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I have recently landed a sales account where I am shipping 14,000 lbs of chemicals monthly. The freight is over $2000/month. It seems to make sense to purchase a truck and trailer and make the deliveries myself. (I have a driver who is hazmat/CDL certified) My current truck only holds about 5,000 lbs.
What are my options? Any single wheel options?
If any other info is needed, I'm happy to provide! Thank you very much for your input!
Looking at an f-250. Says it can pull 14,000 lbs. But my load is 14,000 lbs. That does not take into account the trailer, right? Or am I missing something here?
Is this article, it says they hooked up a 15,000 lb trailer?? How can that be if it says it can only pull 14,000 lbs?
I thought load + trailer could not surpass 14,000 lbs.
We pull 10-12,000lbs loads of metal on a regular basis on a Gooseneck trailer. We use a Ford F350 (2010 and a 2013). Wouldn't go with anything smaller for that much weight -- it's a world of difference, the truck hardly notices the load behind it.
Shouldn't be a problem from any of the offerings provided by the Detroit 3. With that weight I'd go with a dually at the least, just more stable. Try to find a site dedicated to "hot shotting", I think that is the term for people that haul heavy loads like this with basically light duty trucks.
I prefer the Cummins diesel so you know which truck I'd pick.
I would strongly suggest you call the nearest Isuzu commercial truck dealership and give them a chat. You're talking pickup truck when you should be talking commercial vehicle. Make sure to ask about when Federal Road Taxes kick in and keep it under that GVW. The Isuzu diesel can gve you extremely great fuel mileage when not loaded and decent when loaded versus the grossly bloated pigs we call pickups. The NQR comes in various wheel bases from the long like this one or short. Another thing to consider is value. This Isuzu will be worth a lot of bucks ten years down the road. The pickup is pretty much worth pocket change by comparison.
As an independent rep/stocking WD for industrial products for many years, I (and my various manufacturers) didn't want to be in the trucking biz nor did we ever turn the shipping side of the business into a profit center. We were able to get substantial discounts from the commercial shippers over their rack LTL rates, and I've had some months when we shipped anywhere from 30,000 lbs to over 100,000 lbs of product (but not all to one site).
My bet is that if you're shipping only 14,000 lbs in a single shipment once a month to one site more than a close distance that you will not be able to save any money. As a "not for hire" shipper using your own vehicle in-house for your own product(s), 14,000 lbs shipment, wt of trailer and tow vehicle will put you into commercial ton-mile tax ranges, DOT inspections and compliance, and commercial insurance requirements. You will not be able to do any other hauling or back-hauling for hire, which is where a trucking business gets a huge portion of their revenue to operate instead of a driver/vehicle expenses/fuel for an otherwise non-revenue producing trip.
Even if you were to find a capable used inter-city commercial duty truck with only a few hundred thousand miles on it (with a reasonable remaining service life at nominal maintenance cost/upkeep) for nominal money, say $20,000 .... by the time you figure the rest of your total per-mile delivered costs, it will most likely still cost you money compared to paying LTL freight rates. Your shipping volume certainly won't justify a new truck purchase cost of funds, let alone save you any money with all the taxes, fees, operating costs, fuel, insurance, etc.
Yes, you can buy a 1-ton dually/diesel truck from the Big 3 that will haul this size load on a trailer. But you won't be saving any money for your business doing it unless you turn it into a trucking business/profit center and utilize it as much as possible for revenue miles. That puts you in the trucking business. Is that where you want to be? or is your time better spent focusing on making sales contacts and producing income from your primary business?
