Custom Hauling Rates

[Diamondpilot]

WKPOOR

Did you change the gears in the rear end of you van? I remember at one time you were going to order something like 4.56 gears or there about's. The reason I ask is sometimes I do things for less money than I want but I look at it as, well I can get this or that. You know, things on the dream list. I just spent my Monday making a custom axles for a hog roaster. Did not really make a dime when you consider I spent 5 hours sourcing the parts and welding it up but gave me the $$$ I was wanting to buy a few things for my Meyer Snow Plow.



Chris

 

[wkpoor]

Chris;
Yep I got the gears and a replacement ECM programmed for the change but I haven't done the swap as I've got another issue I'm waiting to see how it pans out before I spend time and money installing them. The FF corporate rear end in my van has a bearing issue on the R/H side where as I've got exsessive creep on the inside bearing that is eating into the stub shoulder. I've spoken to Timken on this and I believe the stub was undersized from the mfg. Van only has 56k mi but 8yrs from new and GM will laugh at me if I go there. I know this was problem from new but who inspects these things on a new vehicle. I realized I had a problem when oil came leaking out. I'm trying a different bearing torque per Timken and this haul on Sunday should be enough distance to tell me if its going to last or I need to try something more drastic.
BTW I've converted 2 friends to the whole van thing. My neighbor just got one like mine (07) but his has a Duramax. Paid 11k.....probably half what a pickup would have cost.

 

[DIRTROAD]

Just consider this:

A blow out or flat tire will erase profit!

A traffic ticket will erase profit!

A traffic jam will erase profit!

A seized bearing on trailer will erase profit!

Being stiffed by a customer will erase profit!

Your time is worth money! Don't do it cheap or you will regret it! Price the job on the high side and if nothing goes wrong, give the customer a little break at the finish line.

 

[wkpoor]

Just consider this:

A blow out or flat tire will erase profit!

A traffic ticket will erase profit!

A traffic jam will erase profit!

A seized bearing on trailer will erase profit!

Being stiffed by a customer will erase profit!

Your time is worth money! Don't do it cheap or you will regret it! Price the job on the high side and if nothing goes wrong, give the customer a little break at the finish line.

Yepper, I've considered that. Even when I'm out on a job with my tractor. If something breaks there it could cost me thousands for doing a couple hundred dollar job.

 

[brin]

i'm in Georgia and before I realized I could fix my tractor problem myself the local New Holland dealer about 16 miles away wanted $200.00 to roundtrip my TC-29 with no equipment attached..glad I fixed it myself but maybe that helps as far as rates go. From a customer standpoint I thought that price was outrageous..it is about a 30 minute trip each way...I would buy a trailer and haul it myself before I ever paid that much..but then I am thrify..LOL

 

[wkpoor]

Well the job is done and all went well. No surprises and no mechanicals. It was 12hrs door to door though and thats where the price breakdown falls short. If I had just been allowed to go get it and bring it back on my own then it would have been a little better but the owner road along and we had to make a stop along the way to a family member house and then they drove over to where the tractor was and then some more family renion stuff and yadayadayada. Bottom line is I got 340.00 to drive 400 mi door to door from my house and 12hrs time. Well he did by dinner at CrackerBarrel on the way back
After what I here dealers charge I would feel good about getting half what they charge. This would have been a 1000.00 dollar job for a dealer it sounds like.

 

[Diamondpilot]

i'm in Georgia and before I realized I could fix my tractor problem myself the local New Holland dealer about 16 miles away wanted $200.00 to roundtrip my TC-29 with no equipment attached..glad I fixed it myself but maybe that helps as far as rates go. From a customer standpoint I thought that price was outrageous..it is about a 30 minute trip each way...I would buy a trailer and haul it myself before I ever paid that much..but then I am thrify..LOL

What you have to remember is a dealer has a lot at stake. He has a diesel truck, $45,000 and a decent trailer, $6,000. Then he has insurance and pay a man to do the driving. It would take 1.5 hours to do this job with no hidden problems. If you do not like his prices get your own rig and do it yourself. Long story short you can't.

I put in boats as a part time job. I charge a flat $250 to do so. That is a max of 30 miles each way. If its more the charge goes up. Most of what I do is over 12,000# so it requires at a minimum a 3/4 ton diesel truck. Even at $500 a year for in and out service you could not make one payment or even the insurance for 6 months on a truck. Many complain about my charges then come running back when they see how cheap and professional I am. I carry spare tires, jack, ect. I take care of all the problems like crappy light wiring, ect. Price it out and it will cost you much more in the long run. You can pay to have it hauled 10 times a year and still be money ahead unless you need the truck on a weekly basis.

Chris

 

[chuckm770]

If you want to get into the hauling business with a hot shot sized truck, you need to get a trailer that is long enough to haul multiple tractors and charge according to trailer space used. I am looking for someone to haul a tractor i am selling abt 500.00 miles. the tractor is only 11 ft long and weighs 4200 lbs. realistically, a person buying a tractor on the internet, for instance, cannot justify 1000.00 for that haul. It is really only a third of a truck load. he would gladly give you 500.00 for the haul and if you get 2 more or some implements for the same price, then you have made 3.00 a loaded mile and everybody is happy. You shouldn't have much deadhead because you are hauling for multiple customers along approx the same route. With the internet and load boards , loads are not hard to get.

 

[Willl]

You do understand how OLD this thread is, right ?

 

[JJZ 109]

Can't really say its a friend...its a guy that works in a different department here at work. When I told him 2/mi loaded he gave me one of those whaaaaaat??? "I thought you would do it for 1/mi" I'm like dude you think I'm going to spend 10hrs and 400mi driving for a lousy 50 bucks? Comeon now! I hope he is searching out other options so he'll find out what a deal 2/mi really is. Besides this is something he would have to find someone with a deck over or a long roll back and I bet they don't haul cheap.

Tell him to put it out on uship.com and see what prices come up. Maybe he'll get one of the geniuses that are on the TV show trying to cut each other's throats and get a heck of a deal. :laughing:
Like chuck, I apparently fell into the trap of not checking the thread dates! :duh: