Anyone in the trucking/hauling busness
 

Anybody in this busness, primarily Asphalt and dirt related

Yes, have several dump trucks, 14 cy Macks, currently updating to 20 cy tri axles.

We haul dirt and sand out of our pit, and do site work for now construction along with water, sewer and gas installations.

Buisness is wide open right now in Louisiana. No sign of a slow down, if I could hire 20 more people, I could put them all to work.

We have 16 dump trucks and 350 ton per hr. asphalt plant. And many dirt sources in FL Can we help?

just wondering what it takes to have a decent trucking outfit

a large fuel account nowadays

Boomer market in Jacksonville suck right now. I have clients in the business many have trucks sitting idle.

In Ottawa they had a good year, building starts are up, and they haven't stopped all winter hauling snow since early November. The City smoked through all of their $25 million snow removal budget this year.

My wifes family has 20 dump trucks in Indiana, Quads and Semis. The have been very busy for the last 24 months. Getting off to a slow start for this year.

dump truck bus in very difficult right now.. with fuel and many illegals working for nothing it has been a failing business in the tri state area.. for the ones that are grounded and have been in business its good, for someone new and starting out its very toung... for what the truck has to make a days after insurnace, payment, union dues, fuel, and maint.. its a tough living.... good luck, why dont you get into the blasting bus like your old man... fomr the guys that i know, they do very well...

Nothing to blast in Jax. It all swamp

Jeff ??

Been in the buisness since 1982 This is the worst year ever. I have several trucks for sale. Quads, tandems and pups, Tractors and side dumps, 1 2006 mack super dump with 7000 miles. Let me know if you are looking.

Go To Port Arthur Texas. Could Use Another 100 Trucks Here!!!!!!!

I am in the recycling buisness.....we own a fill transfer station here in Queens New York.....we crush concrete, screen fill, sand, top soil etc,etc. We used to own a few Asphalt plants here in NYC and ran about 40 of our own trucks. When my father retired down to Florida one of the last things he did was sell every last truck we owned...... He saw the way the trucking business was headed and man was he right......at least for here in NY. I hire trucks now when needed.....I have customers who can't go three days without getting some sort of overweight ticket. They sit on my corner and nail my customers, and they are at every bridge and tunnel with scale cars and each agency has a different formula for weighing the trucks......you could be under your permitted weight but one axle might have more then the other...bam.....to bad you are over. Let's not even get in to the teamsters union issues that half my customers have.....ugh!!! And I am still a union shop because I hire union trucks when needed. As far as it being slow......yes there are certain sectors that are quiet but most of my business is from road work and utilities contractors so as long as the city is falling apart.....and it always is.......I should stay busy. Don't get me wrong.....I do have customers who do make money in trucking but they are mostly the ones who have been around quite a while and can wait for there money.........no body around here seems to pay the truckers fast......

It cost alot of money to stay running. I don't know if somebody already mentioned it but finding "good" drivers is a very big deal. At least in the MD, DC and N.VA region it is. I sometimes used to let my trucks sit before I put some "cowboy" in it only to bring it back or call in with something broken. Don't forget your road taxes and your fuel taxes. Truckers always have to pay something extra. Long hours also come with trucks. For some reason drivers have no idea of time. I can't tell you how many times my phone would ring at 1 am with questions or problems. One other thing about this region is if you can get "minority" status you can make some money. Most dump truck action in this area is contracted out to minorities. I got out in 1998 and have not looked back. I will say this, had I stayed with one truck (1993 Pete was my 1st one brand new) I would have made more money and would probably still be driving. When I got out, I had 9 tractors (all Petes) and 5 Dump trucks (freightshakers and Petes) along with 20 walking floors and 4 dump trailers. I used the dump trailers mostly for sludge (poop). Made it 5 years in the business and all of this was acomplished before the age of 30! Something to be said for keeping good credit.

Good luck if you decide to try it. Not a truck drives by that i do not look at to this very day.


Dump truck vs. Tractor= the tractor can always un-hook and grab something else.........
:cool-smiley-011:

About 8 years ago in my area anyway, asphalt and agg trucking was the new get ritch quick bandwagon. Everybody and their brother ran out and bought a dump truck. It all went well for a few years and 2 years ago the asphalt market took a dive, now trucks are sitting everywhere, my phone rings daily with single truck owner operators begging for work and its just not there. Its a tough market right now and you really have to know somebody to get in.

Then there is the topic of good drivers, generally if you manage to find one that is competent, not lazy, not a cowboy, shows up everyday on time, and is insurable you are lucky. This type of guy is also usually smart enough to put to work somewhere other than holding a steering wheel and gear shift. One of the biggest mistakes a guy just starting into the business does is buy brand new equipment. If you do that without having lots of guarenteed work chances are you wont last long.

