lion_singh
Member
Please help me with a newbie question. I have no heavy haul experience. I am writing a heavy haul business plan which is all on paper right now and I need your help to understand an important point please:
Assume that you are an owner operator who does his own dispatch, permits, billing and all paperwork by himself. I know that's not the ideal situation to be in. It would be good to have outside support but just for this worst case scenario, assume that you do everything on your own. Now assume that you are going to pick up a load that is overweight and over dimensional but NOT a super load (your trailer is a 50 ton triaxle RGN). When do you apply for trip permits and how long does it take to come through?
I will now try to answer the question based on the research I have done on the internet reading various heavy haul forums, articles, blogs, and commercial services websites. You guys tell me if it makes any sense or not. When I looked at a few permit services websites, they say that permits for overweight and overdimensional generally come through in 3 to 4 hours. If that be true, then the most likely time period when I would apply to get the permits would be when I have started loading or right after loading is done. I certainly would not apply for permits until I knew for sure that the load is not canceling and it is safely within my grasp.
Does my back-of-the-napkin answer make any sense? How do you experienced guys handle the permits aspect of heavy haul trucking? Many of you may have back office support but what about the lone rangers out there? Please provide your comment no matter how big or small. All of your comments will help me immensely and I am very grateful for that.
Regards,
Singh
Assume that you are an owner operator who does his own dispatch, permits, billing and all paperwork by himself. I know that's not the ideal situation to be in. It would be good to have outside support but just for this worst case scenario, assume that you do everything on your own. Now assume that you are going to pick up a load that is overweight and over dimensional but NOT a super load (your trailer is a 50 ton triaxle RGN). When do you apply for trip permits and how long does it take to come through?
I will now try to answer the question based on the research I have done on the internet reading various heavy haul forums, articles, blogs, and commercial services websites. You guys tell me if it makes any sense or not. When I looked at a few permit services websites, they say that permits for overweight and overdimensional generally come through in 3 to 4 hours. If that be true, then the most likely time period when I would apply to get the permits would be when I have started loading or right after loading is done. I certainly would not apply for permits until I knew for sure that the load is not canceling and it is safely within my grasp.
Does my back-of-the-napkin answer make any sense? How do you experienced guys handle the permits aspect of heavy haul trucking? Many of you may have back office support but what about the lone rangers out there? Please provide your comment no matter how big or small. All of your comments will help me immensely and I am very grateful for that.
Regards,
Singh