Who has the Cool Load?
 

Is there a "cool club" in what load you haul? When I am talking to O&O's about financing, is there a pecking order in what you haul/carry?
What type of load & Go person should I look out for, and what makes someone "more stable" in this industry. (as far as trucking) :)

Re: Who has the Cool Load?
 

I am sorry you will have to ask the Rev. about being able to join the " Cool Club ".

Ah, come on.....poutingflippinghair...I want to join! You mean it is a secret, does Burt know?

Well, us Bedbuggers are known around the industry as "badasses". There's 3 of us here I can think of, myself, BanditsCousin and the Rev. We keep to ourselves and unless one of them thar general freight haulers screws up, we have no need to speak to 'em ;)

Until recently I attended gunshow every weekend. I transported my own inventory. Usually, about 75 AR 15s, a few Barrett .50 BMGs, tacticool accessories such as EOTech, Aimpoint, BetaMag and many others. If anyone can top that, give it a shot. Pun intended. :lol:

Re: Who has the Cool Load?
 

The same, like in any other business;-ability to use a calculator, and a bit of common sense! :P

Re: Who has the Cool Load?
 

If I am understanding your question correctly, you are asking what is considered the "better" O/O trades?

If that is the question, the answer is simple - do something everyone else isn't. O/O's who are hauling specialized items, such as OS/OD, HHG, enclosed trailer autos, etc. generally make more money than someone pulling a van trailer bumping a dock. Generally the reason they make more is because they are doing more - more time in the trailer, more liability for the load, more permits to haul the load.

If you can find something that everyone else isn't doing, then you will have something that is more in demand from those who need it. Van drivers can be found everywhere. Specialized haulers can't.

This is one of the reasons that HHG drivers make great money in the summer, and less in the winter. HHG is in high demand in the summer, and less so in the winter. It all comes down to supply and demand. Supply a trade that is in high demand, and the money will follow. Supply a trade that is in low demand, and you will starve.

Rev....you feeling alright? I specifically remember when we were standing there looking at your truck in Chicago that you DO NOT LIKE LIGHTS...now you've got "chasers" going on. Care to explain?

Dawn told me that the DOT will let me out of vehicle homicide charges if I have more lights.

Well that makes sense. I mean, if you're well lit and someone still gets run over by your truck...obviously it was their fault b/c you went out of your way to make your truck visible...DUH. There is no excuse for being hit by a rolling christmas tree.

Re: Who has the Cool Load?
 

Well, i agree with your first statment, but for one HHG load there is a 100 van loads, so demand, is kinda questionable... :P

Re: Who has the Cool Load?
 

There's one problem with that logic:

For every one HHG load, there is probably 1 HHG driver (in the summer at least).

For every 1 van load, there are probably 5 van drivers.

The rates in HHG reflect this.

I dont see the big deal with HHG, I mean the moneys good but how much do you pay your movers and what not, dealing with neighborhood driving and dealing with customers over a scratch here or there, then ya got the slow season and all that.

I pay my labor $12.00 an hour. I inventory/disassemble/pad/load my own truck. My labor just runs everything out to me. I am cheap on labor and do alot of loading/unloading myself. Infact, I have a crew of 3 guys who work with me, when I'm up in Colorado, and 2 guys who work for me down here in Texas. I may load my wagon, with 20k lbs for instance..figure I have about $300.00 in labor in that.

I've been doing two turns a month...from my house in Texas to Denver, and back...do that twice a month, and my smallest settlement so far (bi-weekly pay schedule) has been $4,300.00 That's after fuel, labor, and insurance..all pulls I made against the load etc. I have a paid for truck, and I don't run that hard. During the summer I could knock down $20k a month. It has taken me a year and a half to put 99k miles on my truck.

See, I think different than Teal. I pay my labor great when they deserve it, and I have quality labor waiting for me when I get back to the town.

Example, my Dad's longtime helper in Los Angeles doesn't come out for less than $120, but is worth every penny. Thats right, $120/mini. :wink:

My Phoenix guys charge me $140 each for 5,000 lbs and the 2 of them are at my motel ON TIME and can get me back to the motel bar by 11:30am in summer Pheonix heat.

I hate being on the job, I like to get loaded and go. I unload a little slower.

HHG is killer money, but theres different angles and tricks. For instance, positioning your truck in a certain metropolitan area at the end of the month/beginning of the month will ensure good (paying) tonnage out. Your dispatcher and agent play a role in your winter activity as well :wink: Thats why I'm shopping around right now 8)

I am sure you have been very busy the past two years, right around eviction time. Good move.
How do you market your services?

Eviction time has a little to do with it :) Most leases end at the end or beginning of the month, as do mortgages sometimes.

The marketing of my company's services are no different than most other van lines, including that of Teal and the Rev. Its kinda like freight- a price is negotiated on a commodity and its transportation and its moved. However, we have a tariff that we obide by, despite discounts.

