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Old 04-01-2007, 04:17 PM
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Default Starting a dump truck business

I was thinking of starting a dump truck business. But I am very nervous about going into business for myself. Id love to. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Do owners have time to find jobs, handle finances AND run the truck. My wife could get us health insurance if need be. I just really dont know what to expect How do you go about getting work and keeping your truck going?
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Old 04-01-2007, 04:55 PM
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If you have to ask then your not ready to start a dump truck company. Maybe someone like marylandkw will come by and give you some advice i would but dont feel like typing it all.
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Old 04-01-2007, 06:51 PM
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Here's a link to lots of other past threads on this very subject:

http://www.classadrivers.com/phpBB2/...=237537#237537
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Old 04-01-2007, 11:49 PM
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Default Re: Starting a dump truck business

Quote:
Originally Posted by NHHunter
I was thinking of starting a dump truck business. But I am very nervous about going into business for myself. Id love to. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Do owners have time to find jobs, handle finances AND run the truck. My wife could get us health insurance if need be. I just really dont know what to expect How do you go about getting work and keeping your truck going?
Where are you located?

Oh and for a truck one word. MACK provided it is a RD.
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Old 04-02-2007, 12:44 AM
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Thinking and researching is a major first step.

It is very hard to find work, do paperwork and run the truck. I won't lie to you I have better than 2 hours of office type work most everyday. And that is after anywhere from 12 to 18 hours in the truck.

There are no load boards for dump trucks (for the most part) so everything is mainly word of mouth. Who do you know?

Splitshifter gives what appears on surface to be disgruntled trucker advice but you might do good to listen to him. He said that business was so good he sold all his trucks and went to work for someone else.

Dump Trucking is alot about right place, right time, right price.

Maintenance can be challenging. It is significantly more than your typical OTR O/O. But the revenue can be much better as well. If you have never driven a dump truck you stand a better than average chance of tearing something expensive up rather quickly.

Best way to break into dump trucking is to work for someone else for a few years, get some contacts and make your mistakes on their equipment. Then if you still got the bug, go for it.

Splitshifter posted a link to two other links and the search function of this board can provide you some good information. If you find any questions unanswered, come back and ask away. There are lots of Dump Truckers on here more than happy to help.

Mack2, I need to get you up here to see a real dump truck, A KW W9 :lol:
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Old 04-02-2007, 01:12 AM
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MKW wrote:
Quote:
Splitshifter gives what appears on surface to be disgruntled trucker advice but you might do good to listen to him. He said that business was so good he sold all his trucks and went to work for someone else.
Not disgruntled at all, I loved being in the business, but when you have to compete with people who obviously have no business sense and will run their trucks for whatever crappy rate is offered, it becomes darn near impossible to turn a profit.

I ran older trucks and kept them well maintained, I didn't have big truck payments every month, and I did just about all the mechanic work myself, unless it was something that required specialized tools or equipment that I didn't have in my own shop.

Then every spring you'd see several people go out and buy brand new fancy dump trucks and offer them up for hire at dirt cheap rates.

The newcomers sometimes would only last 1 season before going belly up, victims of their own ineptitude.

But the constant stream of these cutthroats had the effect of keeping truck rates artificially low for everyone.

Maybe it's not like that in your locale, I certainly hope it isn't, but I just wanted to clarify my motives for discouraging people from getting in the dump truck business right now.

I was in the business for 19 years and I tried to do it the right way, but in the end, those 18 hour work days made no sense anymore because I could make more money working for someone else.

Now I am working for a union excavating company as a mechanic, with full union benefits, and when I go home at quitting time, I can forget about work and actually have a life.
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Old 04-02-2007, 05:35 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Splitshifter

Not disgruntled at all, I loved being in the business, but when you have to compete with people who obviously have no business sense and will run their trucks for whatever crappy rate is offered, it becomes darn near impossible to turn a profit.

Then every spring you'd see several people go out and buy brand new fancy dump trucks and offer them up for hire at dirt cheap rates.

The newcomers sometimes would only last 1 season before going belly up, victims of their own ineptitude.

But the constant stream of these cutthroats had the effect of keeping truck rates artificially low for everyone.
I suspect that lakeside here in Reno has done just that. They leased a nice big fleet of Yellow Peterbilt dump trucks and were always hiring.

Now that spring is upon us and dirt season is open I'm seeing far fewer of their sets that last year. I came close to working for them last year when I was getting jerked around on the extra board june of last year.
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Old 04-02-2007, 02:54 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by marylandkw
Mack2, I need to get you up here to see a real dump truck, A KW W9 :lol:
I know a W9 is nice but is it really what a first timer needs? We have a couple of Freightliner Classics that are really nice but I don't know if they would beat a W900.

I'm guessing you are from Maryland are you any were near Brandy Wine?
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Old 04-02-2007, 11:25 PM
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Hey Splitshifter, I was merely pointing out that on the surface you might appear to give a disgruntled opinion but your advice is always well thought out. No disrespect was meant. After all we need multiple view points for this board to be worthwhile.

Mack2, Don't live even close to brandywine but I go all over the state on a fairly regular basis. I do anywhere from 500-600 miles a day and never leave the state. So I cover an awful lot of ground.
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Old 04-04-2007, 02:57 AM
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I really wish people would post what area they are in when asking if they should start running a dump truck, lol.

My business is doing good. My truck runs as a transfer truck and also as a ten wheeler. What one of the other guys said is very true, finding work takes a lot of work on your part, there are no load boards for dirt haulers.

To answer your question, I'd ask people who run dump trucks in your area and see how they are doing and who they work with, do your research locally instead of online because there are so many different factors to consider for every area.

BOL
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