Author Topic: Time to buy a truck?? (Read 2223 times)

CX3 · « **on:** January 19, 2012, 06:41:17 pm »

Hey guys I feel like its time for me to buy a ten wheeler with a loader on it. I cut an average of 6 thousand bf a day and pay 6 cents a bf to have it hauled. I understand there will be extra break downs, fuel, time in truck, insurance, etc. What are the price breakdowns of actually owning a truck? I pay around 300 bucks a load. I feel like I could justify a truck. Especially for the convenience of owning my own truck because I get tired of having logs decked up waiting on the haulers. I could also haul walnut logs for my walnut buyer. Average haul would be 70 miles one way, 15 cents a foot. Lets hear your thoughts please. Also I have to pay to have my skidder hauled it costs 200

Autocar · « **Reply #1 on:** January 19, 2012, 07:12:36 pm »

I use to pay contract truckers to haul logs and to move my skidder. But all I got done doing was waiting for the trucker to haul the skidder and the haul bill on logs run ten cents a bd. ft. I pay around a thousand dollars a year for license plates one hundred and nine dollars a month for insurance and that's the bare minium. My tri axle gets five mile a gallion Iam just a little operator but average six hundred a month for fuel. Today filters alone was sixty seven dollars,there not cheap to own. BBBBBBBBBut I wish I would of done it alot sooner then I did. Not haveing to wait to get moved alone has lowered my blood pressure

I still pay for some trucking going into Kentucky to a mill but at six hundred a load theres times I haul into Indiana or more local mills and at todays fuel I think

iam making a little more. And on the flip side I worry when Iam on the road alot of people now a days seem like they have a death wish. The state of Ohio isn't a truck friendly state in my opinion, alot of paper work that is tipical of goverment agencys.

jocco · « **Reply #2 on:** January 19, 2012, 07:13:51 pm »

If you are going to do it get a tri axel it hauls 8 cord about.

smwwoody · « **Reply #3 on:** January 19, 2012, 09:08:40 pm »

I do truck all my logs and wood. I will get some costs together for you tomorrow. I charge 6 to 6.5 cents / foot to haul for other people and make money at that. my one question for you is if you are driving truck when will you be cutting logs. that is not meant to be a slam just something to think about. Here is the truck I use. http://www.forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,55418.0.html

Woody

chevytaHOE5674 · « **Reply #4 on:** January 19, 2012, 09:24:44 pm »

Quote from: smwwoody on January 19, 2012, 09:08:40 pm

my one question for you is if you are driving truck when will you be cutting logs.

Bingo, around here you are usually either a logger or a trucker. Some loggers own a truck but they also have a full time driver for the truck. Insurance and plates are the same on the truck weather its running 1/2 hour or 12 hours a day. So the truckers like to be running all day to spread those costs out over more loads/bdft/miles. Guys working in the woods are trying to get good production numbers and don't have time to be running back and forth to the mills and dealing with another set of breakdowns, and delays. Only so many hours in a day and a guy has to eat, sleep, and relax sometime.

sawguy21 · « **Reply #5 on:** January 19, 2012, 09:59:49 pm »

What he said. If you are trucking you aren't producing lumber to haul unless you have a driver. IMHO, you need to decide which business you want to be in and stick with it. Some local mills own their own trucks but most contract it out. I babysat a fleet for a heli-logging company, that was a full time job. I didn't have time for other duties.

NWP · « **Reply #6 on:** January 19, 2012, 10:17:08 pm »

I have a 10 wheeler with a tag axle and a pup trailer. In Missouri you can get a local log truck plate for $300 per year. This allows you to haul from your logging site to a mill. You can't cross state lines with it. It also allows more weight as long as your on secondary roads. If you are on the interstate the weights per axle are the same as any other big truck. Of course, every time a DOT guy messes with me they never seem to have the same rule book as the guy before. You can haul logs when it's too wet to be in the woods. I figure mine costs about $1 per mile in fuel alone.

stavebuyer · « **Reply #7 on:** January 20, 2012, 07:03:37 am »

Been on both sides. Your better off contracting if you can do enough volume to get a truck "dedicated" to you. Time lost waiting to get moved to a new job or finishing a job in the winter can really cost alot of production and/or eliminate cash flow. Also occasionally you find a specialty sale you prefer not to share with all the local competiton your contract trucker also hauls for. Bottom line its probably worth the expense to own one truck even if you continue to hire most of your hauling.