We do all sorts of moves. I moved a guy's stuff from storage in WI to Lakeland FL and he never once returned my calls. Storage to storage. I move dead people's stuff out of storage and bring it to their brother in laws niece's babysitter's twice removed cousin 1/2 way across the country. I take a whole house and deliver it to a warehouse to be stored.

I try and make deliveries and the guy's wife is 10 miles away at the hospital giving birth during delivery (true story- up by yoopr- Bad River Casino).

But, as far as the lumper thing,t hats a whole different thread to be started.

You know who has a "crappy" load? Livestock haulers. Those guys earn every penny of their money! 8)

You three in the Moving buisness I am sure from reading all of your posts in the past that you have been doing this for a long time. It would be hard for a newbie to get involved in this line of work and make a good living at first. I talked to Allied back in the late 80's when I started driving, the money was good but I don't like moving my own stuff let alone someone elses.

I drive a septic truck 4200 or 6000gals of the good stuff. Thats a cool load lol :lol:

I'd love to get into HHG, but as I understand it from talking to Rev. I really can't get a job driving HHG unless I spend time as a lumper so I can get the trade down.

Tell me, if I found someone in HHG to take me a long and show me the ropes, would that count in the moving companies eyes as experience?

Yes. Actually, Graebel (the company whom the Rev. pulls for ) requires exp. Alot of agents in the United And Mayflower (Uni-Group) will actually trail OTR drivers. Alot of guys come into HHG from other areas of trucking, and require training, and United has UniGroup University that you go through their "classes". In the end you will be "Certified" as a quality mover/packer.

Hope that helps some,

Jason

a flat bed with a walking stick

grain hauler with extra long sun visor

I'm not an OTR driver though. Local/regional. Would they still take me on? I would eventually want to buy my own truck if I was going the HHG route...

Yes. They have local/shorthaul contractors. Some do really well that way, but its a LOT of loading and unloading.

We do the longhauls because the rates go down a tiny bit, but theres wayyyy es loading and unloading.

I don't mean I won't do longhaul. I'd do longhaul for HHG. What I meant was a lot of companies I've seen require "2 yr.s OTR experience". I don't have ANY OTR experience. Could I still get into a training program at united?

I really don't understand that qualification either. To me what I do is harder than OTR anyway. I log 1,600 miles, and they might all might be in this region, but unlike an OTR driver, I backup numerous times a day into all sorts of spots not designed for a large truck. Oh well.

That should count as experience. Start doing local stuff for a moving company, and eventually they'll have you going further and further as you go.

My first 2 trips weren't more that 350 miles from my agent.

Not me - I like to stay under 1000 miles, and turn the loads over quickly. That's how I beat you all this summer. :wink:

My "stomping grounds" is a 1k mile run from texas to colorado...load go to colorado, unload-reload and come back...I'm home every week or so, except this coming week I'm loading to go to the great north-east :shock:

I can't really afford to do local moving at $12 an hour though... I make $23-$28 an hour as it is and it all goes to pay the bills! :oops:

AS a driver, you'll make no less than $15, depending on where you live.

Also, theres special commodities divisions you can drive for.

Meh.... Can't afford that. I might go O/O for FedEx, still evaluating the feasibility.

You can be a company driver in HHG, and make more than $15.00 an hour. Depends on where you go, I have a buddy who drives a company truck and makes 36% of the linehaul, and he made over $80k last year driving their truck. You could do that for a year or so and then buy your own truck, but I wouldn't buy a truck and lease it on somewhere for less than $1.00 a mile, and expect to improve your way of lifestyle....especially if you can't make ends meet at $24.00 an hour.

I can make them meet. I just want them to keep meeting you know? I might look into United down the road....

loads
 

That I kinda disagree with, the pay (at least for me) is pretty good. I haul livestock the only thing bad about it is the long hours when loaded. As far as the loading and unloading they walk on and off... unless they are dead! Don't see too many pallets that load or unload themselves.... the loading time is generally 10 - 20 minutes, the unloading is generally 5 - 15 minutes. I don't haul for less than $3.85/mi

Gibby, you get re-loads coming back? Or, do you just run one-way? I've got a buddy out in Kansas who hauls cattle occasionally for a friend of his. Come to think of it, my truck I have now used to be owned by a cattle company out of Missouri. I've tossed the idea around, would be something cool to try out.

Don't give up your job to drive a truck - you will never match that $23-$28 an hour on a consistant basis.

Drive a truck HHG? I drive a truck right now, I'm not behind a desk. I do convenience store/foodservice distribution.

Oh and I don't care if I work more hours for more money. Hourly average doesn't concern me as much as the total I make per year.

More hours doesn't necessarily mean more money (in most cases, it means less, unless you are in some specialized field). It sounds like you have a local gig, and you would be foolish to give it up to go OTR. You won't make more. Local gigs are something to strive for - not something to give up.