Trucking Costs

[joker7]

Anybody have any idea on starting prices for Trucking. We are about to cut the sweetcorn and the wife wants to buy a 2nd truck [cost 400k]. She mentioned minimum starting prices for trucking is 1000 baht / tonne. I thought this was kinda high. We have around 60 MT to truck.

You think she is in the ballpark ?

Joker

[thunder30101]

I think you better get a firmer price than that, distance is what they usually figure regarding costs and whether it is a 6 wheel truck that will haul approx 5 cubic meters or a 10 wheel truck that hauls 10 cubes unless you are talking about a pickup truck.

[WatersEdge]

Not enough information.

Tons per day?

Haul distance?

Truck and Trailer 30 ton load for relatively long hauls,

say more than 300 km

will be around B1.20 / km ton

Ten Wheel 16 ton load around B1.50 / km ton

Therefore B1,000 / ton will buy

830 km on a Truck & Trailer

670 km on a Ten Wheeler

If you use 6 wheel, 4 wheel or pickup truck it will cost you progressively more per unit weight distance, but you may not have enough to fill a big truck in one day.

Can you refrigerate several days' harvest

until you have accumulated a full truck load?

Is there a cold storage warehouse in your area?

Not that I know anyone doing this,

it's just the logical solution to shipping a perishable product long distance.

If you spread a layer of ice into a pile of corn,

layering it as you add more corn

cover it with a tarp to minimize air exposure

and let the cold water run down through the stack

you could chill a partial load of corn,

holding it cool several days

Once you get the corn cobs chilled throughout they will not generate further internal heat by spoilage,

but warm corn as brought from the field will be very quickly degraded.

The key is to get it chilled all the way through the cob,

immediately after picking,

and not let it get warm again until time to cook.

Dropping it in an ice water bath is best,

with a bit of copper sulfate or tannic acid as antimicrobial.

Sweet Corn shippers in Chiang Mai consolidate many farmers' daily pick onto full truckloads with no apparent effort to chill in advance.

[TPI]

Not enough information.

Tons per day?

Haul distance?

Truck and Trailer 30 ton load for relatively long hauls,

say more than 300 km

will be around B1.20 / km ton

Ten Wheel 16 ton load around B1.50 / km ton

Therefore B1,000 / ton will buy

830 km on a Truck & Trailer

670 km on a Ten Wheeler

If you use 6 wheel, 4 wheel or pickup truck it will cost you progressively more per unit weight distance, but you may not have enough to fill a big truck in one day.

Can you refrigerate several days' harvest

until you have accumulated a full truck load?

Is there a cold storage warehouse in your area?

Not that I know anyone doing this,

it's just the logical solution to shipping a perishable product long distance.

If you spread a layer of ice into a pile of corn,

layering it as you add more corn

cover it with a tarp to minimize air exposure

and let the cold water run down through the stack

you could chill a partial load of corn,

holding it cool several days

Once you get the corn cobs chilled throughout they will not generate further internal heat by spoilage,

but warm corn as brought from the field will be very quickly degraded.

The key is to get it chilled all the way through the cob,

immediately after picking,

and not let it get warm again until time to cook.

Dropping it in an ice water bath is best,

with a bit of copper sulfate or tannic acid as antimicrobial.

Sweet Corn shippers in Chiang Mai consolidate many farmers' daily pick onto full truckloads with no apparent effort to chill in advance.

dam_n good info! Thanks for that.

[joker7]

Surely it has to be more expensive.

Costs of 1,000 baht / tonne will give 670 km on a 10 wheeler.

Based on your cost ratio above I could take 75MT - 670 km for 75,000 baht.

So If I only need to transfer 30km I would have thought there would be a minimum charge. Seems very cheap if I use your cost ratio above.

[WatersEdge]

Hi joker7

Yes, That's what I'm saying, the figures are correct.

It seems cheap, but still relatively expensive to even larger scale transport.

If you want to doubt your senses,

look at the CSX Railroad ad

They move a ton of freight 423 miles on one gallon of fuel.

For a short haul, you do have load & unload time,

but in that extra time the truck isn't burning fuel.

