Why not just stack a bunch of pallets. Save the money for the fines you might get.

 

You pull a tanker and you don't know what load levelers are?........... hmm. Well I'll be...

 

August 28th, 2009

I arrived at the Wilson plant in Sioux City around 11 am today and everything was pretty quick. They put Trailer #1 (mine, with red frame) on top of the Trailer #2 and then told me to back to a ramp. A shunt truck driver hooked up to the trailer #2 and backed onto the ramp from the other side and then just let the trailer go on my flatbed. Took him a couple of tries but he did a great job: the edge of tires on each side was perfectly matched to the edge of the flatbed. I asked them how many straps they'd say I should throw on but the guys had no clue. So, I just used common sense and put 3 straps over Trailer #1 and 3 straps over Trailer #2, alternating them between the trailers.

I was able to take a look at my trailer while waiting for the plant lunch break to be over. The color of the frame looks great and the trailer seems well constructed. One thing that pleasantly surprised me was that the 17.5" tires were not as small as I was afraid they'd be. They look pretty solid.

The entire day was one big rush. First I was in a hurry to get to Sioux City before 2:30 pm (their closing time), and then I drove towards Chicago, IL till my e-log ran out of hours. I am 3.5 hours away from Chicago now - at a Kum & Go gas station off I-80. Tomorrow I'm picking up my new tarps at the Tarp Stop in Gary, IN and they close at noon.

While I was driving back from Wilson a Tarp Stop guy called me saying he had bad news. Turns out their sewing machine got broke as they were preparing to sew my tarps together. The earlest they could fix the machine was on Monday. So, no tarps. We agreed I'd stop by their store on Saturday anyway and they'll refund me the $1,200 I had paid because Monday didn't work for me. I called 411 to get a listing for TBK Tarps - they're inside the Flying J, just next door to the Tarp Stop - and when I called them the guy on the phone was happy to get me the tarps for Saturday. As we were discussing the price and how much discount they can give me on the 4 tarps, I heard the Call Waiting beep in my ear and took the call on the other line. Guess who it was? Andrew from Tarp Stop who informed me they figured out a way to use the sewing machine without the defective clutch (he had told me earlier the machine's "clutch housing" got broke). So, we were back on schedule and the tarps were supposed to be ready on Saturday. I hung up with him and went back to the call with TBK ... I said I was sorry but Tarp Stop had come through and they already had my Visa payment, so I'd have to get the tarps from them. The TBK guy was a bit upset but things happen, right?

Below are some of the pictures I took at Wilson... I also posted a short video on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehf8sDmRBOM

 

Tracer, why didn't you buy the load levelers from Wilson? Thats where I bought mine cost was $600 each and they are nice.
As to using pallets and jacks for load levelers most place will not load you that way plus it is not very safe.
I have seen pallets crush in transit supporting pipe loads and other types of loads.

 

There's a local tarp company in Burlington, ON and they have a guy who makes these for them (you can only buy these load levelers thru the company). A pair is only Cnd$800, which is 50% cheaper than what Trailers Canada wanted. Also, these are rated for 25,000 lbs each. The company's name is AERO-KIT and you can find them here - The Look® Sliding Tarp Systems. They also sell storage boxes for trailers. I think of getting one as I didn't spec them from Wilson (again, they were too expensive).

 

Aug-29-2009

I picked up my tarps in Gary, IN today. The Tarp Stop guys did a great job. Tarps look "quality". I asked them to make the lumber tarps black, and the steel ones - blue. When I came in at 11 am this morning, they were still stenciling my name on the sides of the tarps. I"m sitting at a truck stop and worry someone might steal them - they do look brand spanking new. I don't have any room in the sleeper to hide them, so I just put them on the lower deck and threw 2 straps over. Any tips on how to protect the $1,200 tarps from getting stolen? I thought of putting a chain with a padlock on them but it didn't seem practical ...

 

August 31th, 2009

I crossed into Canada via Sarnia, ON without any problems and spent the night in a shopping mall parking lot in Kitchener, ON. There were cars coming and going till late in the night from the nearby movie theater (where I watched the new installment of "Final Destination" in 3D) and I was worried someone might steal my tarps

Nothing happened and in the morning I drove to Trailers Canada in Breslau where I met my sales guy, Bruce. A big tow truck arrived around 9 am and he took off the stepdecks off my flatbed one by one with its crane. I was shooting the action with my Flip and will post a video on YouTube in a couple of days, once I pick up the step with my truck.

