Hiring a log loader truck--how much?

azmtnman · May 18, 2015, 12:29:22 AM

How much should I expect to pay a company to haul logs for me with a loader truck? The journey is 70 miles and about 2 hours with only 15 miles being cinder mountain roads (accessible by the whimpiest car) with the rest being good 2-lane highway. I realize supply and demand locally will dictate some.

so il logger · May 18, 2015, 12:55:11 AM

Are you selling tree length by tonnage or cut to length by board ft? Some trucker's charge hourly or mileage, in my area most charge by the board foot. Trucking is expensive, I have found myself paying much more than I thought was fair but they got expenses too

Woodhauler · May 18, 2015, 06:58:48 AM

It will cost at least 275 a load. New truck and loader is 220,000 plus. Reg is 4500. Insurance 5 grand a year.

ga jones · May 18, 2015, 07:57:10 AM

Here it's $100.00 loader fee + $4.00 a loaded mile.75 mile haul is $400.00

cwrolson · May 19, 2015, 12:59:58 AM

$100 an hour where I'm at

so il logger · May 19, 2015, 01:14:58 AM

Yep, $100 an hour, or 5 cent's board ft, or $ 2.20 a mile here. I don't hire guy's with new trucks when I need to contract a truck. Mostly short haul and them guy's have too big of payment, if I was to pay what some of the local fancy trucker's want I would just own a new truck myself. Logging is too much of a gamble financially and dangerous, I try to keep as much of the profit as possible. One local guy expect's 8 cent's a ft, thats crazy when the logs he hauls only bring 32 to 45 cents after buying the timber and cutting, skidding, bucking, and loading them on his truck. Maybe I should buy a couple trucks afterall

Woodhauler · May 19, 2015, 04:28:46 AM

Quote from: so il logger on May 19, 2015, 01:14:58 AM
Yep, $100 an hour, or 5 cent's board ft, or $ 2.20 a mile here. I don't hire guy's with new trucks when I need to contract a truck. Mostly short haul and them guy's have too big of payment, if I was to pay what some of the local fancy trucker's want I would just own a new truck myself. Logging is too much of a gamble financially and dangerous, I try to keep as much of the profit as possible. One local guy expect's 8 cent's a ft, thats crazy when the logs he hauls only bring 32 to 45 cents after buying the timber and cutting, skidding, bucking, and loading them on his truck. Maybe I should buy a couple trucks afterall

You should buy a couple trucks!!! Maybe you could see all the money we make!!! Say nothing about the 16 hour days , the weekly stops by the d.o.t And all the other crap that goes with it! I like to run nice stuff so i'm wrenching my nites and weekends away on junk!

ga jones · May 19, 2015, 07:37:31 AM

No one considers the overhead with trucks. Licenses, insurance is 4 times what logging insurance is. With a truck you can't just keep running it with a problem like you can a skidder. There is no DOT checking your skidder. Your also not taking other people's lives in your hand with an old broken down skidder like you are with an old broken down truck.If there is a problem with the truck in an accident the truck is automatically at fault. Over weight, bald tire broken strap. DOT is called and check your truck. If there is a fatality your going to jail!!!! Now is it really worth the money?

OntarioAl · May 19, 2015, 08:48:32 AM

ga jones and Woodhauler hit the nail on the head.
When I was contract logging I ran one truck for the convenience of steady cash flow.
I got into trucking because finding dependable truckers those who showed up at a time they committed to (barring unforscene delays) was difficult the good ones had more work than they could handle so that left most small loggers at the mercy of the rest.
The best truckers I have dealt with operated out of Grand Marais Minnesota real gentlemen and good businessmen.They arrived in the bush at the time they stated and phoned you if they encountered a delay.
Towards the end I got out of trucking andI was shipping sawlogs to Headstrom Lumber and pop.lar to LP in Two Harbours
I was paid 40 cd for the poplar and 80 to 100 a cd for sawlogs picked up in the bush The trucker was paid by the mill so what his cut was I never knew nor cared as my net in the bush was way ahead by exporting my production rather than being skinned locally.
Al

so il logger · May 19, 2015, 01:39:54 PM

I can see your point in a way, if the truck was running export logs down the interstate. However most of the hauling here is on side roads and hauling blocking logs. Most places where we load out from are either woods landings or down crappy brushy roads where a guy with a brand new shiney truck would not go. All the trucks that haul my logs pass D.O.T. have good tires and are plenty safe to travel across the country. I agree there is allot of expense in trucking, but does it not make sense to get it done at a fair rate? I mean buying standing timber and everything else that comes with getting the product ready to be hauled is costly and risky as well. Guess I just dont see trucking as the integral part, there is always someone with a truck willing to haul. And who would not just fix theyre skidder when a problem arose?

ga jones · May 19, 2015, 03:26:58 PM

75% of the loggers I know don't repair (trivial) stuff. On a truck there isn't any trivial stuff. Do you run out and buy 4 new skidder tires when there getting low on tread? No you chain it up and keep on skidding. Or look at it like this you have a slight oil leak a bearing bad in your arch roller and need center pins soon. you would wait till mud season do it all at once. Trucks need every little thing now.I make way more logging then trucking.trucks aren't money makers.100 an hour for a truck is reasonable. much less the truck is running in the red. We'll break it down if need be .im sure the regional differences in logging do not apply to trucking due to fmcsr. So the same logger cuting 2000.00 load hard wood and the one cutting 500.00 load pulp and paying the same trucking is disproportionate. However that's not the truckers fault.mills are further and further away no more mom and pop mills. Again not the truckers fault.buy one see how it helps and hurts. It saves me money and keeps my landings clean and tight. It drove my monthly operating cost to double.