You might want to look into buying a good used tractor/asphalt tanker. If you can find a way in and the haul from the terminal to the plant isnt too far, you will make plenty of $$.

the company i work for down here has ATLEAST a yr worth of backlog with asphalt, and we dont see slowing down anytime soon... i could very easily keep 45-75 trucks busy 6 days a week for the next yr, and i do.... and that is no exageration.... Right now we use 2 different outifts and i dont know which one pisses me off more a day, but its my biggest headache, round trips taking twice as long as they should, having 40 trucks hired out to haul asphalt a mear 20 mile round trip yet none are on the job half way through the day

just last week we loaded the last guy up and the plant manager told him to tell the foreman he was the last load, what does the guy do, go around back to our rap pile and dump his 20 ton load on the ground (at 56$/ton) and go home!!! needless to say the outfit will be paying for the Mix, but that doesnt help the cost of 12 confused guys and a crew worth of paving equip waiting for 2 hrs

more reasons why we sold our trucks.......(Teamsters)Drivers........not all drivers are that bad though.....there are some guys who are company men and realize we have to help eachother out......... I have a whole bunch of teamster jokes that I used to break my guys balls with.............. How do you know when a teamster (driver)has died.......when he drops his coffey.....lol...lol..... or what did Jesus tell the teamsters before he was killed.......... Don't do anything till I get back..........

im thinking about the blasting bus more and more these days, just tough deciding when the right time is to move back north.

Our truck tire business has fell off a ton in Fl. for the last 15 months, due to the construction stand still that exists now. I'm speaking overall in Fl. I don't have but 2 or 3 customers in the J-Ville area and only 1 of them drags a dump bucket.
From his perspective the 4 dollar+ a gallon fuel and illegal alien drivers that are cutting the haul rates, are killing the business.
I would really "do my homework" before I jumped in! Good Luck!! Oh yeah,, I know where some good Tire deals are:D:D

Mitch

NEVER!!! use a driver to relay a message of any sort from the plant to the crew. Ive gotten into plenty of screaming matches with paving foremans and dumb fuking truck drivers over the years. Driver forgets to tell me he is on hold pulls under the plant and I load him, the crew is stuck with a load of mix they dont need. Another popular game is: foreman calls driver wanting to know where the hell he is, driver says waiting in line, foreman calls me pi$$ed becase his crew is waiting, I havent seen the dammned truck since the last round.....GRRRRRRRRR!!!:angry-smiley-038::angry-smiley-038:

thats a whole nother head ache!!! But i couldnt agree more, atleast i can control my guys, ie the plants, and paving foreman, and work on there communication.. As far as trucking goes every day is a challenge

I own and drive a semi dump here in Chicago. Been doing it for a few years now with one truck. I go thru a broker, who keeps me busy, and gladly let them take the small % from me just to get paid on time, which is very tough on your own!

Many friends of mine have been in the business, and have owned 1 truck to 15 trucks. They all say the best thing is just to own 1 and drive it. With the fuel cost, plate fees, road tax, drivers, unions, workers comp, its just not worth it to have drivers. Ten years ago around here you saw dump guys with brand new Pete's, new dump trailers, chrome, lights, etc. Now, you see old beat up R model macks pulling rotted out rusty trailers. Just no money in it. The immigrants cut the rates and ruined the business.

well if you dont, i will.... let me know, then ill give your pops back to you...:evilb::evilb:

I've been a foreman and project engineer here in AZ for the last 10 years. During our boom we saw alot of new trucking outfits emerge and if they had a connection, they are still around. Since the fall of our housing market, it seems that I only see the big outfits still running. They dominate and set the rate for everyone and can afford to cut the 1 truck guy's rate just to keep their trucks rolling. Alot of very nice equipment is setting in yards all over for sale. Becareful, cause the big guys can buy the jobs right out from under you, and wade thru this market till things get better.

From 1992 until 2000 I owned 30 trucks hauling auto's both local and cross country for dealers from auctions. For me the business can still work but as everyone on here will tell you, you need a network of customers to stay busy and good drivers. I personally got out from getting sick of drivers calling me at 300am from the middle of nowhere asking me to get a tire fixed. Or they said they had no lights without checking for an alt belt being off. The auto transport business gave me a very comfortable lifestyle but I had a great network of customers. I had sales girls at the auctions and spent time at the auctions myself selling my service. I still keep in touch with friends in the business. Yes ileagal drivers work cheap and give that owner an advantage. I always followed that If you ran late model good equiptment then you would get good drivers. If a driver has the experience you need then he will choose the company with the best equipment and best working conditions. In my line of work drivers get paid 25% of the truck gross. The biggest problem with auto transport now is the cost of new 10 car trucks. In the late 1990's a complete unit cost 180,000. Now a 2008 10 car unit with the latest options will cost 270,000. Best of luck