Time to buy a truck??

[CX3]

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]

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.

[jocco]

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

[smwwoody]

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.  https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,55418.0.html


Woody

[chevytaHOE5674]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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  ;) ;D 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  ;) :D :D ;D 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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

[Ianab]

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]

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.  :D

[Ford_man]

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

[CX3]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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