Thinking about re-entering the tipper game , Thoughts?

And if you head for the long distance game a lot of your competitors are doing 12 hours on the log book, and then another 6 hours doing local pickup and drops. A race to the bottom. Be interesting to see how/if the new renumeration regs change things.

G'day Scratcha, if youre starting out with no customers then work will be available through an agency. Give EPH or Lantrak a ring. Find out the rates, deduct 15%, your fuel, costs and wages. Don't forget to budget in SFA income for the first cupla months too! Be best to have an excavator or Bobcat in the tipper if you want more than glorified wages. Southbound made good money with a Tipper (6mt) bobcat and water tank, but not doing it anymore now. Once you are up and running with regular paying customers it's great. Cheers SB

Im in the construction industry, We have noted a bit of a slow down but not a lot! We all ways have tried to do work that no one else wants to or can do, This formula works for us but it can also limit the work you do have, but you get to charge a premium! Maybe look around for an opportunity in something no one else wants to do?

Love it, Scratcha! Should be more of it!

Jist think n out loud
Guess n if some one mentions a U Bute truck n scheme ( lotsa $ n low hours of work)
U'd soon have 100's if not 1000's of oposition do n the same
tuff game .......... n purely for the dedicated

U need to have a sum value added to u're truck az in:
Crane Truck
Tanker
Tipper
Bobca@
BackHoe/F.E.Loader
Tractor n smudge plate


Etc Etc Etc

Butt
WaddaEyeKno

cya

scratcha wrote: G'day all, im seriously considering a career change, I currently work in the rail industry, its treated me well, but the itch has remained since the bobcat & D series 20 years ago.

Im thinking tandem drive, heart says GM, head says cat or cummins,

Not real fussy, is there the work?

I really got the burn after talking with the fellas that excavated across the road from me, old plastic cabbed A and a ford stirling type banger,
didnt get numbers, but they loved the work.

Im in melbourne.
Open to suggestions, floggings etc

Thanks in advance.

Scratcha

I'll pass on to you the advice I was given years ago when considering a career change.

Try to expose yourself to it without risk or taking away from your current employment.

So in your case, it might mean to see if you can get some Saturday work driving casual for someone. I believe Hansons here in Sydney are short of Saturday drivers for their mixers which are all auto btw.

That way you might get a taste to see if the grass is greener...

Good luck in your travels

Roland

Thankyou for all the replies fella's, really appreciated, lots to think about, lots to research.

Swishy, your on the money with the extra's, I had a broom on my old skiddy, got a heap of work from that alone (the chainsaw was a bous too, believe it or not!)

I retired from interstate and drove a tipper and backhoe for an Old mate we was both casual as in it didn't matter wether we worked or went fishing I'd had a gutful of driving and he was gettin over Chemo, however we picked up some interesting contracts due to having a PTO driven flat belt type conveyor designed and built by him that quick hitched to the rear of the tipper allowing the backfilling of sub soil drains and holes with pinpoint acccuracy and not having to run back and forward one bucket at a time kinda deal his JCB with the extenda hoe bizzo and a Rock hammer attachment was a bonus got us a lot of work blokes without that gear couldn't do, short contracts specialised gear payed noicely.

As a side note one of my Nephews gets around FNQ in a tipper and bobby cleaning out stormwater drains during the dry season makes a good buck out of it although he does slip in and get orridly deep sometimes and the Taipans omg don't leave ya windows open lol, stinkin dirty job but hey the cash is clean.