Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/14162
Overlooked niches Where the loads are To work in a leased niche operation, first identify the carriers. “The sweet spots are the smaller mid-size carriers of 25 to 150 trucks that special- ize in a particular market,” Rajkovacz says. “If the large fleets stay away from it, that’s where you want to go.” Joel McGinley, executive consultant at Internet Truckstop, says 60 percent of the hauls that live the longest on the Internet load board are loads of 40,000 pounds and more or that require spe- cialized equipment such as a reefer or stepdeck. “They tend to pay decent, but the equipment just isn’t there to haul that freight,” he says. “You can get 10 to 25 percent more.” David Schrader, senior vice president for freight services at TransCore, says all types of flatbed work have been in need of highly qualified drivers lately. “This should persist throughout the summer, and much lost capac- For these opportunities: Go West Joe Rajkovacz of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association notes two potentially lucrative niches, but they’re clearly not for everyone. OVERWEIGHT EXCEPTIONS. Opera- tors used to hauling overweight loads might be able to tap into a niche in Great Plains and Rocky Mountain states. Many of these states are grandfathered in under federal size and weight rules, according to the Federal Highway Administration. For example, operators pulling a spread axle trailer can legally carry more than the 80,000-pound limit on interstate highways and other specified high- ways. “If you’re pulling a spread axle trailer, say from Fargo, N.D., to Seattle, and you add an extra tag axle to your trailer, you can legally pull 92,000 pounds,” Rajkovacz says. “A lot of states you can run up and down the [road] with 86,000 pounds.” PORT PAYOFF. A budding niche is permit loads bound for West Coast ports, such as Los Angeles and Long Beach. These loads often consist of heavy equipment for export or, more likely, for port use. Haulers of these loads must meet stringent regulations imposed by the clean air-conscious California ports, including emissions restrictions. Rajkovacz recalls one operator who called to ask if his 1997 Kenworth truck was legal to enter the Port of Long Beach because he wanted to take on a permit load paying $12,000 that was posted on a load board. “I had to tell him he couldn’t go into the port [because of the age of his truck]. The permits would have cost about $1,800.” Rajkovacz says the restrictions will create shortages of trucks that can serve those markets. He says rates are rising for loads designated for the ports because of a small pool of trucks that can qualify for the permits. “You can’t simply drop the load and have it repowered the last five miles,” Rajkovacz says. “The permit covers going the entire distance to the port property with a specific truck and trailer pulling it.” ity needs to be restored in this segment. The other type of loads would be regional short haul [200-350 miles]. Rates are high on this segment of traffic, even in markets like on the East Coast or parts of Texas that have overall freight deficits.” Hauling agricultural equipment generally pays well and lasts most of the year, depending on the region. Same for anything that needs a specialized trailer or tanker. “There are so few of them that you can’t build your network around them unless you specialize in that area,” McGinley says. Another source of good-paying loads that go begging for drivers is seasonal produce out of California, Texas, Arizona and Florida. During the prime summer months, that freight requires thousands of trucks. Sweetener transporter Wiederholt found out about his current run liter- ally by accident. As a volunteer fireman in Hazel Green, Wis., he helped clean up after a collision between a tractor-trailer and a tanker truck. Af- terward, he went to the paper mill that produced the material being hauled by the tanker to deliver news of the accident. When Wiederholt asked if the plant needed trucking help, he won the job. That was about eight years ago, and he’s been hauling from the plant ever since. Today, Wiederholt Transportation operates eight tractors and 10 tankers. Most of the loads contain lignin, a liquid byproduct from wood pulp processing. Wiederholt tankers haul it 325 miles from northern Wisconsin to northern Illinois. Since lignin is a food grade product, the hatch on the tanker has to be secured and opened correctly, with tamper-detection seals applied at the mill. “This works for me because of my location, because the road to the paper mill and plant pass by my front door,” Wiederholt says. “You also have to be in communication with the shipper and processor. Sometimes orders from the processor can change two or three times a day.” Wiederholt says he’s paid by the load ton at a rate that’s comparable to what hauling general freight pays. Although he’s not getting rich with this specialized haul, he appreciates the consis- tency. “And we don’t have to work Saturday and Sunday,” he says. 28 OVERDRIVE AUGUST 2010