"Romeo&Julietta". Only smoke Cubans, and only where it's legal...Originally Posted by lowrange
Allan, that's "after breakfast...
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Senior Board Member
"Romeo&Julietta". Only smoke Cubans, and only where it's legal...
Allan, that's "after breakfast...
Pessimist,- is just well informed optimist!
Senior Board Member
You've got style, Solo! Hopefully the January Tonnage Index will be out soon. Consider extending your holiday and switching to White Owls.I'm still blessed to be employed (my boss said so, I called him this morning), but here on my second day of layover, in the middle of the week in tanker freight central (La Porte, TX) I'm taking nothing for granted!
Yeah, White Owls...No, I've got it,...you need Swisher Sweets for your depression budget. Do you like Swisher Sweets, Solo!?
Senior Board Member
Yak! After they discontinued "Camel Special Lights 100", i switched to "Marlboro Lights 100".
According to my info, business is not so hot in my company, but they manage to survive. So will i...hopefully...
Pessimist,- is just well informed optimist!
Board Bitch
Senior Board Member
Ok here's my take...
First off I guess I should state that I run pretty specialized...I DON'T run south...I don't run EAST, Canada ends at the Alberta/Saskatchewan border & south to me is Nisku...5 miles south of Edmonton!...I run NORTH...way north...so the rates are quite a bit higher than what you guys get...I also do extended length...mostly Rocky Mountain Doubles.
That being said I will also state that I'm leased onto a carrier, I'm still making truck payments...my truck was expensive, I bought it brand new & spec'd it for the Arctic (where I run) & to pull the loads I do. We bought our 2nd truck 2 years ago in May...sometimes it was tough keeping track of everything on both of them...but somebody's got to do it...& well I guess I was the dummy who put up my hand!
I get good fuel economy for what I haul I average 7 mpg with the trains & 8 when I'm lucky enough to pull just one...you'd be amazed as to what that extra 35 feet dragging along behind you does to the fuel mileage. We're LTL so the weight is not big...for here.. I'm licenced for 56,000 kg..around 125,000 lobs GVW, but I'm fine with that..light loads for my neck of the woods.
Anyway, I start at $1.50/mile, loaded or empty plus the company I lease to pays for my plates & insurance & caps my fuel at 39 cents/litre...which would be about $1.50/gal.
I figure I spend about 25cpm on fuel, 2cpm on my truck payment, maybe 2cpm on maintenance...I don't have a trailer...wouldn't want one where I run...I KNOW what the roads & weather do to them. I AVERAGE 14,000 miles/month. I can buy my tires on the companies national account, so that saved me the cost of one tire if I'd have had to pay retail for it...and that was just my new steers...my drives I run a really deep tread recap, which stands up very well on the chip sealed & gravel roads that make up my existance. The dealer I bought my truck from gives me a decent discount (about 20%) on parts, I can get my annual safety's done in the company shop for 100 bucks. I think my biggest expense is the 5 windshields/year I have to put in my truck!
My better half does all our maintenance & most repairs, we have our own shop in our yard...what he can't do himself, his brother & my brother are both journeyman heavy duty mechanics...so we're pretty much covered with a couple of cases of beer in the labour department...tho we have paid them when it comes to really big jobs.
I would say that after taxes we showed a 25% NET profit last year, which gave us both a decent wage...like Alan we are sole proprietors, so net income is considered taxable wages. I would say we drew about 65 cpm in wages. It certainly makes up for the long hours & nasty weather over the course of the year.
I find it appalling the incredibly LOW rates you guys down south are getting, even leased onto carriers, & the guys up here aren't doing much better...truthfully I wouldn't even start my truck for less than what I'm getting now..call me spoiled I guess. I don't like the idea of paying a carrier for a job.
Last edited by wildkat; 02-13-2009 at 08:22 AM.
Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the floor each morning the devil says "oh crap, she's up!"
Member
Wildkat - I'm going to pick apart your post a little bit and ask a few questions. Since you say "I AVERAGE 14000 per month", I am assuming that is just you and your truck, not your second truck in any figures.
14000 miles/mo avg @ $1.50 all miles is $21000.00 gross revenue
fuel @ 6 mpg (that's your $.25/mile estimate) @ $1.50 gal. is $3500.00
Truck payment & maintenance @ $.02 per mile each is $560
Having trouble believing your truck payment is just $260 a month on an "expensive" truck or that you average only $260 on maint and any repair parts that are needed.
Plates, etc paid by company and repair labor for "free" is $0 out of pocket.
