Windmill hauling

[Lowbedder]

I guess they changed things...Even lower pay

Company Van Trailer (65% of 100%) no weekly trailer rental fee


Company Flatbed / Stepdeck (73% of 100%) with weekly trailer rental fee


Company Stretch / Double Drop Trailer (74% of 100%) with weekly trailer rental fee


Trailer Rental Fees: Flatbed ($155 / Week), Stepdeck ($170 / Week), Extendible ($185 / Week), *Double Drop ($260 / Week) * There is usually a waiting list for stretch and double drop trailers.


Own Van Trailer (72% of 100%)


Own Flatbed or Stepdeck Trailer (73% of 100%)


Own Refrigerated Trailer (75% of 100%)


Own Specialized Trailer including double drop, tri-axle, insulated van with heater (74% of 100%)


Own Heavy Haul Trailer (4 or more axles) Trailer (75% of 100%)

All good points. I especially can relate to the heavy haul sector. I can't justify owning a trailer in excess of 80K with all the equipment needed to go along with it,(i.e; heavily spec'd tractor w/double frame, 46K rears, steerable 23K lift axle, etc.,) to realize the same percantage as those owning a reefer for example, costing 50K to purchase.
I'm struggling with the decision every day to leap or not to leap, back into that arena. Based on my observation of freight movement/tonnages/rates in specialized industry, I'm less than impressed with it. There was a time when you owned a $250K dollar rig to move heavy specialized shipments and got paid accordingly. Nowadays, you're in the same boat as a guy with a dry van and a Freightliner Columbia. Sitting staring at your laptop or loadboard in a truck stop, pouncing on a load that's appealing and having 1000 others on the same load like vultures on a roadkill, bidding on moving it.
I get a charge out of some of these new websites, like this UShip.com, where truckers bid on freight that's posted to move. Watch and see for yourself sometime. Loads posted going 1500 miles...and the shipper has a "MAX" that he'll pay of $1,250.00. Last time I checked, when you perform a service, you're eligible to quote a price to conduct that service. When I go to my barber, I don't usually have the option of telling him what I will pay to have my haircut. If I did, I may possibly leave there unwillingly with a reverse mohawk, or worse.
Over 30 years ago I was informed by a very wise old Jewish business owner that "whenever you bid on a job kid, you already lost money, cause you do it for what the other's are doing it for"...In a roundabout way, it makes sense.

[wild deuce]

This story is about a company who manufactures part(s) for windmills in Ohio, south of Detroit, MI.
Renewables: America's next heavy industry - May. 21, 2009