Thanks for sharing your numbers, Floored. When anyone looks at any numbers you really need to look at longer term to get an accurate picture. While the numbers you presented are a good snapshot, it will be good to look at them for the first year.

Maniac your right. I been around dump trucks along time there is alot of maintance just wait and see floored. I dont want to sound like a know it all am not . that was a tractor converted into a dump that is trouble right there. More wear on tires brakes the motor up shifting down shifting all day. you will see 8)

I was asked how much we haul in a earlier post and I got to thinking and thought maybe the question was asking how much weight my truck carries in the box and trailer, not the gross. The truck and trailer carry 25 tons.

Anyway...

For those who think they know better, I'll keep updating as I go along, good or bad. And if I'm wrong and don't know what the heck I'm really doing I'll be the first to admit it. But unless your here in Sacramento, CA where I am running your past can't relate. Just like I have no idea how it is to run one of these trucks in MD.

I was thinking about all the haters in the trucking business today and came up with this, "those who fail say it can't be done". Don't take that the wrong way but really think about what I said. Think about all the guys sitting at the truck stop diners telling ya its a bad time to be a O/O, and then you ask them how they know and they say they did it and went broke and they now run a company truck. That right there is a prime example.

Those who know me know I am outspoken and don't really care what others think of me. I have done a lot in my first year and I haven't failed yet. I run my business SMART. I give a lot of my time to go back to my trucking school to talk with the students and tell them they can make it in this industry if they run smart. I am by no means a brainiac, but I've probably come up a lot faster that most the guys out there, as a prime example my first job out of school I was running at $.35cpm with a 2006 Columbia as my rig. Believe me Ive paid my dues, and being a female in a mans world has given me my tolls - but if I can do it pretty much anyone can if they think about what they are doing and make a good game plan and stick to it.

I post on here because I want to help others. I do not like shutting people down, killing hope, ect. I don't hate one people if they choose to drive OTR, local, or as a company driver for their entire career. I believe everyone deserves a shot to make something of their selves. If I fail I won't be the guy (or gal in my case) sitting there telling everyone else they will fail too. I will let those who ask know why I feel I failed (I wont blame the president, believe me, I will blame myself if that happens) and maybe it will help them run smarter. When I'm making money I want others to know what I am making, how I am doing it so it can help them in some way.

Take it or leave it, its up to you. I'm not here to impress people with my "super trucker" skills, I'm just sharing some real world experience as I earn it.

IF YOU STARTED IN A 2006 COLUMBIA THAT WAS BUILT IN 2005, YOU HAVE NOT PAID ANY DUES. You have enough experience to be dangerous. I wish you luck, but if you had run constantly since the day your first truck can off the assembly line, you are still a rookie, so please refrain from comments like I have paid my dues. Your dues are still being calculated. Congrats on your current success!

I started in a B-61 with a quad box, worked my way up into a DM 600, thinking I had "arrived"...(1978.) On to a big, long hooded DM 800, also with a set of crowbars. A few years in a screamin' 2 stroke-joke powered Road Boss, which I pulled a 24' dumptrailer with, that was a former Amoco Gasoline tractor. It had 38 rears, "Velvet Ride" (who named it that?) suspension which self destructed after a couple of years of "gently" taking it off road to load and dump, etc. Then it was a total blur after that, with so many trucks, trailers, jobs, miles, oil leaks, brakejobs, motor jobs in the driveway, electrical problems that I screwed with half the night to get lights enough to run till the sun came up, rear end jobs, again, all-nighters to get running with that load that was still hooked to the downed horse, and on and on and on and on....
I never drove a Columbia, so I still have some dues to pay, but I will say this, and it's in as gentle a spirit as I can possibly convey to you, as a newcomer to this industry...
Don't get too excited just yet about your new venture. It's OK to be proud of what you're doing, but I've been at it for almost 30 years in the arena, and a few prior to that behind the scenes, so I kind of have a clue myself.
No matter how good, gentle,or easy you are on your truck, it's difficult to take a single framed, class 8 road tractor and turn it into a dump truck that carries the majority of the payload ON IT'S BACK, and not have some repercussions. Even though you think it's working out good, just keep in mind that without a rail-liner inside that Freightshaker frame at least up to the bellhousing mount, it's going to be a game of Russian Roulette as far as longevity of the chassis components.
Dump trucks are built to specs for that application, with heavier-than-average thickness framerails. The steel temper is also a factor. light axle housings are another issue. Normally, with off-road drivelines, they use 1810 series u-joints and yokes. Your Fruitliner "probably, not definitely," has 1710 series, the next size smaller driveline parts.
Add this all up and then some, and throw in the extra maintanence cost associated with being off the road, as Maniac mentioned. You'd better be changing your air filters more often now in that dustbowl environment, and they are about 50 bucks a piece for my Pete, X2, you'll be doing service intervals about every 250 HOURS instead of 10K miles, because you're idling more and PTO time, etc., and now, if I'm getting it straight, you've got a set of trailer tires and brakes to play with now.
The big picture also shows a slow period in the winter for you guys/gals out there? I'm not sure... Here in New England, it gets colder than a welldiggers' ankles by December, so we set our dumptrucks up to yank the bodies off and bolt the 5th wheel on, and haul something else till the frost is out around April. You have to average that revenue interruption out as well, compared to other forms of trucking.
Again, I mean no harm, I'm just sharing some boots-in-the-field experience, and I've had a lot of luck, but it's mainly all been bad. There's got to be a LOT of money IN the truckin' business still, 'cause I've never gotten any OUT of it yet...

They say the BEST way to make a million dollars in the truckin' business...is to start out with TWO million... :lol:

Good luck, I hope you do well and have no bad days at it.

TiredOut

There is plenty of work so as long as its not raining we are working. Right now the weather has been holding out, I'm hoping it will stay that way until Jan. I'm prepared for the "slow season" so I should be okay. Thank goodness we don't get ice and snow like some of you guys!


For all you EAST COAST GUYS - Running a transfer truck out here is MUCH different that what you are thinking of. I do not go "off road' in this truck, a lot of my work is on PAVED ROADS, or smooth dirt/gravel roads. I don't haul out of corries. Believe me I read what everyone has to say, and I take it into consideration. However you need to realize that what I haul is not what you may have done and if it was I have enough brains in my noggin to buy a truck set up for those conditions. Before I purchased this truck I did my research on trucks running in this area, and mine is more than okay for the workloads we are dispatched. Don't believe me? If you are ever here in Sacramento go to the yard I work out of. There are 19 trucks running out of there. Many running with the company for 5+ years. Many are "single framed" trucks. I have not worked on the east coast with this type of truck, but I'm willing to bet it is VERY different than what I am pulling here.

And Load IT, if I am "dangerous" then its a good thing I sold my OTR truck and got off the road. I'd hate to take you or anyone else out with my over abundance of self esteem. :wink:

Sure I'm still paying my dues, and like I said before I am not claiming to be the know it all super trucker so many of you guys seem to be, I am just sharing real world info so others don't get discouraged by reading over and over again how "hard" it is to make money unless they have their own authority/run as a bed bugger/drive as a company driver for x-amount of years first before buying a truck. Nothing irritates me more than the super truckers of the world saying "it can't be done" or "you'll fail" because they did so themselves.

You old timers can think what you want of me, say I'm an idiot, a beyotch, don't have a clue, whatever. I run a business, it makes money and I'm not losing my ass. I am not saying I am better than anyone or that I'm on my way to making millions of dollars by any means. I am just one person sharing my experiences (which I fully understand that is what some of you are doing in reply, I choose to disagree with most of it because it does not relate to what I am hauling).

But hey, what do I know? I'm just a rookie.

why do the west coasters stretch out the pup trailers like that?

Bridge laws.

Floored,I was surprised to see a 5 axle material truck hauling for $80.00 an hour. What surprised me is the rate, down in so-cal we get $83-85 hr for a 3 axle my truck & pup rate is $95 an hour. After a while try hauling tonnage sometimes you can do better that way. All the construction truckers down here are hunkering down for a slow time,some say it will be 5 years,it has been too good for too long with the housing boom. Good luck to you looks like you are off to a good start truck wise.
I also love your additude trucking is full of haters,If I had a dime for every company driver that told me "I'd do it but...." Air in the tires & fuel in the tanks (and insurance and all the CHP stuff of course!) and you are in buisness, let everyone else piss & moan we do things a bit different in CA.

I am not familiar with your application, so I'm not going to sit here and tell you a single frame will not last. However, for your safety, please keep an eye out for cracks. I have seen double frames crack on several occasions, so don't think it can't happen.

The outfit I work for has just purchased a 2000 Freightliner short hood classic day cab that we are going to put a dump body on (even though I advised against) the tractor is long enough so we don't have to do any frame work so maybe it will be alright.

Floored do you happen to know what your rig weighs?

Hey floored i am from the EAST where we are normal. lol. I do not understand these transfer trucks we do not have them out here just normal stright trucks or dump trailers. Why dont you use dump trailers??. I know a stright truck in PA can haul 73,280 If spec right you can get around 25.5 tons on for a payload. Diff weight laws i guess.