New O/O setting up with a hopper trailer in Northern Colorado

Nov 27, 2017 at 09:27 AM CST
Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.	Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member. Happy Monday all, I'm setting up a new company in Northern Colorado to haul with Hopper Bottoms, Just 1 truck with myself as the driver and I'm curious if it's better to buy a Tri-Axle truck and a Tri-Axle Trailer to haul more weight or if that's a mistake because of all the permit costs? Is it better to just buy a normal 3 axle truck and a tandem trailer? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Pat

Replied on Mon, Nov 27, 2017 at 09:55 AM CST - 1
Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.	Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member. Pat , what size trailer and truck you buy , is up to where you plan on traveling , if you are going to stay in the west part of the USA look at the 7 axle units but if you want to run where the money is then i would look into just a light weight 5 axle unit , We at Northwest Transportation Service run mostly 5 axle units and I would love to talk to you about what we can do to make you some good money thanks Steve Breker West Fargo Office 701-532-1424

Replied on Mon, Nov 27, 2017 at 09:55 AM CST

- 1

Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.

Pat , what size trailer and truck you buy , is up to where you plan on traveling , if you are going to stay in the west part of the USA look at the 7 axle units but if you want to run where the money is then i would look into just a light weight 5 axle unit ,
We at Northwest Transportation Service run mostly 5 axle units and I would love to talk to you about what we can do to make you some good money
thanks
Steve Breker West Fargo Office 701-532-1424

Replied on Mon, Nov 27, 2017 at 10:25 AM CST
Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.	Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member. Quote: " Pat , what size trailer and truck you buy , is up to where you plan on traveling , if you are going to stay in the west part of the USA look at the 7 axle units but if you want to run where the money is then i would look into just a light weight 5 axle unit , We at Northwest Transportation Service run mostly 5 axle units and I would love to talk to you about what we can do to make you some good money thanks Steve Breker West Fargo Office 701-532-1424 " Steve, I'm leaning to not run past say MO,AR,IA,MN if I can help it.. Really want to stay within a 2-3 state radius of Colorado if possible.. I'll give you a call later to discuss. Thanks for the Info, Pat

Replied on Mon, Nov 27, 2017 at 10:25 AM CST

Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.

Quote: " Pat , what size trailer and truck you buy , is up to where you plan on traveling , if you are going to stay in the west part of the USA look at the 7 axle units but if you want to run where the money is then i would look into just a light weight 5 axle unit , We at Northwest Transportation Service run mostly 5 axle units and I would love to talk to you about what we can do to make you some good money thanks Steve Breker West Fargo Office 701-532-1424 "

Steve, I'm leaning to not run past say MO,AR,IA,MN if I can help it.. Really want to stay within a 2-3 state radius of Colorado if possible..

I'll give you a call later to discuss.

Thanks for the Info,

Pat

Replied on Tue, Nov 28, 2017 at 08:29 AM CST + 4
Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.	Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member. One piece of advice is if you can not make money at 80,000 pounds then you won't make money at105,500 or more. The new breed of trucker these days thinks if you have more axles you can haul for less because your dollar per mile will increase, BUT a triple axle trailer is 20-25,000 dollars more to purchase new, you have 2 more sets or tires, 2 more sets of brakes not to mention the fuel loss that can be attributed to the larger weight and larger trailer. A triple pulls harder, licesne are higher, permits and all are just added costs. If you are just starting out I would sit down and take a look at all of your cost and figure out your break even point and then look at freight rates in and out of my area, then make my decidion. Thats just my opinion. Keith ET Trucking.

Replied on Tue, Nov 28, 2017 at 08:29 AM CST

+ 4

Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.

One piece of advice is if you can not make money at 80,000 pounds then you won't make money at105,500 or more. The new breed of trucker these days thinks if you have more axles you can haul for less because your dollar per mile will increase, BUT a triple axle trailer is 20-25,000 dollars more to purchase new, you have 2 more sets or tires, 2 more sets of brakes not to mention the fuel loss that can be attributed to the larger weight and larger trailer. A triple pulls harder, licesne are higher, permits and all are just added costs.