Wes Lyon · « **Reply #8 on:** January 20, 2012, 08:57:57 am »

CX3
Like everyone else has said there are trade offs. It gives you a lot more flexibility but adds a fixed cost whether it is moving or not. I was in the same predicament several years back. You can save money hauling yourself. You will probably find that you may want to stay in the timber and end up finding someone to drive the truck on a regular basis. You never know until you try. However like everyone says cutting or hauling you gotta choose. Good luck ....

Meadows Miller · « **Reply #9 on:** January 20, 2012, 09:17:09 am »

Gday

Im going to be heading this way too Jesi and I are looking at a 18 wheeler though most likely an IH T/star ,KW K125 or W900 But we are both taken with restored 60 model B61 Mack atm We even like the same model off truck

Ill most likely be pulling a 40' bogie flat top trailer with a set of chain or bolt down blosters I like flat tops as you can float gear haul sawn timber & logs then also do abit of general freight if needed

when I was there I went down to the DMV to cheak out what a class A CDL would cost me and what I needed to do she just said I have to get a learners and I said thats fine then I asked how long from the time I get the learners ticket til I could sit the CDL and she looked at me and said the next day if i wanted too which I laughed and she looked at me n said I take it you can drive then I just said yep

total cost was going to be like $300 including the physical

thats a far cry from the $1000 to $1500 it would cost me here

I think its the only way to go for a small to med operation as it lets you have better control over production,planing and the like

Like people say their are trade offs but you also have to think the driver age around the world is averaging in their mid 50s now and no young people are taking it up as they cant hack a real job the worls freat task is getting larger every year and their is less people doing it same goes for loggers and anyone else when things pick up in the USA again which they will your going to have mills screaming for logs and not enough loggers to cut them for them either thats just the way I see things though

with crossing state how dose that work ?? and you need to to get rego in each state or can you just get permits if your hauling across state lines at the weigh brige/inspection center and what dose that cost from state to state overhere in OZ it dont matter you just go whereever you dang well want to go if its not often on your own states plates if your doing alot of interstate work you get interstate plates and notify the govt which states you travel in the most and the money gets divided up between them

here only 10% of your rego gets put back into the road system the rest gets gobbled up in othe other things

Ill let you know here its worth about $5000 to $6000pa to pay rego on an 18 to 22 wheel semi

and $15 to 20000 for a B double or Road Train

Regards Chris

barbender · « **Reply #10 on:** January 20, 2012, 12:30:53 pm »

CX3, I've had the same thoughts. I think if a guy cut for 3 days, hauled for 2, you'd be using the truck enough to make money with it and break up the routine too. You have to figure out the costs in your area- license, insurance, fuel, etc- go for it and let me know if it works out

Meadows Miller · « **Reply #11 on:** January 20, 2012, 05:29:47 pm »

Gday

With Me wanting to stay focused on the sawmill Im thinking ill train acouple off good young blokes and put them on a day or ton rate for falling,skidding, docking & decking it on the landing then Ill haul logs in the evening or at night the good thing with having your own mill is that you dont have to wait for when the mills open

Lumber delivery will be on firday arvo or sat morning

Regards Chris

snowstorm · « **Reply #12 on:** January 20, 2012, 08:10:11 pm »

a truck is a money pit been there done that still doing it. crossing state lines you need. apporshined sp? plates ifta sticker fuel sticker.must files fuel taxes in each state you travel plus mileage and amount of fuel. fuel taxes are different in almost every state. i had a truck leased onto a carrier running over the road. so they filed the taxes and we had satilite tracking it helped reporting the mileage. i had a driver lets not even go there. when the tolls got to be $1700 a month i parked it

