New To Hoppers
Greetings everyone. Been driving since 1998. Have owned my authority for 2yrs. Have run many types of equipment but never hoppers. Currently run trailers with doors & need to make a change. Truck is paid off 2016 Coronado SD122, condo, 18speed, 3.55 gears, 92k pound weight rating. Will have to lease a hopper. Trying to get a handle on the pay. Called a bunch of brokers & hear paid by miles, paid by tonnage, paid by bushel. I currently don’t move the truck for less than $2.25 a mile. Increased insurance & trailer rental should add $0.20-$0.25 per mile on top of this, bringing me to $2.50ish all in. To make this change make sense, I need to be hauling above $3 a mile. I called a few brokers today who said they pay $2.70 a mile on some loads. Is this a common/uncommon rate? Does everyone run “all in” rates to include fuel surcharge & washouts or is that billed as an accessorial? I have a pretty good grasp of how many tons I could put into a hopper using my truck (24-26) but am clueless on the bushel pricing. On a high side & a low side, how many bushels can a hopper hold as an rule of thumb? Finally, manual tarp or electric & why? Manual trap is about $150 a month cheaper on the rental. Curious if it was worth the extra expense on the truck (add switch) & the trailer If I am forgetting anything and you can provide, I would appreciate the advice. Anyone is free to text me at 463-253-0783. However, I respectfully request texts only so I can respond when my phone isn’t ringing off the hook. Thanks everyone!