Tandem Axle ?

At 63 dollars per hour a truck should even leave the yard how are you supposed to make any profit. A tandem axle rate for us used to be 65 per hour 3 years ago and then it was borderline profit. Rate jumped to 80 dollars per hour just to cover the fuel and the extra costs in tires.

Hee Haw all you want but if your working for 63 dollars per hour you gotta be just paying expenses. I know things are far cheaper in the US especially tires and oil. A 5 gallon pail of Delo 400 costs me 70 dollars you got to buy 2 pails for a gravel truck 140 then you got filters on top of that 100-150 dollars.

For you to drive the truck you should be collecting 20 dollars per hour minimum.

Ford LT-9000 said:

Hee Haw all you want but if your working for 63 dollars per hour you gotta be just paying expenses.

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Look Lowboy......he said it....he said HEE HAW!!!. :lmao :falldownlaugh :lmao :falldownlaugh

Countryboy said:

Look Lowboy......he said it....he said HEE HAW!!!. :lmao :falldownlaugh :lmao :falldownlaugh

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"Glooooom, despaaaair, and agony own meeeeee,....":duh ointlaugh :laugh

I don't live in a country that is so far into debt you poor american citizens are on the hook for something like 40 trillion dollars of debt :laugh

Your guys country is in finanacial trouble and thats gonna hurt your economy which eventually hurt ours here. Go ahead sink yourself into personal debt you read on the net house forclosures happening and major job losses in the US. The phrase "American Made" doesn't exist anymore I was looking at some charts on what you guys import from China is more than you export to other countries.

You take a risk you might be living in a cardboard box in the park

This saying is from a website

America is less and less independently in control of its economy

There is 13.6 people unemployeed in the US.

So if you got it good now is it worth loosing it all. Dump trucks are really not big profit makers.

Good Luck with what you decide. Ya I might be doom and gloom but you can't ignore the facts that you may loose your job tommorow and loose everything you own. Trying to put a rosey spin on things only go so far.

Alright Dudley Do-Right, I had about enough. There's no worries about me or anybody I know living in a cardboard box in the park, I and most of us hard working Americans don't spend all of our waken moments surfing the web looking for negative statistics from these liberal, left-wing red diaper doper babies about how bad the economy is getting, and to be honest, if you've ever stopped hauling garbage into the dump you brag about so much and heard of the law of physics that says, "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction"...That simply means that whenever there is something going wrong in our economy, it USUALLY creates more positive opportunity for those of us that are positive enough to recognize an opportunity. I don't necessarily love the fact that we're spending billions in Iraq, but let me tell you, it's been keeping me and thousands of other HARD WORKING AMERICANS busy moving military and other commodities around for the good of our economy. It created a multitude of jobs, work and situations for many needy, deserving people.
If we spent the same amount of time living the Chicken Little life that you do with all this darkness you spew at us all the time, we'd all be shooting ourselves one by one. For Pete's sake man...if you're gonna keep talking like the world's coming to an end, nobody can make a living at anything, and everybody's gonna be losing their jobs soon and the American economy is going to collapse, then maybe you ought to put your canoe in one of those lakes you claim you enjoy so much and row away to a deserted part of the bush and start hunting and trapping for your food. that way, we can remain somewhat content and not get so nervous every time the interest rates rise a half percent and you have to inform us of it...

LowBoy said:

Alright Dudley Do-Right, I had about enough. There's no worries about me or anybody I know living in a cardboard box in the park, I and most of us hard working Americans don't spend all of our waken moments surfing the web looking for negative statistics from these liberal, left-wing red diaper doper babies about how bad the economy is getting, and to be honest, if you've ever stopped hauling garbage into the dump you brag about so much and heard of the law of physics that says, "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction"...That simply means that whenever there is something going wrong in our economy, it USUALLY creates more positive opportunity for those of us that are positive enough to recognize an opportunity. I don't necessarily love the fact that we're spending billions in Iraq, but let me tell you, it's been keeping me and thousands of other HARD WORKING AMERICANS busy moving military and other commodities around for the good of our economy. It created a multitude of jobs, work and situations for many needy, deserving people.
If we spent the same amount of time living the Chicken Little life that you do with all this darkness you spew at us all the time, we'd all be shooting ourselves one by one. For Pete's sake man...if you're gonna keep talking like the world's coming to an end, nobody can make a living at anything, and everybody's gonna be losing their jobs soon and the American economy is going to collapse, then maybe you ought to put your canoe in one of those lakes you claim you enjoy so much and row away to a deserted part of the bush and start hunting and trapping for your food. that way, we can remain somewhat content and not get so nervous every time the interest rates rise a half percent and you have to inform us of it...

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You are very well spoken Low Boy, and I surely admire you for it :notworthy

When you are right you are right !
Lowboy is definitely right

steven101 said:

Hey Guys,

Heres the situation, I currently own a landscape co. Its getting to a point were everybody is cutting each others throat My compang is doing well but, I want out!!
I'm so tired of putiing on the face, I just want to be in a truck and just DRIVE.
So here the game plan,I am going to start with 1 tandem axle dump truck
and evantually buy another. My budget is around $50,000 for a used truck.
I narrowed it down to a ford L9000 or 2003-2005 gmc 8500.
Also, If you can please give me a ball park figure of potential earnigs per week.
Thank you for help
Newbie

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So anyways.... Let's get this baby back on the right track, How's your decision making going steven101?