I'm coming up with a net before driver pay or taxes of around $17000. Pull out driver pay of $.65 per mile ($9100) and I come up with profit of $7900 before taxes.
All this is per month on 1 truck.
What kind of truck do you have that pulls heavy in cold weather and gets 7 mpg avg?
Is $1.50 mile/all miles before carrier lease fees?
I would think your truck would need more maintenance with your running conditions, than any down here in the lower 48. At 14000 miles a month I would need more than $260 avg a month in m & r money.
Final question - if all this is correct, is your carrier looking for o/o's to lease on?
Senior Board Member
My truck payment is around .16cpm and that is without R&M. And I bought it 2 years old.
"I love college football. It's the only time of year you can walk down the street with a girl in one arm and a blanket in the other, and nobody thinks twice about it." --Duffy Daugherty
Board Bitch
Senior Board Member
Boy, I guess I should have been a bit more clear...Sometimes it's hard to explain what you mean when you think as you type... LOL
Lets see I'll have a look at my last statement & see if I can't get the figures a bit more clear...and..I'll use the next best excuse...I had just got in from a brutal trip to Yellowknife, NWT & I was tired!
OK.. mileage 14,998 mile @ 1.5/mile = $22497, add into that hourly pay...we DON'T donate time here... I even get paid to do my pretrip! LOL Monthly hourly was..$ 2680.65. So gross for one month for ONE truck was
25177.65...my fuel bill was $3500 & that was high..it was cold
As for my truck...you'll laugh when I say this...I have a 379 long nosed Pete...before you say there's NO WAY I can average 7 mpg with that I'll say that my truck is no off the shelf unit that was generically spec'd. I spec'd it to DO exactly what I do. I went & picked the brains of literally EVERY person I could think of the get the most horsepower, the best fuel economy, etc that I could find... I went to the CAT dealership & spoke with CATERPILLAR trained techs about horsepower/torque ratios. I spoke to Eaton/Fuller techs about gear ratios... I did a PILE of research before the truck was ordered.
As far as maintenance cycles...I probably do them LESS than you as I run full Synthetic oils, greases (arctic greases usually are
If you would have asked me 3 months ago if they were looking for owner/op's I would have said "yes", but now the US troubles are bleeding across the border & not too many are hiring anymore.
Last edited by wildkat; 02-13-2009 at 08:24 AM.
Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the floor each morning the devil says "oh crap, she's up!"
Senior Board Member
$21677-$6000 = $15677
$15677/14998 = $1.05/mile for...for...upkeep !?!?!?
I wasn't paying attention to the numbers until the question was asked, because I never had any intention of being an arctic circle trucker anyway. Now I'm just curious, because there is something I'm not getting.
Board Bitch
Senior Board Member
Huh? Upkeep is about oh I'd guess 500$/month...$1.05? Where'd you see that?
Out of that 21677, I make my truck payment, take my wages & SAVE money for emergencies, things like tires, etc, I also have a BIG repair fund, a retirement fund, & a general savings account that I faithfully contribute to EACH & EVERY month!
Last edited by wildkat; 02-13-2009 at 05:20 PM.
Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the floor each morning the devil says "oh crap, she's up!"
Senior Board Member
Ok, you're counting your wages as separate from your retirement fund and savings- I'd have considered them as part of your wages.
Either way, it sounds like you're making really nice money. There's a lot more I'd like to know, though. 15k miles per month, you drive 75mph with a big ol' moose catcher while still getting 7 mpg!?
Also too, do you live up there!? You know, loading pelts from Inuit villages, delivering them gunpowder...You're way up there, right? How do you get internet access, or do you drive south as well?
I'm sure it's beautiful up there, what, the Yukon Territories? I bet it has a nice, slightly eery desolate feel to it, huh? That's the way northern China felt to me.
Board Bitch
Senior Board Member
Now why would I want to do that? I'm running a business, NOT a charity!
Why would I drive 75 mph? I don't EVER drive faster than 62...60 most of the time. Our HOS are different than yours...I can drive 13 hours/day until I get to the 60th Parallel...look on a map if you don't know where that is...then I can drive 15 hours/day. I don't HAVE a moose catcher on my truck...I've been driving a truck for over 30 years & have yet to hit ANY animal...I KNOW where my brake pedal is!
Oh brother...you actually ASKED this?Also too, do you live up there!? You know, loading pelts from Inuit villages, delivering them gunpowder...
I LIVE in a small rural community just east of EDMONTON, ALBERTA, a CITY of just over a MILLION people, small by US standards, but a good sized city just the same, which is smack dab in the CENTRE of Alberta.
