From desk to own authority part 3
#261
11-08-2007, 01:36 PM
Most, if not all, of a farm's yield is usually spoken for well in advance of the season. You'd probably have to be on the ball to secure a full truckload. Of course that will vary by farm.
#262
11-08-2007, 02:08 PM
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Portland, OR
Posts: 1,924
Originally Posted by SteveBooth
I worked with a guy once who had an uncle that lived in Vermont with a huge open field. Carl planed Christmas trees and once a year I think for 7 years he went up and trimmed every one. He then cut them and rented a vacant lot on the outskirts of Boston. I think Sudbury or Wayland. He setup shop and was ready to sell them when a Japanese man bought every tree he had and the ones still not cut yet and Carl made over $75,000.
From what I understand there are no trees in Japan due to land costing so much. He said the average junk Xmas tree would sell for $300 at least. This guy went around Mass, NH, Vermont and Maine buying as many trees as he could to fill a ship. That $75,000 was big money 20 years ago. Carl said he would never do it again. It was a huge amount of work. I think he had 7,000 trees that were planted to harvest over a 3 year period. I'm loading up my onions at the moment then off to Philly then home. It's 300 miles from Philly to home so I may just hump it home right away. The broker called and offered $2.50 a mile for the Xmas trees. She has a contract with a Xmas tree farm and all the trees are 20' ones. They are loaded with a crane and unloaded with a crane. I need 4' high sides all the way down made of wood only. She said she can get me 3 loads of trees and 3 loads of other stuff coming back. We'll see. Then what do I do, chuck the plywood sides into the trash can at the Flying J ???
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"In trucking, 2 wrongs don't make a right but 3 lefts do!!" 
#263
11-08-2007, 02:15 PM
Originally Posted by Scoe
What would they do with Christmas trees in Japan? I thought that nation was mostly Buddist?
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"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 
#264
11-08-2007, 02:57 PM
Originally Posted by Scoe
What would they do with Christmas trees in Japan? I thought that nation was mostly Buddist?
I'm certain there are plenty of people there who celebrate Christmas and would want a tree.
#266
11-08-2007, 03:42 PM
Originally Posted by Bigmon
Originally Posted by SteveBooth
Then what do I do, chuck the plywood sides into the trash can at the Flying J ??? Nah.... That would require effort and work for Pepe. :lol:
#267
11-08-2007, 04:13 PM
I didn't know the trees paid so much. I just took a load of wreaths for $2.29 actual loaded hub miles to Mass and with deadhead about just over $2.00. But from Rev's post that they take all day to load I see why they had this big paragraph about detention in the rate confirmation. You were supposed to call in to let them know when detention starts but there's no cell phone service in the mountains of North Carolina so a lot of good that does. Of course they probably would let you use the phone as the owner wanted to lend me his pickup to head to a local diner (I declined)
The wreaths were easy though, in crates on pallets and didn't take long to load once they got to me. By the way, the lights down the side of my trailer on top are out. Trailer is only a few months old, so I don't see how they went out so quick, but where do I get those changed at a reasonable price? Can't do it myself as it's too high.
#268
11-08-2007, 08:58 PM
Originally Posted by merrick4
the lights down the side of my trailer on top are out. Trailer is only a few months old, so I don't see how they went out so quick, but where do I get those changed at a reasonable price? Can't do it myself as it's too high.
#269
11-08-2007, 08:58 PM
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Posts: n/a
This was a long time ago that Carl sold those trees so I'm sure things were different back then as far as insurance. His idea was to hire someone to sell the trees for him while Carl worked during the day the he would take over after work. He only sold a few the first day when that guy came and bought all of them. From what I was told, the Japanese buy more Christmas trees than we do.
I thought about carrying the side kit around with me but I would think that's a lot of weight. I do have a headboard that they could be strapped to but I've only been asked a few times if I have a side kit so I'm not sure it would be worth it. My drives did not scale yesterday and I was 1,900 over. We question the scales because the guy before me also was over and had to take a whole pallet of onions off. It took forever to load and I was pretty much waiting for each pallet to be prepared from the field. The FDA was here doing inspections so I watched him for a while. Not a lot of talent required to do that. Let's see, looks good to me, pass. Once again I was here until 8pm loading and tarping. I hate tarping onions so much I can't believe I haven't fallen off it's so dangerous walking on the top. I'm so freaking dirty my finger ends are permanently tattooed the color of dirt. I must have used a whole box of baby wipes before going to bed last night. I'm pushing out my delivery if I have to and stopping early today to take a 5 hour shower, wash my clothes and bed. Mackman, I'm delivering to Ryeco inc on South Galloway St and will be coming up 95 so if you have some good directions for me I could use them. Looks like a pretty busy place!!! I just realized what you guys meant about giving the plywood to Pepe. You people are brutal..lol I'm glad I bought a microwave and a bunch of food. It's come in very handy as I've been stuck in many odd places, out of hours and no place to eat these past few weeks. I'm not sure what the temp is here but I woke up in the middle of the night and turned on the APU which is unusual for me unless it's really cold out. I have 2 blankets on my bed plus a goose down comforter but I swear I could see my breath. The truck is running good and used no oil the past 3 weeks. Not sure what's up with that and why it uses a quart a week some times then other times I can go weeks and weeks with not adding any oil? I have my 5th wheel all the way back and wondering how much of a difference that makes on my drives being over weight the past 2 loads?? Will moving it forward take that much weight off my drives? I have to take my hats off to you company and leased on drivers who have a dispatcher pushing you. I think I'm tasting just a little of that life and would not last a month. I'm being put into the position of running illegal twice already. It's my fault for not pushing back but all of a sudden the phone rings and they have 2 loads setup back to back and you hit the road without even thinking. Having this woman dedicated to me is great for keeping the truck running but I'm already on the edge with telling her to stop it. Her father was a truck driver and so was she and she knows more about what I do than I DO !!!! I think I finally have my truck the way I want it and can't think of anything else I need or want to do to it. It took me almost a year to figure it out but it's definetly a home away from home now. Well, one more coffee and wait for the Ibuprofen to kick in the time to hit the road. I'm so freaking wasted right now. I don't get sore, just feel like a bowl of Jello and nothing left in me.
#270
11-08-2007, 09:32 PM
What the hell do you need a 7 way tester?
A test light will do just fine. BTW, it's most likely in the plug. Sometimes the wires will pull out if they're not secured. I prefer the aluminum plugs over the plastic ones. They seem better built. |