I am just finishing my 10th summer as an O/O dump truck driver here in Alaska. I can tell you what it's like up here, and how I do things. Some stuff is universal, other stuff more regional.......you gotta figure out what works in your area.:beatsme

I have a '98 Pete 378 that I bought new. It is pretty heavy duty, 46k rears, 18k front, 18 speed, 3406E Cat set at 475 hp, 4:11 rear end and a Chalmers suspension. It's one of the best spec'd truck around. I sold another business and paid cash for the truck. To be honest....there really isn't enough money in trucking to buy a new one and live off it too (just working summers). If I had to make payments AND support a family......I would have went broke.

The first couple of years were pretty lean. It took me a while to get steady work. I also had to take "bad jobs" to get by. I define "bad jobs" as ones that are either rough on the truck or use a lot of fuel. Took me a while to find my niche. If you are already in "the biz" and know people you might do better than me starting out. I prolly average 1,200 to 1,300 hours on the truck a summer now, of which about 25% are non revenue.

I started out with a 2 axle pup, but sold it after the first year. Up here they only pay an extra $10 an hour to pull a pup. No way you can make a profit off it. The only reason people pull one is to "get more work".........which is true. I had to make a choice of working for less money, or working less. I chose working less.

Brokers.....When your new you may have to use them to get known. I found working for them usually put me on "bad jobs". I always had to wait 90 days to get paid. I haven't worked for one since '00. On the flip side, I have a buddy who loves to work for them. He doesn't mind the bad jobs and gets lots of hours.

Highway trips.....I avoid them like the plague. They use too much fuel. Doing my local deliveries around town I average about 4 gallons an hour. If I jump on the 4 lane and drive 65/70 mph my fuel can jump as high as 10 gallons an hour. At $3.00 a gallon fuel you are loosing $18 an hour.......thats a BIG DEAL...... at least to me anyway

You have to keep your free driving to a minimum. For the most part I work for 4 local pits. I try and keep my area small. It only takes me about 20 minutes to travel between pits. I also work for small contractors. I do go out of my area to do jobs for them, BUT I usually get enough work/hours to make it worthwhile. I get a lot of home owners calling me for a load or two. I don't go out of my area to haul to them. I do suggest others to call. I just don't leave em hanging.

You gotta know when to hold em.....and know when to fold em. People are going to try and get you to do stuff with your truck that is gonna screw it up. Takes a while to figure out what your truck can and can't do. The quicker you learn......the less it will cost you. If I get a customer who doesn't pay on time, keeps a bad work site, or bounces a bucket off my box.....I dump em quick.

I try and get my own customers. That way I get paid for trucking and get a cut on the dirt. Thats where you make the most money. It is also the hardest way to get work.

I do very little work on my truck. I wash and grease it on Sundays. Everything else I have a shop do. Some folks do all their own work rather than pay a shop. Guess they can give you their reasons for doing their own work. You will have to figure what you want to do. I will give you my reasons for taking it to a shop........ First off I am not that great of a mechanic. Yes I could do oil changes and minor work......but don't. By letting the shop do all the work.....they take me right in and get me going when I have problems. That is worth a lot and has saved me lots a money. I would rather pay the shop $$$ than pay it to the IRS. I figure working 6 days a week is enough. It is important to keep your truck in GREAT shape.....both mechanical and looking good. I have mine serviced every 250 hours. I make an appointment on a Monday for service work. That way I can do an overnight trip on my motorcycle. You need to pull a calculator out to see if it's better to do the work yourself or use a shop.

It is IMPORTANT to know your hourly costs BEFORE and AFTER you buy a truck. It blows my mind to see how many owners don't have an hour meter in their truck. It is pretty easy to figure out your costs (ball park) in advance. If you just run summers.....figure on 1,000 hours. Then plug in your costs. For example.....Insurance $5,000 = $5.00 hr. Tires $3,000 = $3.00 hr. Every time I fuel up I check gal hr and $$ hr. I average around 4 gal/hr and $12.00 hr for fuel.

While people "get by" with air bag trucks and low horse power......It is best to get Chalmers, Hendricks or spring suspension and at least 400 HP. Remember you have to be competitive with the other trucks. You need enough HP to keep up with the line. You also need traction to get into bad areas and dump when you aren't always level. I get more work than some of my buddies who have air bags, cause my truck can do more.

You aren't gonna get rich driving a truck.....but you won't starve either. You will have lots of ups and downs. Some days you will wish you had 5 trucks:drinkup .....others you will kick yourself for having 1.:Banghead

All in all this is the best job I have ever had. I will prolly keep going till they (guys in white coats) drag me out of my seat. Some people hate it......only way for you to know is give it a shot.

Welcome to HEF wheeldog, good post. Where in Alaska?

PSDF350 said:

Welcome to HEF wheeldog, good post. Where in Alaska?

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Thanks for the welcome. I live in Wasilla.......about 40 miles north of Anchorage.

Id like to get into getting a stone slinger truck and seeing how that works out.

Charge by the hour, with a 2 hour minimum. $150 an hour. Still cheaper to have a slinger deliever and spread, then use 1 operator, 1 machine and 1 laborer. It think it might work. Got 200 large I can borrow??? lol

Hey LT ........LOOKOUT!!!!!!! The sky is falling ! Better duck and cover!