No I don't go into the US at all anymore...I used to years ago, but not now...you guys are too crazy for me!
We DO have high speed internet access here...just like everyone else! You need to get outside more man....
Again...LOOK at a map...the Yukon Territory is north of British Columbia...right beside Alaska?
Search some of my threads...I have hundreds of pictures posted of my travels.
Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the floor each morning the devil says "oh crap, she's up!"
Senior Board Member
As for the internet, I bet northern Alberta doesn't have mobile broadband! That is, you have to get back to the city to use the internet, right? That's all I was saying there.
Whether you think of yourself as drawing a wage or making profit, or both, your personal savings come out of there- it isn't a business expense. The business isn't concerned with what you do with your earnings, only that you have some.
Now, 15k miles per month at 60-62 mph! Woman, you are working WAY too much! I'll have some time later, I'll take a look at some of those pictures. One last question, there's a woman in America named Caribou Barbie, do you know her?
Board Regular
What she meant by saying that she doesn't run south of Edmonton, means precisely that ; I'm curious to know how you could infer that to mean that Edmonton is the southern border of Alberta ( it's more like north-central AB...the southern border is about 6.5 hours away, and "way north" would mean about 8-10 hours of driving north of here till you reach the Alberta-Northwest Territories border). Also, she did mean "literally" that her truck is spec'd for the Arctic...that doesn't, however, imply in any way, shape or form that she runs it at 75mph. That's illegal, as our speed limit up here is 100kmh on 2-lane highways, & 110 on 4-lane highways.
As for the internet, I bet northern Alberta doesn't have mobile broadband! That is, you have to get back to the city to use the internet, right? That's all I was saying there.
As for your bet, I have news for you...you've lost.
Senior Board Member
Maybe I should have said 'boundary', the southern boundary of where Wildkat runs. Wildkat told me to look at a map and I did just that, but I always knew Edmonton was somewhere in the middle.
Ok, her truck is literally spec'd for the arctic, fine. Forgive me for thinking that when she said way north she meant the arctic. None of that was related to the speeds she runs. I was saying it takes a whole lot of time to do 15k miles a month at 60 mph- A LOT of time.
On the mobile broadband, I hope no one is offended because I happen to know that Canada has a population 1/10 of the United States and most people are clustered on the southern border. All that means northern Canada is sparsely populated. I'd be very surprised to learn you can stick in your PC card and connect to the internet all over northern Alberta- VERY surprised.
Board Regular
15,000 miles is 24,000 km. Like Kat posted earlier, south of the 60th parallel, we can drive 13 hours a day, which translates to about 1150 km ( 720 miles approx ) a day, or say 1100 km a day for argument's sake. That is very much doable...I say so, as I myself do it atleast 3 days a week, even though technically, I'm a city driver ( I'm home every night ). It would take only 21-22 days of driving in month, to hit 24,000 km, and you would still have 8 days of rest. A lot of the o/o's in the company that I work for, do even more ( we haul dry bulk, mostly in super b's ).
Senior Board Member
I didn't mean to suggest it can't be done, only it is A LOT of work.
15000 miles/22 days = 680 miles/55 mi/hr = 12.4 hrs driving time.
Fold in fuel, loading and unloading, maintenance stops, paperwork- you're probably at, at least 14 hours a day of actual work. Now, let's say you want to do things like eat, take a shower, wee wee- there's nothing else left but sleep. Certainly, it can be done. It's just a lot of work, that's all. I's a lazy trucker. I likes to mosey along, cool out, make my delivery, make another one after that...no offense, more power to you. Why, if I tried to do 15,000 mi/month, when would I ever find time to squabble on the internet!?
Board Bitch
Senior Board Member
No I run alot further north than Northern Alberta...what do you think the Yukon & Northwest Territories are? They ARE in the Arctic! But up there they have DIAMOND mines. OIL REFINING, NATURAL GAS & many other industries...just NOT alot of roads! Like I said...you REALLY need to look at another map besides those American Road Atlases...they are pretty decieving about the far north...I've been as far north as Inuvik, NWT...that right on the ARCTIC OCEAN...find that in your atlas!
And I suppose you think they all live in igloos & drives dog sleds too right?
