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GMAN said: Of course, you may be able to run off road diesel if you are only on a construction site. Then there is the problem if you get on the highway while running off road fuel
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The Maine DOT people get quite annoyed if anyone runs off-road dyed untaxed diesel in an truck that has a fuel sticker, and they like to check randomly.
Mackman: Maine people work cheap. Always have, and probably always will.
gcal: You should check out this thread:
http://classadrivers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=16342 and especially
http://www.classadrivers.com/phpBB2/...=133942#133942
You will have to pound the pavement and find a company that takes dump truck O/O's. Some smaller outfits may have some temp work, but starting out you might want to find a larger company that can keep you busy.
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How do I go about buying a truck? How much am I looking at spending on a good truck, not new?
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try
www.truckpaper.com to get a feel for the market at least. I think Icedad has a good idea with a general use tractor that can haul a dump trailer, or a container trailer, or a refer OTR. Flexibility is a good thing. It does depend on if you can find a company to hire you locally with a dump trailer, since they don't always fit into some neighborhoods.
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what should I be expecting as for as plates and insurance
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Only an insurance agent can unravel the mystery of the rates. Get a good local agent that you can work with and bother a lot. Progressive is probably the only company that will write a policy on an inexperienced driver, but you have some experience, so who knows.
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if I work for someone else 12 hr days 6 days a week I wouldnt be able to pay my bills. Unless they are starting at 20 an hour
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$1440 per week before taxes :? Not likely. If $20 per hour driving is what you are looking for I suggest you keep your day job. You might be able to net the same amount in a week as an O/O, but you will be putting in a lot more hours. Evenings doing paperwork, and 1 day a week doing maintenance on the truck. If there was that kind of money in owning a dump truck everyone would be doing it. There will always be someone who will do it for less.
Some of the expenses that you may or may not have considered include, but are not limited to (may not apply to Dump trucking, but they are things to consider if you persue another segment of the trucking industry) :
Truck payment, trailer payment, Collision/cargo/bobtail/health insurance, business liability insurance (seperate from truck), licenses, permits, accounting and legal fees, fuel, tires, preventative maintenance, repair, telephone/internet bills, meals on the road, tolls, fines, cargo claims (are you going to eat it, or make your insurance pay it and increas your rates later?), Scale fees ($8-10 for each load to avoid fines), tarps, straps, chains, workers comp, road taxes, fuel taxes, heavy vehicle use taxes
and last but most important: Drivers wage, Return on investment, and PROFIT.
You can play with the numbers yourself with Ooida's cost per mile spreadsheet at
http://www.ooida.com/trucking_tools/...t_per_mile.htm
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Nothing is foolproof to a talented fool.
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The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
-- J R R Tolkien