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?

 

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?

 

from Dejanh:
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 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.

 

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.

 

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?

 

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.

 

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