I'm in Ohio and spend my days grappling brush, wood and logs for residential tree removals. I was recently approached by the owner of a small, local mill who had a woods logged and needs his logs transported. The mill is appx. 20 miles away and the woods with the log piles is 6 miles from the mill. He said he has between 20,000 and 25,000 bd ft. Of logs to be moved. I know I can get it done but have no idea about what to charge.
Any advice is appreciated.
Good evening
I do the same thing as you, $100 / hour
Work hard and fair, if he doesn't like it,
keep grappling brush 😁
PS, be sure you can get it done
Good luck
How big of a truck do you have ? How many ft do you haul ? Easy in and out or way back in a field where your going to get yanked out ? 25k ft on a triaxle going 6 miles is 2hr rough turn around @4k ft is 6lds, 1 real decent day 🤷♂️ I'm 125 an hr here for log truck / tractor - lowboy / triaxle dump. If your looking for work shoot low, not looking shoot high.
I appreciate the responses. O have a mid mount material handler that was converted to a grapple. Its slower than a log loader but has a 55' reach. The extra reach is sometimes helpful but imz sure speed would be better for this job. I have a box with a 55 yard capacity with dual rear axels. The truck is rated at 60k.
I could use the work and am interested in branching into different kinds of jobs.
For a specialty truck doing short runs id be sure im not taking less than $5/mile and $50/hr. What your local market will bare is anyones guess but if he tracked you down its out of desperation.
I wouldn't be running less than $100/hr.
$100/hr would be the rock bottom , Once you sit down with paper and pen and be honest with the numbers there is not a lot left at that rate ,machine worth, fuel, repairs, insurance and your living . The mills here truck logs very cheap cause they need the logs but private truckers are $100/1000 and they do not care if the mill is a cross the road , if the mill is say over an hour away the price goes up and a load is 8,000 feet and up , lots are way up ;D
It's tough to compare trucks and rates on here because how Ed's log are hauled, stuff in OH and mine in NY are quite a bit different. On 4 axles I'm legal for 81,200, truck and pup in NY can be 119 combined +3%, that's 7 axles. I would base it off what your charging now. I try and avoid hourly work 99% of the time, last spring I about had my truck on it's side and a couple thousand in damage. Right now it's cheaper for me to pay the buyer to send their truck + pup the 35 miles than me to truck it. 375 bucks for 6k+ft.
Some questions that need to be asked.
1. Do you have operating authority as a for hire carrier?
2. Do you have commercial insurance for hauling logs?
3. Will the mill unload you or allow you to deliver with a box truck?
I am insured for moving wood and the mill owner asked me to moved his logs when he bought some out of the back of my truck and had me set them off.
logs you own are exempt from motor carrier authority, so says the composite commodity list under "forest products" around page 10 or 11, but its a very fickle list. tie bolts are exempt, sawn ties are not exempt, but sawn pilings are, unless they treated, then they arent, for an instance of government over complicating everything. the FMCSA is about as bad as the IRS and i think the exemption list is simply a compilation of wealthy campaign donors in specific industry buying their waiver, but i digress.
Mike I spent 6hrs with DOT the other day 🤦♂️ the average guy who buys a truck doesn't know what he's in for.
The crackdown on the 1-tons is coming, no CDL's, they are sandbagging guys now with or without DOT #'s and it's going to be EXPENSIVE. 😆. Honestly I think its only fair and keeps the garbage off the roads.
my first date with NYDOT cost $3k, and that was way before covid pricing!
We are allowed 154000 pounds or so . Depends on time of year but average load is right around 170000 pounds and if your in big true white oak that does not take much . Your truck better be a foot below the top of tge stakes or your really screwed . The police here will stop any truck that they do not like besides the DOT . Here they go after everyone not just big trucks . If your pulling your boat with your pickup and its say a 19 ft boat or longer and you do not have extra weight on your license they are going to nail you hard.the farmers here have tractors that can go 50 mph but if they got a slow moving signon tge trailer they are pulling then they get charged cause about 36 mph is max by law with a sign . Farmers use the tractors to pull everything on the roads cause first you donot need a A license to drive it like a big truck and alot less insurance cost that a big truck is . . Its pretty common to see the big tractors pulling 53 ft vans or big gravel trailers
i like the ag tractor skirting of the law. DOT can take a flying leap with me.
Some of their farm help shouldn't even be running a tractor. The ones I speak of sure have no etiquette, or maybe it's brains. :D
The question no one has asked is how much dose your truck weight empty? My guess is 35000 or more with that 55yd body. All of this doesn't matter if you haul for x amount per 1000 but it sure dose if hauling by the hr
Prices run $100-$110/hr here for tridem and quad axle trucks with a loader.
