Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/14162
Overlooked niches and made my final pickup at midnight Friday in Yuma. This time of year you’re picking up peaches, nectarines, strawberries and cherries. I had 1,029 miles of pickups,” he says. “The load paid $7,480 coming home.” Other operators do similar LTL pickups of California wine. They stop for several cases at a time, Marshall says. His strong earnings – $86,000 last year – allow him to drive a 2010 Kenworth T660 and a 2008 reefer with a sliding spread axle. However, his specialty requires hard work. DuWayne Marshall’s niche is hauling cheese and sau- sage west and backhauling California and Arizona produce. Produce, cheese and sausage specialist DuWayne Marshall specializes in LTL in both directions of his roundtrip from Wisconsin to California. Heading west he hauls mostly cheese and sausage, typically making six to 14 stops, the majority in California. After unloading, he begins his pickups of produce in the state and in Arizona for the return path. “I have a broker who [arranges] loads for me going to California,” Marshall says. “The produce coming back is all my own deal. I have my own receiver [a chain of five grocery stores in Wisconsin] and a few brokers I use to fill in the empty spots. I literally go shopping for this guy.” On one recent trip, Marshall started in Los Angeles, headed north to Salinas and Watson- ville, drove to other produce areas near Fresno, turned south to Coachella and finally to Yuma, Ariz. “I started loading Wednesday at noon Regional rates differ Where you haul can make a difference to your bottom line. Joel McGinley of Internet Truckstop says rates on loads leaving Midwest locations such as Illi- nois, Indiana, Missouri and Kentucky are likely to produce better rates. Also, hauling to a specific market may pay better as well. Following is a comparison showing the spread of recent rates to specific cities from major shipping points, provided by David Schrader of TransCore: • Miami to Jacksonville, Fla. – $1.33/ mile. Miami to Atlanta – $1.03 for vans. • Philadelphia to Norfolk, Va. – $2.04/mile. Philadelphia to Raleigh, N.C. – $1.28/mile. • Atlanta to the Ohio River region – more than $2/mile for reefers. Atlanta to Chicago – $1.57/mile. (All rates include fuel and are without any accessorials, based on TransCore’s Truckload Rate Index – spot market.) Occasionally, Marshall says, he has to load and unload with a pallet jack. Sometimes he has to stack products by hand to make everything fit in the trailer. Even with the reefer running, it’s hot in the summer with the trailer door open. The main reward is the superior pay. Whether it’s the physical labor, multiple stops or trailer investment, Marshall believes his niche doesn’t appeal to big carriers or most operators. “I can’t compete with the big guys – I don’t have 5,000 trailers that I can drop,” he says. “I have to have something where I’m making money. It has to be something the big boys can’t or won’t do.” Plant transporter Bobby Lohmeier has been trucking for 35 years, 33 as an owner-operator. Transporting meat and cheese from Wisconsin to the West Coast and hauling house plants back to the Midwest, Lohmeier earns $2.20 to $2.40 a mile. He’s been running this business on his own since 2002. “It’s high-paced and hard work, but I get paid very well for it,” he says. In addition to his rig, Lohmeier’s Strollin’ West business leases seven other contractors working in LTL. He’s usually required to load and unload boxes of plants and individual plants in packing sleeves. On a typical run back to the Midwest, he’ll make between 10 and 15 stops. “I have what I have because of the service I give,” Lohmeier says. “Most people try to get work on price, and that’s a problem with this industry.” Part of his service is meeting deadlines. He runs a 2009 Volvo and 2008 reefer to help ensure he’s on time. “I keep newer equipment, because when you have specialized stuff, breakdowns are unacceptable,” he says. “Everything I do is time- sensitive. If you don’t deliver freight on time or have some specialty, you’re just another [trucker] out here.” n 32 OVERDRIVE AUGUST 2010 Courtesy of DuWayne Marshall