[SoCal79]

Well I have hit a point in my life where I am a bit burned out on the whole construction trucking game,the s l o w pay and tremendous amount of wear and tear on my equipment. To get to the point I was talking to a guy at a fuel station who said he used to haul dirt/material but went flatbed 18years ago and has not looked back. We talked for a good while about the ups and downs of dirt and sand, when I told him I was having my best year ever pushing $120k gross he had a noticeable reaction and told me in a non confrontational way that he has grossed $240k this year. He runs from Los Angeles/Ontario to Phoenix or Las Vegas pulling a brokers flatbed with his daycab hauling drywall and other building materials. He offered to introduce me to the brokers he uses and kind of help me out a bit. I just cant believe his gross, I need to do something because I am getting close to 40 and in a bit of a panic,but am stuck in my rut and afraid to take the leap. I know this is sort of a rant,just looking for some words of wisdom, got any?

[Dejanh]

****DO NOT TRUST*****


I bet he didnt tell you how you have to wait 2 months to get you money because broker plays with it and i bet he didnt tell you about his misuse of equipment. 240 is the gross that brokers take their cut out of and after whats left you'll be sorry you made a move.( 240 :roll: :roll: ) I know couple of guys who ran Vegas-LA and quit after couple of months, pleaseeee, dont believe what some truck driver told you over a cup of coffie, TRUST ME, i learned the hard way and guys here can back it up...

BTW, if you grossed 120 in a year you probably dont deserve to be in this buisiness am sorry to say :!:

[SoCal79]

Well I dont know if you have ever hauled dirt in CA but 90-120 days is average to get paid and just about the most you can do hourly is roughly 10k a month plus or minus there are variables, I did kind of take what he said with a grain of salt he stressed that he wasnt trying to paint a rosy picture we were just talking,but the dude has a nice house with alot of toys parked out front kind of figured he supports it somehow. I take offense to you saying I dont deserve to be in this buisness what amount do I have to gross to be so deserving?

[Dejanh]

Originally Posted by SoCal79

Well I dont know if you have ever hauled dirt in CA but 90-120 days is average to get paid and just about the most you can do hourly is roughly 10k a month plus or minus there are variables, I did kind of take what he said with a grain of salt he stressed that he wasnt trying to paint a rosy picture we were just talking,but the dude has a nice house with alot of toys parked out front kind of figured he supports it somehow. I take offense to you saying I dont deserve to be in this buisness what amount do I have to gross to be so deserving?

120 i used as a figure for running a long distance(48 states) hard as you talked about which is change compared to all these expenses, i did not know you run dirt right?, as you have not reported that in your previous post...

[Big John]

from Dejanh:

120 i used as a figure for running a long distance(48 states) hard as you talked about which is change compared to all these expenses, i did not know you run dirt right?, as you have not reported that in your previous post...

Did not report that he was a dirt hauler :roll: , read his post again, that is what I got out of it. Let me give you some clues:

1. Construction trucking games
2. Talked to a guy that used to be a dirt hauler.
3. We talked about the ups and downs about dirt hauling.

I know he did not come out and say "I AM A DIRT HAULER AMERICA" I think if you would have read his post and used your brain you would have figured it out before you told him he didn't need to be in the business. I did not think he was a chicken hauler from reading his post.

I don't think you need to be in the business. He might have grossed 120,000 this year, he might have only drove 30,000 miles to do that. I think that would been a good deal, don't you.

You say

"Do Not Trust" dont believe what some truck driver told you over a cup of coffie.

Why should he believe you over this other guy. How do you know what broker he used, maybe this broker pays every 30 days. Have you hauled wallboard out of Vegas? Run Ca, AZ and NV with a flat. Sounds like to me you had two friends that done it and couldn't handle it, or was this a couple of truckers telling you this over coffee, I could be wrong but this is what I am getting from your post. You don't think a flatbed O/O can gross $240,000 a year? I guess if he wanted to work hard enough he could. I will do a little over $198,000 this year and did not work that hard. FYI, use Spell Check.

[Dejanh]

Where did i say that a flatbed guy cannot gross that running 48 and if he did 30.000 miles and grossed 120,000 i dont think he would be here asking for anyones opinion on the matter, that would be the best job on this plannet earth and everyone would do it....Am happy to hear that you grossed 200,000 and did ,,little'' work, you are a senior trucker and thats the way it suppose to be..
I had couple of friends that ran dirt out of Vegas to LA and back and i just pass the info along, 3 of my dispachers in Ontario did that for 2 years and i think that expirience of 5-6 people paints the better picture about the buisiness than a story from 1, dont you, and if you knew what you are talking about you wouldnt even mention that( as somebody who grossed 200,000 and did not work hard)....and heres one for you :roll: ..

[GMAN]

The longer you are in this or any other business, you should earn more with time. You learn to do your job more efficiently. I would doubt this guys figures unless he is doing a lot of oversize loads. Most people will also take a few days off now and then. I am not saying that he didn't do it, but most people I have spoken with over the years will make between $120-180M/yr pulling a flatbed.

[SoCal79]

Thanks for dropping in GMAN I was kind of looking for what some thought of this guys figures on his gross. He did say his broker settles weekly and he usually gets about 6k a week where I don't work very hard at all generally I will put 8 hours in on a job (pipeline construction)and sit on the clock motor off waiting for about 4 of that, usually burn anywhere from 20-50 gallons of diesel a day sometimes less and if I work every day can do about $3,500 a week, I do live comfortably now but thought if I could double my gross life would be a bit better. I do realize that expenses would go way up and I wouldn't have the gravy schedule I have now, so I kind of figure if I made the jump I would not double my gross but add maybe $40k to it maybe I should stick with what I know.

Big John do you run flat only? Do you run 48 or CA,LV,AZ?

[Big John]

I run about 35 states pulling a flat, mostly Mississippi river west. We are fixing to do a big job in Vegas starting in March. They are building a new casino and from what I here they have been doing the dirt work on it for the last year and are not down yet. Something like they went down 50 ft and not for sure how wide it is but the parking will all be under ground.

I have a Friend of mine here at home hauls asphalt, rock and sand. Most of his jobs are by the hour, very little fuel and runs his own authority. Works hard during the spring and summer and piddle farts around the rest of the year. So he works 8 to 9 months out of the year is all, this is my kind of job. He doesn't have the road expenses that I have and his equipment is paid for and he does good on the money too.

[DEVIL'S ADVOCATE]

So...
there is a business hauling dirt from one state to another???

Sorry, back east here, we dont do that.

Can someone jump in here and explain the business of hauling dirt/sand?

Ive got some nice red, gray, blue clay fer sale.....

Also, have some top soil that smells like Buffalo chicken wings, Pontillos pizza and Labatts beer. Asking a premiem for that though

Be good, Jim