless you can speak for 30+ loads at a time they probably won’t even look at you.

Feed ingredient loads are bought and sold through commodity brokers, often times with the trucking included.

Specialty pneumatic is the same way. The people with the trailers have the work. When I was doing it there were only 3 companies moving 100% of the food grade salt out of the plant closest to us. They simply won’t work with someone who wants a couple loads a week.

 

Bulkloads.com is a load board, but it’s mostly commodity brokers looking for trucks.

 

This is more precise in what I was trying to say. It’s also why I’m still recommending Bruce Oakley. If you really want to cut out the middleman, Bruce Oakley is your best bet. Anytime grain or fertilizer is in the trailer you pull for them, it’s theirs. Same with a few other commodities they haul. They have their own warehouses, ports and elevators. The trucking arm of Bruce Oakley is just that, an arm. They are a billion with a b business in the bulk game truck, rail and barge. Hell, they nearly control the Arkansas river.