Alberta has some of the best cellular & internet service on the planet...almost NO dead spots here...I'll be I had broadband internet BEFORE you did! LOL
Well if I drove 75 miles/hour on those roads lowrange I wouldn't have a truck anymore...there are NO 4 lane highways up there...it's all narrow winding 2 laners...some places the speed limit is 50 mph...on a good day you MIGHT want to do 55! This time of year...the roads are so damned rough if you did more than 55 you'd break stuff...ever seen a frost heave launch a semi air born? I have...thankfully it was the idiot if FRONT of me...I had time to slow down!Whether you think of yourself as drawing a wage or making profit, or both, your personal savings come out of there- it isn't a business expense. The business isn't concerned with what you do with your earnings, only that you have some.
Now, 15k miles per month at 60-62 mph! Woman, you are working WAY too much! I'll have some time later, I'll take a look at some of those pictures. One last question, there's a woman in America named Caribou Barbie, do you know her?
Never heard of her...is that some American Fantasy?
Last edited by wildkat; 02-15-2009 at 05:04 AM.
Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the floor each morning the devil says "oh crap, she's up!"
Senior Board Member
Isn't that the same thing you told me when I asked if you were all the way up there in the Yukon!? Another reply you might have considered would have been 'yes, lowrange, yes'
Anyway, as much as I love squabbling, this is pretty interesting, so right now I'd rather not. Dang, I had no idea what's up there. Who knew you could drive to the Arctic Ocean!? How are the beaches!?
Excuse me for doubting your mobile broadband access. The Northwest Territories is over one and a half times the size of Texas and has one third the population of Waco. Of course, if you ever lost signal with your aircard, you could probably stop at one of the many Huskies or Flying J's and use their hotspot on the heavily traveled highway to Inuvik, right?And I suppose you think they all live in igloos & drives dog sleds too right?
Alberta has some of the best cellular & internet service on the planet...almost NO dead spots here...I'll be I had broadband internet BEFORE you did! LOL
Correct me if I'm wrong, but some Inuit still live in igloos, right? Or maybe that's just Alaska. Anyway I looked and I see now that many/most Inuit have been Westernized. So, who else is left in the NW Territories? Must be almost excusively oil workers and miners and their families, right?
Fascinating stuff. You must be in survival mode a lot- like -20 (f), 300 miles from a truckstop, that kind of thing? How far down does the snow melt? How warm does northern Alberta get in the summer?Well if I drove 75 miles/hour on those roads lowrange I wouldn't have a truck anymore...there are NO 4 lane highways up there...it's all narrow winding 2 laners...some places the speed limit is 50 mph...on a good day you MIGHT want to do 55! This time of year...the roads are so damned rough if you did more than 55 you'd break stuff...ever seen a frost heave launch a semi air born? I have...thankfully it was the idiot if FRONT of me...I had time to slow down!
Well, let's just say not for eating crackers, I wouldn't.Never heard of her...is that some American Fantasy?
http://www.joeydevilla.com/wordpress...lin_debate.jpg
I hear she's WAY hotter in person. Hey, say 'hi' to Hugh and TJ and everybody next time you're at the Monkey Tree, ok?
Board Regular
One note about wildcats figures they are in Canadian dollars, check the exchange rates.
1.50 CA is about 1.21 US
Board Bitch
Senior Board Member
lowrange...I'm always happy to answer "intelligent" questions about where I travel...it's nothing like south of the border...but I consider questions "stupid" when it's comes to igloos & dogsleds...no wrong word...not stupid...irritating would be better!Isn't that the same thing you told me when I asked if you were all the way up there in the Yukon!? Another reply you might have considered would have been 'yes, lowrange, yes'
Anyway, as much as I love squabbling, this is pretty interesting, so right now I'd rather not. Dang, I had no idea what's up there. Who knew you could drive to the Arctic Ocean!? How are the beaches!?
No idea...last time I saw them it was all frozen! LOL And the last time I was there in summer...it was all pretty rugged...mostly rocks.
THAT"S FUNNY! I was talking about Alberta... There's NO cell service in either the Yukon or NWT unless you're a mile or two from a town...I've said that before...many times. And as far as truck stops go...what the heck is a truck stop? I haven't seen one of those since the last time I was south of the border!
Maybe so...when they're out hunting...any I've seen live in houses...just like you & me...
There's NO snow in summer! We have grass, flowers & trees just like you!.. That is unless you go north of the tree line...then there's just shrubs, trees & flowers.
Summers are hot...we have way more daylight than you in summer...even in the Arctic...24 hours of daylight...90F is not uncommon. At home we have 20 hours of daylight in summer...we get hot here too...not the 100+ that you get in they deep south, but high nineties are not uncommon. Winters are longer & colder tho...
Those idiot? Sure!
Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the floor each morning the devil says "oh crap, she's up!"
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