What to charge?

[Faster horses]

Mr. Fh has been approached about hauling some cattle to the sale barn.
He wants to do it, but we have no idea of what to charge. He has
a 24' aluminum trailer, so he can only haul for people with small amounts
of livestock. Apparently there is a demand for this and he loves doing it.
We want to be fair with what we charge. Would you charge the same
whether you hauled 12 head or 2 head?

Thanks for any input you can provide.

 

[nortexsook]

So much per loaded mile.

Probably around $2.25. Adjust as fuel prices rise.

 

[Northern Rancher]

It's 75-100 bucks a load up here.

 

[scout]

The cattle that I've gotten hauled for the sale barn is 2.00 to 2.50 a loaded mile . the amount of head hauled has no bearing on the price don,t matter if it is a single bull or 24 hd of calves. and that is 3 differnt guys hauling for us. bull rack has been running 300 dollars for anything less than a hundred miles. can,t really afford to haul for any less than that .

 

[Faster horses]

You charge for loaded mile, right?

 

[scout]

yes just when your loaded . some of are drivers that deliver on sale day usally stick around and catch a load going back towards home. every thing I ve gotten hauled for customers has been with in 60 miles . I ve found out it is hard to convince people to change sale barns but hauling the cattle the first year helps convince them to at least try the barn and so far i think I'll keep all of are new customers from Iowa.

 

[Triangle Bar]

Hey Faster, I'm pretty sure that Mr. FH will want to have the sale barn pay him directly for the trucking out of the sellers proceeds. There will be a lot less headaches that way instead of trying to collect individually.... of course if he is hauling from ranch to ranch he won't have that option.

 

[LazyWP]

I helped haul 90 head of bred cows into the barn yesterday. I pull a 26ft steel Trailman. Up until yesterday, I have been charging $1.50, and will only haul for my direct neighbors. Yesterday, I charged $70 for 37 miles. The other guy was pulling a 32ft aluminum trailer, and he charges whatever diesel is per gallon. Yesterday fuel was $3.49/gallon, so he charged $3.49/ mile. Neither one of us are legal to haul commercially, hence the reason why I only haul for immediate neighbors.
If you are going to haul for hire do it right. Get all the licenses, insurance, and fuel permits, it will keep the full time truckers alot happier.

 

[Faster horses]

We had talked about getting paid from the sale barn before the
seller got the proceeds. I appreciate you thinking of this Triangle Bar,
in case we hadn't.


License, insurance, fuel permits. Of course, there is always
that. We hadn't considered that, but you are right on.
Guess I best get to finding out what he will need. Life is so complicated,
it seems at times. I know we have to have a license to sell Vigortone.
Just part of it, I reckon.

Sure appreciate your input, guys. Thanks a lot.

 

[lazy ace]

Like the old saying goes Treat them like family....charge them like an inlaw. lol

have a good one

lazy ace

 

[Cedarcreek]

Charge by the mile with a minimum charge since a short haul can take up as much time as longer one. With out take time top run some numbers I'd say $2.50 per loaded mile with $125 minimum charge.

 

[Sundancer]

We are 42 miles from the sale barn. It costs us 350 dollars for a pot and 100 dollars for a 24 foot gooseneck. I think that is reasonable since we only need the services a couple times per year. Let that guy fix tires, fight ice and snow, buy insurance and put in transmissions! I'm happy to have the cattle ready to load before they get here! We always have the sale barn deduct the trucking expense from our sale proceeds. Works great!

 

[Soapweed]

The worse part about hauling cattle is cleaning out the trailer afterwards. :roll:

 

[Faster horses]

:nod: :nod: :nod:

 

[Denny]

I had to fix the inside fenders on a trailer one winter the owner was lax in cleaning it out so on a day in febuary he was reaching inside with his backhoe ended up tearing a bit of the fender out.He had a steel floor so it did work pretty well.

 

[Red Barn Angus]

I paid $250 this week for a straight semi trailer to haul about 65 miles. That is about $3.85 per loaded mile. The sale barn deducted the bill from my check. I would have had to make at least two trips with my 20' gooseneck trailer and I rather enjoyed just driving my pickup to the sale rather than dragging a trailer two round trips and doing all the work.