CX3 · « **Reply #13 on:** January 20, 2012, 10:46:55 pm »

Thanks for the replies. I think there is some confusion about how I log in Missouri. We cut and skid until about 2 o'clock. By then we've got a nice load of logs on the deck. We just cut 1 load a day. If I had a truck I could haul it 15 miles to the mill and save myself 300 buckaroos. Makes sense to me anyway

sawguy21 · « **Reply #14 on:** January 20, 2012, 11:14:59 pm »

One 15 mile trip a day won't pay for a decent truck and your time IMHO.

Ianab · « **Reply #15 on:** January 21, 2012, 02:18:52 am »

Quote from: sawguy21 on January 20, 2012, 11:14:59 pm

One 15 mile trip a day won't pay for a decent truck and your time IMHO.

Unless he's paying $300 for the same service, which seems like he's getting ripped off.

$300 a day, for maybe 200 days a year is $60,000

Yes there are some extra hassles, but it avoids several other ones.

Normally I would agree and say that either be a logger or a trucker, but if you are getting ripped off on the trucking that changes things. The idea of cutting a load of logs and delivering them on the way home, or on the days that the weather wont let you log does have merit.

Ian

Norm · « **Reply #16 on:** January 21, 2012, 07:18:34 am »

I don't truck logs but as someone who's hired grain haulers and lowboy carriers I've had it with hiring them. Luckily I don't cross state lines but after buying my own semi for those two tasks my life is easier. I get it done when I need it done and yes it is cheaper even when I take into account all the extra expenses. Besides that I get to drive a big ash semi with my dozer on back.

Ford_man · « **Reply #17 on:** January 21, 2012, 01:17:18 pm »

The satisfaction of doing the job when you want it done can be worth more to you than getting a big paycheck.

CX3 · « **Reply #18 on:** January 21, 2012, 05:52:44 pm »

Ian, and Norm are right on track with what I want to accomplish. I literally pay 300 per working day to have a load of logs taken to the mill.

Sawguy 21, I could haul my buddies logs, too, he cuts around 3500 feet a day, and I could haul a few loads for him a week, and I could also haul all the walnut logs I could stand for 15 cents a foot, plus I could deliver ten wheeler loads of firewood to people, they get 400 for that around here

jocco · « **Reply #19 on:** January 21, 2012, 06:20:54 pm »

There is no right or wrong answer. But before you jump check insurance licence and all the other hassles (you will never be legal ask 2 different people get 3 answers) Do you have the ability to repair/maintain the truck? There is always something wrong. Yearly inspections are a frigg!!! I doubt a wheeler will haul 3500bf of hardwood legal? And yes you may be able to haul others wood or have an operator for truck. good luck

Norm · « **Reply #20 on:** January 22, 2012, 08:33:59 am »

Your life will be easier if you don't do it for hire. Or make sure you can show the dot federalis that you're not.

saltydog · « **Reply #21 on:** January 22, 2012, 08:37:06 am »

You sound about like me cut and skid and haul your own wood in .You control your job or you wait for the big guys to find time for you.When i was running my truck it hauled 4 cords of hardwood pulp(firewood)a day.At 80.00 a cord i did my deliverys on my way home.Or 2ooo to2500 ft of sawlogs on my way home.And the decks still built up on the job and then i would have it trucked in to pulp or sawmill.And my truck worked everyday it was what i drove to work.Never a week without income and it hauled my dozer and forwarders.I still have it its a international tandam with loader .I dont drive it anymore because of my narcolepsy (i fall asleep )and hiring someone can be a nightmare .well worth owning your own truck thats why most big jobbers got them.

anytime you can do it yourself its a good thing.I also use mine for firewood at home to sort logs to dig stumps to haul hay to haul logs home to my sawmill .