PS: a vehicle capable of 7 tons net will be in the "federal road taxes" size range. It's qualified on the capability of the vehicle, not necessarily on the actual weight at any given time; ie, you enter into that classification if the combined gross weight capability of the rig reaches/exceeds the weight standard. Even if you never load the vehicle to it's maximum capacity to reach that threshold of weight, you are still considered to be in the category. You'll see folk with 3/4 ton pick-up trucks hauling trailers that are into this range ... such as folk hauling not for hire their own livestock or farm products for sale/delivery ... who are required to get a DOT inspection, pay the taxes/licensing, get insurance, and a DOT physical, keep logbooks and compliance with the times of driving, etc. In our rural ranching/farming area, a number of my neighbors have run into compliance issues on this score and have found out the hard way about it when they were stopped by a neighboring state's aggressive enforcement of these laws. Stopped for no other reason than a request to go over the scales when obviously hauling a good-sized GN stock trailer where the Gross Vehicle Weight ratings revealed a capability putting them over the fed threshold for needing a commercial driver's license and DOT compliance for their rig. The fines for non-compliance were pretty steep; effectively, you're driving without a license or registration or appropriate insurance, no matter how "legal" you thought you were with your regular license, registrations, and insurance because you weren't appropriately licensed/insured for what you were driving. While the enforcement seems to be uneven around these Western states, I'm told that "back East" the authorities are far more aggressive about this stuff, so where you are in the USA apparently does make a difference as to the levels of enforcement ... but I'm also told that the fed is now leading the authorities in our area to be more aggressive about this sector of the freight transport.
PPS: the only rationalization I can see from your business standpoint of shipping your product in-house would be from a customer service standpoint; ie, can't get timely deliveries from LTL shippers between your warehouse and the delivery site. That's a whole different issue than the cost of shipment of the goods, but if you're getting the service you need from a truck line now, then you're not going to save any money to make your own shipping a profit center or save your customer any money.
The IRS from 2290 or heavy use tax is for vehicles over 55,000 pounds.
I'd vote either a F350 or other 1 ton pickup with a gooseneck trailer. I will warn you that you may end up in CDL territory if the pickup and trailer are rated for more than 26,000 pounds with a trailer rated for more than 10,000 pounds. It sounds like you have CDL and hazmat credentials. The figures come from the sticker on the truck and trailer. (GVWR)
The other option is a straight truck like an NPR or like an International rated for under 26,000 pounds you'd be fine. If what you're carrying requires placards you need the hazmat credentials. Anything vehicle carrying an amount of materials requiring hazmat placards or over 10,001 pounds are subject to Federal Motor Carrier regulations. Some states have not adopted the 10,001 pound rule and opt for 26,001 pounds to adopt the federal regs. If you're crossing state lines you will be held to the 10,001 pound rule.
"Not for hire" will not get you out of motor carrier regulations. You will still need to comply with the regulations. Inspections are not bad if your equipment is in good shape, your paperwork is in order and your hours of service are logged accurately. If you want to go that route, I would be glad to help you out with what you need and give you a fighting chance come inspection time.
Hiring a carrier to make the deliveries shows appeal.
I'd go with either a box truck or 1 ton pickup and gooseneck trailer.
If you cross state lines in this endeavor, you will be required to meet commercial regulations as has been stated. The recent changes to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR) make this very challenging from a small business standpoint. You may want to talk to a couple freight brokers about getting on a regular schedule and negotiate a discounted rate if possible.
From a purely mechanical standpoint, the options mentioned above are all capable of doing what you need done. The bigger question will be the business sense of doing so.
If you cross state lines in this endeavor, you will be required to meet commercial regulations as has been stated. The recent changes to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR) make this very challenging from a small business standpoint. You may want to talk to a couple freight brokers about getting on a regular schedule and negotiate a discounted rate if possible.
From a purely mechanical standpoint, the options mentioned above are all capable of doing what you need done. The bigger question will be the business sense of doing so.
Crossing state lines is a sure fire needing to adhere to FMCSR or depending on the state they often adopt the same rules within state lines.
FMCSR can be difficult to understand and the paperwork tedious. However organization is a huge mitigating factor. There companies and some state agencies can help in getting you setup.
The basic stuff I can help you out. I rather help out in a setting like this instead of in an enforcement setting.
Buy a truck to haul your load and then hot shot it out to get money instead of having it sit unused. Or lease the truck and buy the trailer as a business expense but it will be your company truck. If the trailer is 7k and the truck lease is 600 a month you'll save at least 50% after the initial cash outlay
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