Beginner Stone Haulers: Maximize Your Profit by Choosing the Right Truck
Posted on: 7 January 2016
Are you ready to start your stone hauling business and in the market for a used dump truck? If so, you should know that the characteristics of the truck you buy could have a big impact on how profitable your new business venture is. Look for these things when shopping for your dump truck and earn more when hauling stone.
The Right Body Material
You've got two choices in body material when shopping for your dump truck: aluminum and steel. Steel is cheaper than aluminum, but over time it will rust whereas aluminum won't. And being 2.5 times denser than aluminum, steel is far heavier, so it will hold up better to wear and tear.
So how do you decide whether you should opt for a light-weight aluminum truck body that won't rust or a heavy-duty steel body that's less expensive and less prone to dents and dings? To answer this question, it's best to have some insight into how you'll be paid by your customers.
Some contract work will pay you by the hour to haul stone, while others will pay by the load or per ton. If you'll have substantially more "per ton" jobs than by-the-load or hourly work, then it makes sense to opt for the lighter aluminum dump truck. Your truck can only legally carry a certain amount of gross weight (total weight of truck and load), determined by the state you work in. The lighter your truck, the more of your weight limit that can be consumed by your load. And since bigger loads mean bigger profits when you're being paid by the ton to haul stone, opting for an aluminum body could be a wise business decision.
On the other hand, if you'll be paid by the hour for most of your work, or by the load, a heavier truck could draw the time it takes you to complete a job out a bit, thus giving you more hours for hourly rate-jobs and more loads for by-the-load jobs. Oftentimes, stone haulers will purchase their first truck having some preconceived notion of what companies they'll seek contract work with. If you've already got an idea of who you'll be working for once you've got your truck, keep their method of pay in consideration when choosing your truck body type.
Chutes & Stone Slingers
How do you get more work as a stone-hauler? It's as simple as building a good reputation for yourself by doing your job as neatly and efficiently as possible. Chutes and stone slingers can make the physical strain of hauling stone easier, as well as increase the level of professionalism your customers view you with.
The tailgate on your dump truck should have at least one chute, but if you can find a truck with two or three, that's even better. Chutes allow you to easily open just a portion of your tailgate, so all your gravel doesn't come spewing out in one big pile. For jobs where stone must be laid across a large surface rather than just piled up, chutes will allow you more control over how you unload and save you a lot of shoveling.
Stone slingers run along the sides of dump truck bodies and work to project stone out and away from your truck. They allow you to deposit your load of stone quickly and in difficult-to-reach locations. A good stone slinger is capable of unloading up to 20 tons of rock and having it land up to 70 feet away from the truck it's attached to in roughly 15 minutes. Imagine yourself as a customer who is looking for somebody to haul stone to a large project site. Who would you rather call—the person who will need to dump the rock in a big pile and then spend an hour manually broadcasting it over the area, or the guy or gal who can just pull their truck in, open their chutes and stone slingers, and dump and spread the stone in one shot?
If you're ready to start your stone hauling business, find a truck that will give you a lot of bucks for your bang. Visit resources like http://www.arrowtruck.com/ to look for a dump truck with chutes, stone singers, and a body that will work well for the manner in which you'll be paid.
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