Ken · « **Reply #22 on:** January 22, 2012, 04:18:21 pm »

CX3 - The convenience of your own truck so that wood can be moved when it is ready is the only incentive to owning one. If you are paying $300 a load for a 70 mile average one way haul the trucker is probably getting $65-70/hour counting loading/unloading time, travel and waiting at the mill or woods landing. I'm not sure of the fuel prices in your area but I suspect that the truck is probably burning at least a third of his rate. Add in tires, insurance, licenses/permits, wages, etc it is just another job.

Also, be prepared to do a significant amount more mechanical repairs as trucks seem to always have something that needs fixing to keep the authorities off your backside. It has worked out good for us this time around so far as I also have to have wood moving every day.
Sounds like you also have some good quality wood which also helps.

Good luck with your decision.

Cheers
Ken

Warren · « **Reply #23 on:** January 22, 2012, 04:51:53 pm »

I am not a trucker, nor a logger, nor an accountant. However, an observation: The only two independent loggers in our area who have survived over the past 4 years, both own and operate their own trucks with loaders....

Woodhauler · « **Reply #24 on:** January 22, 2012, 07:08:37 pm »

Every wood cutter needs to buy his own truck!!!! Its a lesson they all need to learn!!!!!!!

FeltzE · « **Reply #25 on:** January 22, 2012, 07:34:01 pm »

If you can fit it in the budget get it, but be prepared for the maintenance just like the skidder nothing is cheap!

I ran a 10wheeler with a loader for several years supporting my Woodmizer and selling what we scavanged from the tree services and did well until the tree service grew to own their own bulk hauling capability. Then I sold the truck after a couple quiet years where it cost more than it brought in.

We were not "for hire" as that is different registration fees and insurance costs. We didn't cross state lines so no aportioined plates and no IFTA just a free state fuel tax sticker.

Take your time shopping there are a lot of trucks out there don't settle for something that hasn't been maintained but then again there is the cost benifit balance from newer to repairables...

If you buy a descent looking and well maintained truck, keep it that way and you will retain resale value over several years while you evaluate upgrading or getting out of trucking.
Eric

Meadows Miller · « **Reply #26 on:** January 23, 2012, 12:37:57 am »

Gday

A 300 to 450 hp Diesel will get anywhere from 7 to 9 Mpg if your not to hard on the go pedal and thats on a 40 ton gross Bogie Tri prime mover with trailer and I drove Flintstone Mack with a 237hp and a 5spd pulling a tri trailer once or twice and the boss said that was getting 10 to 11mpg

so his hauler at 70 Mile haul and return would be burning 17.5 Gallons off Diesel in Mobile that would only be less than $60 out of the bill now figure tyres we get 60000mi out of a good set of radials on say 85% hwy work and our roads are dang hard on tyres

18 times say $350 pre tyre $6300 = $0:10 A Mi for tyres X 140mi gives you $14 a load now rego and insurance will be about say $7000 pa divide that between the 31000 miles you will do per year $0:22 a mile or $30 per load and Mech Maint $10000 pa = $0:32 per mile or $44 dollars a load

$44+$30+$14+$60 = $148 A Load say you buy a cheaper rig either for cash or say$40000 for arguments sake payments would be about $750 per month divided between 20 loads for the month = $37 per load thats $185 a load being on the heavy side so you are going to be paying yourself an extra $115 per day or an extra $25000 grand a year roughly in revenue

Jesi and I will most likely only be putting $15 grand into a rig and I dont mind doing alittle spanner work myself but ill use diesel and drive line pros for the major components

snowstorm · « **Reply #27 on:** January 23, 2012, 05:54:58 am »