We did the rest of the paperwork after and I signed my life away on a 60 month capital lease with GE Canada, with $1 buyback. After the 2 grand we added for accessories (I got it as cashback at signing to spend on things like tarps, load levelers, chains, straps and such), the price in Canadian Dollars came up to $40,406 (the actual price was $38.4K). I put $1,900 down.

The interest is pretty high (about 10%, I think) and my payments are going to be $873.74 a month, starting on October 16th (I asked them to give me a 45 day delay for the first payment). $41.61 in the payment is GST ('goods and sales tax') and I'll get a refund for it from the Government. So, the final out-of-the-pocket payment for the trailer will be Cnd$832.13/mo.

In terms of cashflow, nothing should change: I rented out my condo apartment for $800, which pretty much covers the trailer payment. I can't refinance the trailer because it's a lease, but I'll try to do something about my $1,600/mo truck payment. The 2004 truck is probably worth $32 - $35 grand on the street, and I owe only $23,000 to GE Canada for it. If I do nothing, the truck will be paid off in December 2010.

I'm looking forward to getting 82% percentage pay from now on, and with capital cost allowance for the trailer (30% a year), my profit per mile should improve.

I left the trailer at the dealer to let them plate it, re-paint a spot on the landing gear where the paint disappeared (the trailer rubbed against another, as they were being driven from Moberly, MO to Sioux City, Iowa), and replace the mud-flaps with the new Eco-Flaps I bought at a TA truck stop in Gary, IN on the way back. I'm using Eco-Flaps on the truck now and I like them, so I decided to make all flaps the same. The dealer said they should be done with the trailer tomorrow (Tuesday) at noon.

The license plate is going to be in my name, but the insurance will be provided through MacKinnon. I was surprised to learn that trailer licenses in Canada are given only once and that you don't have to buy any annual stickers (as we do for cars).

I called AeroKit, the company in Burlington, ON that sells load levelers and they said I can pick it up tomorrow, around 4 pm. I'll also buy the rest of the stuff I need for the trailer (chains, binders etc.) and I told Dispatch I should be ready for my first load Wednesday morning.

The trailer looks very well made, except for one tiny thing: the sliding winches are designed in such a way that they constantly scratch the aluminum on the trailer side. I checked both trailers (mine and the other one I brought over) and even though they are like one week old they already have nasty markings where the winches slided .. I asked Bruce the sales guy if I should put any grease in there and he said it was a bad idea.

Another thing that I'm not happy with is the straps. I bought 4" straps with flat hooks because they were on sale at Tarp Stop. These will fit the 4" winches, no problem there ... However the stake pockets will be too small for hooks to go through and I'll have to hook the straps to the rail under the side, which can withstand something like 5100 lbs. Stake pockets are rated for close to 6,000 lbs and Bruce said it's best to use stake pockets for securing loads.

Unless, and I'm thinking it might work, I'll unroll the strap, thread it through the stake pocket first and then hook the hook to the bottom of the stake pocket. I'll do a field experiment tomorrow once I have the trailer with me back at the MacKinnon yard.

All in all, I feel excited to become a 'truck and trailer' owner-operator, which is in full accordance with Rule #7 of the "Rich man in Babylon": INCREASE YOUR ABILITY TO EARN. Getting the trailer seemed like the easiest thing to do this - I'm going from $1.12/mi to 82% of the freight price.

I"m hiding my only credit card and switching to cash from now on. I'll split each paycheque like this:

10% - Savings account (for future invesments into trucking and real estate). This is where the money will come from if I decide to replace my stock exhaust manifold with an extrude-honed one. This costs about $1,200 and should improve my fuel mileage by .2 mpg. I"m also planning to buy a cheap 3-plex or 4-plex later on (owner-occupied), if I can find a deal with $0 down (read: "motivated seller").

20% - VISA (to pay off the existing balance). I"m not going to use the credit card until it's fully paid off. This is doable because I'm single, have no kids, and I don't smoke

70% - for bills and daily living. As the Rich Man from Babylon says, "Budget your expenses so that you may have coins to pay for your necessities, to pay for your enjoyments and to gratify your worthwhile desires without spending more than nine tenths of your earnings." Nine tenths is 90% (because you're supposed to save 'one tenth' or 10%) but when you have debt, they recommend you use 20% of your income to pay it off.

 

Which could be exactly the same.

 

great thread and posts. keep them comming. !!

 

Wilson's have had that system for winches for years. The comment you made about hook end straps is one of the reasons people use chain end type. Don't forget a while ago some of the states were enforcing the rule of "no straps over the rub rail" and nailing guys left and right. Did you get any floor tie-downs installed? I use those as much as possible (just cause) and it helps to make tarping look tidier and more professional.