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Does anyone use there farm semi to haul over the road during the off season?
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Mike SE IL
Posted 11/14/2012 05:31 (#2696203 - in reply to #2696193)
Subject: RE: Does anyone use there farm semi to haul over the road during the off season?



West Union, Illinois

To be quite honest you are setting yourself up to lose money.  Not because everyone loses money trucking.  But I don't think you have enough of a handle on the busines side of of yet.  And it can be a costly education.

I have a friend who grew up behind a steering wheel. Owns 2-3-4 ... not sure how many right now.  He has made comments like "To make money with a truck you have to have it working every day."  "The difference between making money and losing money is keeping your tires properly inflated. And it's hard to find a driver who will check the pressure with a gauge every day." Which leads to something else you said

I would not be driving the truck so I would have to pay someone to do it.
And you also said
Is there a broker company a person can deal with to find loads since Im doubting ill have time to search for them?
Yes, I have another friend who does just that.  Talk to Dianna at Cardinal Carriers Logistics. That is what she does, matches loads with trucks.  One difficulty is finding a good match.  If you want to pull hoppers and the broker mainly handles dry freight or refrigerated foodstuffs you may not be a good fit. You need to decide what you want to haul and where you are willing to go.  But I'm getting side-tracked.  Keeping on topic
Will it pay doing it with one truck if i have to pay a driver?
IF you find the right person it's possible.  If you do, it will be be very unusual. Because it sounds like what you really want is someone to not just drive a truck but operate the business.  If he can do it all, why not do it for himself instead of doing it for you? The profit from trucking is not made driving the truck.  Drivers can be hired.  Managing it is where the money is made.

One more thing my friend has said "There are always people with a truck willing to haul it for less than it costs them, because they don't have a clue what their expenses are." Get a handle on your true costs.  Start with basics, license plates, insurance, truck payments. Keep in mind most places plates and insurance will double if you are hauling commercially instead of just for the farm. How much do you need every month/week/day to cover that? 

Since you are paying someone to do it, how are you paying them?  Hourly, weekly salary, per load, percentage of the gross? And be sure to add in the hidden cost of being an employer: Payroll taxes, workman's comp, liability insurance, health insurance, etc. Oh, and be sure to include the cost of things like drug & alcohol testing and all that DOT compliance stuff.

Then there are variable expenses.  Fuel, tires, lubrication, depreciation from wear and tear.  All these tings need factored in.

I'm not saying you can't do it.  But you said truck drivers don't seem to want to share a lot of info. What you are asking them is to share their hard earned experience and trade secrets so you can go into competition with them.

These are some of the things you need to ponder on before making an expensive jump.  Just going from hauling for the farm to commercial use will raise your expenses several thousand dollars before the first mile is on the truck.



Edited by Mike SE IL 11/14/2012 05:32
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