Quote from: Meadows Miller on January 23, 2012, 12:37:57 am

Gday

A 300 to 450 hp Diesel will get anywhere from 7 to 9 Mpg if your not to hard on the go pedal and thats on a 40 ton gross Bogie Tri prime mover with trailer and I drove Flintstone Mack with a 237hp and a 5spd pulling a tri trailer once or twice and the boss said that was getting 10 to 11mpg so his hauler at 70 Mile haul and return would be burning 17.5 Gallons off Diesel in Mobile that would only be less than $60 out of the bill now figure tyres we get 60000mi out of a good set of radials on say 85% hwy work and our roads are dang hard on tyres 18 times say $350 pre tyre $6300 = $0:10 A Mi for tyres X 140mi gives you $14 a load now rego and insurance will be about say $7000 pa divide that between the 31000 miles you will do per year $0:22 a mile or $30 per load and Mech Maint $10000 pa = $0:32 per mile or $44 dollars a load

$44+$30+$14+$60 = $148 A Load say you buy a cheaper rig either for cash or say$40000 for arguments sake payments would be about $750 per month divided between 20 loads for the month = $37 per load thats $185 a load being on the heavy side so you are going to be paying yourself an extra $115 per day or an extra $25000 grand a year roughly in revenue

Jesi and I will most likely only be putting $15 grand into a rig and I dont mind doing alittle spanner work myself but ill use diesel and drive line pros for the major components

7 to 9 mpg??? sorry wont cant happen. when i had trucks running over the road the winter average was 5 mpg in warm weather maybe 6. hauling wood depending on roads hills turns stops lots of things weight ectplan on 5mpg tops. when you get on this side of the pond i do have a nice western star if your interested

Meadows Miller · « **Reply #28 on:** January 23, 2012, 07:35:42 am »

Well Im only going By the numbers and My grandfather and alot of people I know down here have worked on for years

last semi he owned Western Star had a series 60 425hp Detroit in it averaged about 8 to 8.5mpg his 8v92TTA in the Kenworth was alittle heaver than that and realy depended on who was driving it He had another KW with a 300 Cummings in it that got good mileage like the Star he had other trucks before that that had way less power and got real good milage outa but like he said they where a little under powered for pulling semis but still did the job

Im trying to nut this out

as im use to doing conversions on here and have been doing them since the age of about 5

My mate who dose log and timber haulage for me used his 120 ton his road train rated Mack Titan with a Signiture 625hp Cummings to do my last load and he said it was heavy on fuel all the time weather he was loaded or not and he was getting roughly 2.5 Kilometers to the Liter the equates to roughly 6.5 Miles to the US Gallon which is what you expect a roadtrain rated truck to get when its only pulling single or doubles it drops again once you get rite up there on weight

I do know we run different injectors and pump settings down here and Diesel was $6.45 a US gallon at the servo today too

Regards Chris

bill m · « **Reply #29 on:** January 23, 2012, 08:03:06 am »

snowstorm is right, 5 to 6 miles to the gallon and diesel fuel is now $4.00 a gallon and going up all the time. As for every logger needs to buy a log truck it goes both ways. Every trucker needs to be a logger first. If they don't show up to pick up my logs when they say they will I don't get paid. I do have a truck and it is only to load trailers at the landing and to deliver log length firewood. There are no mills within a 2 hour drive from me and it does not pay for me to truck logs.

Corley5 · « **Reply #30 on:** January 23, 2012, 08:36:27 am »

No way would I own my own truck. I don't have, never have had trouble getting logs hauled. I make the call and tell Mark I've got logs for him to haul when he can get to me and usually within three days my logs are gone. Works great. There's no way I could justify the expense related to a truck and I sure don't want the issues that go along with having one. I've got enough to do deal with my logging and firewood equipment.
Mark figures to break even his truck has to make a $100.00 an hour. Any less and it might as well be parked. His newest truck, a Pete with a 600hp Detroit gets around 4mpg loaded with 20 cords of hardwood.

chevytaHOE5674 · « **Reply #31 on:** January 23, 2012, 08:45:29 am »

Quote from: Corley5 on January 23, 2012, 08:36:27 am

Mark figures to break even his truck has to make a $100.00 an hour. Any less and it might as well be parked. His newest truck, a Pete with a 600hp Detroit gets around 4mpg loaded with 20 cords of hardwood.