If you are just starting out I would sit down and take a look at all of your cost and figure out your break even point and then look at freight rates in and out of my area, then make my decidion.

Thats just my opinion.

Keith
ET Trucking.

Replied on Tue, Nov 28, 2017 at 06:37 PM CST
Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.	Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member. Quote: "One piece of advice is if you can not make money at 80,000 pounds then you won't make money at105,500 or more. The new breed of trucker these days thinks if you have more axles you can haul for less because your dollar per mile will increase, BUT a triple axle trailer is 20-25,000 dollars more to purchase new, you have 2 more sets or tires, 2 more sets of brakes not to mention the fuel loss that can be attributed to the larger weight and larger trailer. A triple pulls harder, licesne are higher, permits and all are just added costs. If you are just starting out I would sit down and take a look at all of your cost and figure out your break even point and then look at freight rates in and out of my area, then make my decidion. Thats just my opinion. Keith ET Trucking. " Thanks Keith for the information.. just bought a normal 3 axle Kenworth and a tandem 42' high side Timpte trailer. Think it's the best bang for the buck. Pat

Replied on Tue, Nov 28, 2017 at 06:37 PM CST

Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.

Quote: "One piece of advice is if you can not make money at 80,000 pounds then you won't make money at105,500 or more. The new breed of trucker these days thinks if you have more axles you can haul for less because your dollar per mile will increase, BUT a triple axle trailer is 20-25,000 dollars more to purchase new, you have 2 more sets or tires, 2 more sets of brakes not to mention the fuel loss that can be attributed to the larger weight and larger trailer. A triple pulls harder, licesne are higher, permits and all are just added costs. If you are just starting out I would sit down and take a look at all of your cost and figure out your break even point and then look at freight rates in and out of my area, then make my decidion. Thats just my opinion. Keith ET Trucking. "

Thanks Keith for the information.. just bought a normal 3 axle Kenworth and a tandem 42' high side Timpte trailer.
Think it's the best bang for the buck.

Pat

Replied on Tue, Nov 28, 2017 at 10:09 PM CST + 1
Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.	Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member. oh boy here we go

Replied on Wed, Nov 29, 2017 at 08:18 AM CST
Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.	Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member. Good luck to you and I hope that you do well.

Replied on Wed, Nov 29, 2017 at 08:25 AM CST
Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.	Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member. Quote: "Good luck to you and I hope that you do well." Thank you Kevin.

Replied on Thu, Nov 30, 2017 at 04:20 AM CST
Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.	Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member. Hey if u look around there?s so many places that won?t load u over 80000 pds that ur better off with just a light tk an light trailer there?s grain trailer s out there that weighs 8000 an Tks under 18000 when u test drive Tks look at there weight don?t just go get the biggest bad lookin tk u can find

Replied on Thu, Nov 30, 2017 at 08:43 AM CST
Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.	Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member. Quote: "Hey if u look around there?s so many places that won?t load u over 80000 pds that ur better off with just a light tk an light trailer there?s grain trailer s out there that weighs 8000 an Tks under 18000 when u test drive Tks look at there weight don?t just go get the biggest bad lookin tk u can find" Hi Clyde, The set up I just purchased weighs in at 27520 lbs without any fuel.. So I think I did pretty good.. If I can't make money hauling 25-26 ton per load then something is wrong. Thanks for your input, Pat

Replied on Thu, Nov 30, 2017 at 08:43 AM CST

Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.

Quote: "Hey if u look around there?s so many places that won?t load u over 80000 pds that ur better off with just a light tk an light trailer there?s grain trailer s out there that weighs 8000 an Tks under 18000 when u test drive Tks look at there weight don?t just go get the biggest bad lookin tk u can find"

Hi Clyde, The set up I just purchased weighs in at 27520 lbs without any fuel.. So I think I did pretty good.. If I can't make money hauling 25-26 ton per load then something is wrong.

Thanks for your input,

Pat

Replied on Fri, Dec 01, 2017 at 08:26 AM CST
Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member.	Posted by a private BulkLoads.com member. Ya that?s about that on my tk an Trailer u should do fine