Breaking into Tri-Axle Owner Operator

I don’t know anything about your area but in west central il there’s still plenty of companies/contractors that will hire dump trucks. You’re probably going to struggle to get much good reliable work as a 1 truck show. I have 2 and two buddies who have 1 each. That’s 4 trucks total. If we work together we have secured some #### good work over the years. As 1 truck it seems to be difficult to get into any big long term jobs….not saying you can’t make good money but you are likely working a day here and there for different small contractors.
Equipment wise you are going to have to keep costs down because of the intermittent nature of the work (in my opinion) Older trucks are fine…. I run a 72 ford and a 95 ford. Neither one will win any shows but so far they have never left a job early due to breakdowns….you have to stay on top of maintenance. Never had anyone complain about the age….but have heard plenty of griping about other trucks not being reliable. One big thing to watch for on older trucks is double frames with rust jacking problems….it’s amazing what 15 years of rust can do. I would strongly recommend looking for a heavy single frame….full lockers are a must in my opinion as well. If this is what you want to do you would be wise to buy the older truck now and figure on spending your time between now and next season getting it ready. Or go buy your 2026 like many new operators and hope you don’t go broke before you get things moving.

 

Everything but mack is vendor components except for the cab and frame. I am not a mack fan due to this and they did everything backwards compared to the rest of the world….they do seem to produce a well made truck (before about 2000??) Engine, transmission, axles and drive shaft parts are pretty much universal between brands so you really only need the dealer for cab related parts. Hood trucks tend to be easier to work on but a little harder to get around jobs with because of the decreased visibility around the front right corner…..nothing you can’t get used to though. Ford tended to keep everything important high on the frame and up out of danger (important for when you get stuck). They have good visibility but unfortunately some of or a lot of the engine is stuck in the cab which makes some maintenance a major pita. And you pretty much can’t get cab parts because freightliner bought them out and closed them down. They do in my experience seem to be a good value once you get past the minimal dealer support (freightliner seems to be able to look up and obtain some parts). I drove an old (78?) ih 4300 for a guy early on and liked it. It was a good truck to work on and pretty trouble free he also had a 9370 (89 iirc) that was about the same story except for the early electronic dash was troublesome. Probably my favorite is my old l9000 ford super simple and great visibility ( cab could be nicer though). kw and Pete are fine trucks as well and I think absolutely have better cabs but they like to put air tanks and stuff closer to the ground which can be problematic if you get hung up.
I’m guessing many will think I’m a fool for running trucks older than 2005 but it’s working well for me.