Good friend of mine says the same thing 90-100 bucks an hour is the break even point. Sometimes he will haul for less if the situation is just right, but not very often. He usually gets 3-5 mpg hauling 20 cord, and like 7 empty haha.

barbender · « **Reply #32 on:** January 23, 2012, 12:49:01 pm »

I've hauled wood wood with 3 trucks, all of them were powered by ISX Cummins that were rated from 475 to 550 hp, all running 102,500 lbs gross. I only hauled in the winter, so I was often running blended fuel. Low 4 to touching 5 mpg on occasion, probably 1/2 mpg less on average with the loader equipped truck. Chris, if you guys are getting that much better of mileage down under there is a scandal of some sort. CX3, if your mills are fairly close where you can dump a load as part of your day, I think you would be close to covering the cost of it right there. Then you could make money with firewood delivery, moving your equipment at your convenience, hauling an occasional load for someone else. I think it would fit your operation nicely. Another thought, get a truck with a big enough pump and lllloader and you could run a slasher with it too, I know a guy up hre that is srt up that way.

celliott · « **Reply #33 on:** January 23, 2012, 01:30:37 pm »

Guys, an Australian gallon is bigger than an American gallon. US gallon = 3.8 liters, an Imperial gallon = 4.55 liters. Probably explains the difference in fuel economy numbers. Aussi trucks don't burn any less fuel than US trucks

Ohio_Bill · « **Reply #34 on:** January 23, 2012, 03:02:05 pm »

I made the decision last year to buy a truck. Mine is on a smaller scale 26000 GVW, no loader and 20 years old. I only hauled 30 mfb of logs this year , which would have cost me $2250.00 . I also hauled 2 loads of ties and 2 loads of lumber probably would have paid $ 400.00 to have that done. I spent $1230 on fuel, tags and insurance. So I would have paid $2650 to hire the trucking and I spent $1230 to operate the truck . I really did enjoy having the convenience of doing things when I wanted to . This year was very wet and I hope to double my production next year.

lumberjack48 · « **Reply #35 on:** January 23, 2012, 04:05:02 pm »

Nice truck Ohio, i would extend the frame a little, put a single tire air left tag on with a small loader like a Barko 40.

Back when i was trucking, as long as i wasn't for hirer all i needed was a T license plate on my trucks, insurance wasn't much more then my pickup.

In the early 80's when stumpage went up higher then we got delivered, the only ones that made it had their own truck. The only $$$ left was the trucking end of it.

Ohio_Bill · « **Reply #36 on:** January 23, 2012, 08:18:00 pm »

Lumberjack 48 Thanks for your suggestions, but my little truck is about at its limit. It’s only 26000 GVW and the truck its self weighs about 13500. So that only leaves 12500for logs. It also is only 170 hp so not a power house. The truck has been well maintained, so I am hoping with the limited use I give it that it will last me for as long as I need a truck.I am a one man band. I am the cutter, the skidder operator, the loader operator, the truck driver and the logs that are not going to be sold I am the sawmill operator and truck loader. So it makes me feel good that the truck only holds 1100 – 1500 bf because I get to go home and do my important job , which is Grandpa to 7 grandchildren . I know what you are saying about making money off the trucking. Last year several loads of popular the trucker made more than I did. Thanks so much for your insight.

Bill

Woodhauler · « **Reply #37 on:** January 24, 2012, 06:14:10 am »

Quote from: bill m on January 23, 2012, 08:03:06 am

snowstorm is right, 5 to 6 miles to the gallon and diesel fuel is now $4.00 a gallon and going up all the time. As for every logger needs to buy a log truck it goes both ways. Every trucker needs to be a logger first. If they don't show up to pick up my logs when they say they will I don't get paid. I do have a truck and it is only to load trailers at the landing and to deliver log length firewood. There are no mills within a 2 hour drive from me and it does not pay for me to truck logs.