so il logger · May 19, 2015, 04:10:02 PM

I agree, we used to own and operate 3 trucks. I know the cost, what i mean is why pay 250 a load for a 6 mile round trip. I have gotten stuck with that bill believe it or not

HiTech · May 19, 2015, 04:18:34 PM

The only good thing that has happened for the truckers lately is diesel fuel has gone down. That helps the bottom line a whisker. Woodhauler is right, newer decent stuff will treat you better. Constantly twisting wrenches isn't making you money. You need to be hauling the freight when the freight is available. Most DOT people don't look quite so hard at a decent looking rig. I have found that when the DOT stop you if you are decent to them they are decent to you. Unless you are blatantly in violation of weight/height, bald tires, brakes not adjusted. They know people have to make a living. If it wasn't for them there would be some real dangerous trucks on the road.

ga jones · May 19, 2015, 11:00:12 PM

250 for a six mile trip is robbery!!!!

so il logger · May 19, 2015, 11:53:04 PM

Quote from: ga jones on May 19, 2015, 11:00:12 PM
250 for a six mile trip is robbery!!!!

Dang right!! Thats what i'm saying, but it sure was a pretty truck

He hauled 12 loads that week and my profit flew out the window.

azmtnman · May 20, 2015, 12:20:03 AM

Thanks for the input!

I have some feelers out to see what it will cost and if it is an option for me. Hauling is the weak link in my operation. I may just have to get a bigger trailer.

Woodhauler · May 20, 2015, 05:23:54 AM

Quote from: ga jones on May 19, 2015, 11:00:12 PM
250 for a six mile trip is robbery!!!!

I charge 250 for a 6 mile trip but also get 250 on a 50 mile haul too! This is on pain in the butt firewood hauls!

Rick Alger · May 20, 2015, 06:06:18 AM

For a haul of about 8 miles one way on a tri-axle, I've been paying $55 a thousand - averaging $180 to $220 a load - for wood that is already sorted and piled.

thenorthman · May 20, 2015, 08:46:04 AM

225 to start here, for a self loader. I'm sure the straight trucks are cheaper, but you have to remember you are paying for the load time as well as the hauling.

Then it goes up after the first 15 miles, something like 2.00 a mile or so, the jockey I usually use, uses a 10 mile rounder every 10 miles is 20 dollars.

I'm lucky in that the mills are close to where I'm cutting so the most I've paid was 350 (and I probably got robbed). I've heard of folks hauling several hundred miles, but its rare and a little silly around here, since there are mills about every 50 miles along the interior coast, not so much on the ocean front, around Puget Sound is very populous... Along the Pacific coast there is only like 5 towns worthy of the name and every one has a mill or two.

Dave Shepard · May 20, 2015, 10:49:29 AM

Some haul by the thousand and some are hourly around here. One side or the other of $55/thousand seems to be the norm. One guy is $200-250 first load then $100/hour after that.

chevytaHOE5674 · May 20, 2015, 12:21:13 PM

For a 6 mile haul my bosses truck runs by the hour, starting when he gets out of the driver seat and ending when the truck and pup are swept off and he is rolling again. So by the time he loads up, chains down, trims, drives, unchains, unloads, and cleans off your talking at least 2 hours, more time if the unload has to be laid out and not put in a pile. Charges $100 an hour so for that 6 mile run your talking at least 200 bucks.

But like Woodhauler said could haul that same load 50 miles for the same price.

Woodhauler · May 20, 2015, 05:09:40 PM

The guys I haul for that cut wood for a living, not hobby loggers that I see on here WANT A Reliable truck to haul there wood! They don't make a pay check if the trucker is broke down all the time! The guys that cut 8-10 loads ayear don't care who they get! :

treeslayer2003 · May 20, 2015, 06:41:08 PM

Quote from: Woodhauler on May 20, 2015, 05:09:40 PM
The guys I haul for that cut wood for a living, not hobby loggers that I see on here WANT A Reliable truck to haul there wood! They don't make a pay check if the trucker is broke down all the time! The guys that cut 8-10 loads ayear don't care who they get! :

wood hauler that was harsh. there is alot of guys here that make a living in the woods. i own my own truck so i know what it costs.......i can see both sides of this coin.
semis only here, i did hire out a guy to pick up a load of short wood a few weeks ago [i don't have a rack trailer any more] 200 bucks for a 45 mile haul. i thought that was plenty fair. he was overloaded to.......he told me to put on the last few.

so il logger · May 20, 2015, 07:34:22 PM

Woodhauler, do you consider me a HOBBY logger? :D

CCC4 · May 20, 2015, 07:41:41 PM

Quote from: Woodhauler on May 20, 2015, 05:09:40 PM
The guys I haul for that cut wood for a living, not hobby loggers that I see on here WANT A Reliable truck to haul there wood! They don't make a pay check if the trucker is broke down all the time! The guys that cut 8-10 loads ayear don't care who they get! :

@ "hobby Logger"...I hope that wasn't directed towards anyone trying to offer advice to the OP's question.

I have no idea why logging crews and mechanics say truck drivers a the biggest complainers in the busines...no idea at all... :D