Legal weights on semi-truck
2 axle trailer - 41,500kg (91,490lb)
3 axle trailer - 49,500kg (109,130lb)
4 axle trailer - 55,500kg (122,355lb)
5 axle trailer (b-train) - 62,500kg (137,790lb)
Quote from: ehp on October 18, 2021, 03:38:48 PM
We are allowed 154000 pounds or so . Depends on time of year but average load is right around 170000 pounds and if your in big true white oak that does not take much . Your truck better be a foot below the top of tge stakes or your really screwed . The police here will stop any truck that they do not like besides the DOT . Here they go after everyone not just big trucks . If your pulling your boat with your pickup and its say a 19 ft boat or longer and you do not have extra weight on your license they are going to nail you hard.the farmers here have tractors that can go 50 mph but if they got a slow moving signon tge trailer they are pulling then they get charged cause about 36 mph is max by law with a sign . Farmers use the tractors to pull everything on the roads cause first you donot need a A license to drive it like a big truck and alot less insurance cost that a big truck is . . Its pretty common to see the big tractors pulling 53 ft vans or big gravel trailers
You're allowed 77T on the roads there? Wow.
And add 10% in winter time . If your hauling good big hard maple you can only put about 7700 to 8000 feet on a load and be legal
Last I knew when working at the wood marketing board, nothing more than 35 metric tonnes on self loader trucks. Some tried to sneak as much as 40 mt and got snubbed once in awhile by the scale guys. I have not seen scales here since before COVID. Not even a highway patrol for that matter. Of late we have RCMP patrolling the border who think they are the Duke boys, flying over dirt roads with 2 wheels off the ground at times, chasing shadows or ghosts or something. :D
Haha, the Canadian Dukes. There should be ample opportunity for some humor in that😂
Quote from: SwampDonkey on October 19, 2021, 06:12:21 AM
Of late we have RCMP patrolling the border who think they are the Duke boys, flying over dirt roads with 2 wheels off the ground at times, chasing shadows or ghosts or something. :D
They're probably all in a race with each other to find "irregular" migrants and be the first to offer to carry their luggage. :)
They are too smart to come to the land of cold and snow the hard way. Just wait next month Trudeau will bring in another 25000 for free as landed immigrants. Easier passage, all the bennies and cheques. Target is 400,000 for the year. :D
Notice ? Supplementary Information for the 2021-2023 Immigration Levels Plan - Canada.ca (https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/news/notices/supplementary-immigration-levels-2021-2023.html)
100 minimum per hour if it was here. We get 125$ moving wood. I just don't understand the guys running running triaxled dumps for 80. Doesn't add up.
Quote from: Plankton on October 19, 2021, 08:14:54 PM
100 minimum per hour if it was here. We get 125$ moving wood. I just don't understand the guys running running triaxled dumps for 80. Doesn't add up.
The problem in comparison is exactly what snowstorm hinted at, why I said something about what my legal weights are in NY, if he can't carry enough weight and can't unload as fast then he's better off staying per Mbdft than per hour.
The guys running triaxles for 80 an hr have put themselves under.
I've never seen it by the hour here, always by weight or volume off the scales. No chance to fudge/pad the numbers basing it on a scale bill from the mill. And them bills all cross the desk of the marketing board where the trucker knows he gets paid and no chasing down his money. ;D
Quote from: SwampDonkey on October 20, 2021, 03:45:52 AM
I've never seen it by the hour here, always by weight or volume off the scales. No chance to fudge/pad the numbers basing it on a scale bill from the mill. And them bills all cross the desk of the marketing board where the trucker knows he gets paid and no chasing down his money. ;D
You're correct that "industrial scaled" operations weigh their wood, but that per tonne rate is still based off of a time/equipment value factor.
The only thing a man really has to sell is his time.
I appreciate all the insight. I took a look yesterday and the logs are staged 7 mi. from where they need to be. If things go well I could do a trip an hour but I wanted a little pad in there. When I offered $125 per load as much as I could reasonably carry he accepted immediately.
Last load of hardwood I sent over to Quebec was in June. 4100 bf on a tandem with a lift axle. Charged me a flat rate that worked out to $120 CDN per hour.
Quote from: j_d on October 20, 2021, 08:41:49 PM
I appreciate all the insight. I took a look yesterday and the logs are staged 7 mi. from where they need to be. If things go well I could do a trip an hour but I wanted a little pad in there. When I offered $125 per load as much as I could reasonably carry he accepted immediately.
oh well, asking too little :D when they accept without haggling
For hauling my sawlogs to the mill, the trucker charges $65-70 per 1000bd/ft
He gets about 7k ft on his truck and pup so a load costs me $400-500/ load.
The mill is about 45-60 minutes away.
I wish you well but I have a couple more questions.
1. Are you prepared to lie to the DOT about the ownership of the logs if you get stopped? Be aware the DOT in many states can go to the mill where you are hauling the logs and check to see in whose name the logs are being sold. In order to cure that problem you will need to be a "for hire carrier" and have operating authority as a commercial carrier.
2. Do you have insurance coverage for what you are planning to do? Most commercial insurance companies have a particular dislike for hauling logs and operating a log loader in a commercial setting. A guy I know was doing that and one of his drivers forgot to lower his log loader when exiting a mill and took down the three phase that fed an entire industrial park. He lost everything and is no long in the hauling business as he is not insurable.