My freind, i started driving skidder for my dad every vacation and all summer when i was in 3rd grade! In 8th grade i started dropping trees!!! We cut 50-70 cords every week! Did this till i was 19! Bought my first truck at 21! Been doing it ever since! I'm 49! You have to run nice trucks to keep, the dot off you hind end! Not the 30-40 year old skidders you cutters run! My elite 80 log loader cost me near 50 grand last year! Top that with a 150,000 dollar truck and 6000grand in a body plus 6000 grand for a tag and you got a truck!!! Which is better, a 10,000 dollar skidder and a couple of 600 dollarvsaws? The skidder is buy far the better deal! I am paying some guys 10-12 grand a week for there wood ! And they are all one man crews! If they pay half for stumpage they still end up with 5-6 grand in the arse pocket! Will this happen each week, prberly not but the profit is much better on the 10,000 dollar skidder then in trucking! I filled my trucks fuel tank 2 times yesterday for 800 bucks!400 a day eavery day for fuel, 5000 a year for insurance 1750 for license 356 for heavy road use tax 10 for fuel sticker, now we need medical card! Drug test, and on and on!!! So if you buy a truck have fun!!!!

barbender · « **Reply #38 on:** January 25, 2012, 12:20:33 am »

There's definitely a wide range of opinions on this one

If you buy a $200K set up, I don't think it's going to work out for you CX3. If you shop carefully I bet you could find a nice rig in the $30,000 range that would suit you real well.

nhlogga · « **Reply #39 on:** January 25, 2012, 06:59:58 pm »

Quote from: Autocar on January 19, 2012, 07:12:36 pm

I use to pay contract truckers to haul logs and to move my skidder. But all I got done doing was waiting for the trucker to haul the skidder and the haul bill on logs run ten cents a bd. ft. I pay around a thousand dollars a year for license plates one hundred and nine dollars a month for insurance and that's the bare minium. My tri axle gets five mile a gallion Iam just a little operator but average six hundred a month for fuel. Today filters alone was sixty seven dollars,there not cheap to own. BBBBBBBBBut I wish I would of done it alot sooner then I did. Not haveing to wait to get moved alone has lowered my blood pressure ;D I still pay for some trucking going into Kentucky to a mill but at six hundred a load theres times I haul into Indiana or more local mills and at todays fuel I think ;D iam making a little more. And on the flip side I worry when Iam on the road alot of people now a days seem like they have a death wish. The state of Ohio isn't a truck friendly state in my opinion, alot of paper work that is tipical of goverment agencys.

Are any states truck friendly? Seems ther are all out to get ya.

missouri_logger · « **Reply #40 on:** February 08, 2012, 09:30:55 am »

imho your prob better off talking to your trucker to drop the rates some cause trust me owning your own truck is not what its all cracked up to be its not as easy as you put it and it cost lots every time you think your great something brecks down its logging and the 15 cents to haul to walnut has been offered to everyone but by the time you figure what you got in it your not makeing bank and you also got to think your time is worth something too remember that we own 3 trucks and there more hassle then they are worth most of the time just my opinion

lumberjack48 · « **Reply #41 on:** February 08, 2012, 11:45:50 am »

I'll try an keep this simple, when your a logger you usually go home about the same time every night. When your a trucker you can pretty much set your time when you'll be home. When your a logger / trucker you can't tell time anymore, your work for the day is never done, theres always something that has to be done before the next day.
Don't get me wrong i liked working like this, it was the wife. She told me if you love that truck so much then you sleep with it.

Autocar · « **Reply #42 on:** February 13, 2012, 05:24:27 pm »

Just curious if you ever took the step to own your own truck yet ?

News:

Author Topic: Time to buy a truck?? (Read 2223 times)