Thailand truckers typically don't consider parked time very expensive.

If someone is offering to haul your Sweet Corn 30 km for B1,000 / MT

You could do better.

B1000 / 30 => B33 / km MT

I could put a ton on my pickup truck,

drive slowly and and spend one hour on the road

I'd burn 5.5 liters of diesel => B200?

It might take me half an hour to load then unload, so I'm two hours per load

I like to figure equivalent fuel cost as vehicle cost,

so let's deduct another B200 for the wear and tear on my truck

I can turn 4 loads in an 8 hour day, so I have B2,400 in my pocket at day's end.

In addition to paying off my new truck

If I want to do a 16 hour day, B4,800

A pickup truck is the worst case.

If I buy a decent 6 wheel, then I can haul maybe 5 tons per load.

If I have a bigger truck, then my time becomes a smaller part of the expense.

Right now Cassava chips are coming from Kamphaeng Phet to Mae Sot,

and the shipper is paying B350 / ton on maybe a 200 km haul.

Not exactly sure the distance...but if 200 is near correct, that's B1.75 / km MT

The shipper is complaining at the high expense

It could be that the trucks can't get a full 30 ton load on as chips are not dense.

The 80 km over Tak mountain highway is a bear.

200 km is a relatively short haul.

[Foreverford]

Hi joker7

Yes, That's what I'm saying, the figures are correct.

It seems cheap, but still relatively expensive to even larger scale transport.

If you want to doubt your senses,

look at the CSX Railroad ad

They move a ton of freight 423 miles on one gallon of fuel.

For a short haul, you do have load & unload time,

but in that extra time the truck isn't burning fuel.

Thailand truckers typically don't consider parked time very expensive.

If someone is offering to haul your Sweet Corn 30 km for B1,000 / MT

You could do better.

B1000 / 30 => B33 / km MT

I could put a ton on my pickup truck,

drive slowly and and spend one hour on the road

I'd burn 5.5 liters of diesel => B200?

It might take me half an hour to load then unload, so I'm two hours per load

I like to figure equivalent fuel cost as vehicle cost,

so let's deduct another B200 for the wear and tear on my truck

I can turn 4 loads in an 8 hour day, so I have B2,400 in my pocket at day's end.

In addition to paying off my new truck

If I want to do a 16 hour day, B4,800

A pickup truck is the worst case.

If I buy a decent 6 wheel, then I can haul maybe 5 tons per load.

If I have a bigger truck, then my time becomes a smaller part of the expense.

Right now Cassava chips are coming from Kamphaeng Phet to Mae Sot,

and the shipper is paying B350 / ton on maybe a 200 km haul.

Not exactly sure the distance...but if 200 is near correct, that's B1.75 / km MT

The shipper is complaining at the high expense

It could be that the trucks can't get a full 30 ton load on as chips are not dense.

The 80 km over Tak mountain highway is a bear.

200 km is a relatively short haul.

As always you can't make it simpler and if you aren't the owner operator of your own equipment here in Thailand you are looking for big trouble. Always hire out if you can (well maybe not always if you are tal,king 1000 baht a ton for a short haul as is obvious from your #'s). Trucking costs are unbelieveable low here I have found especially if you can find a return haul. when the rails are brought above 1930's standard then another new door will open. PS WE I got lucky and got the pond fixed for free but thanks for your response on the betonite. Again it was a trucking decision that was the crux to that issue. choke dee Keep On Trucking on a Ford Forever

[joker7]

Thanks lads - Ill have the get the wife on this. I thought her figure she was quoted was ott. Her old man is usually pretty sharp at these things. Could be he just mentioned that as he wants a truck out of it.

Havnt actually confirmed anything yet so will see what pans out.

J

[soundman]

Truck and Trailer 30 ton load for relatively long hauls,

say more than 300 km

will be around B1.20 / km ton

Ten Wheel 16 ton load around B1.50 / km ton

Fairly close to the mark with these prices.

We charge our 10 wheelers out at 5,000B per day plus fuel, or 1.50B per tonne per kilometer on decent roads, up to 2.50B per tonne per kilometer for poor, hilly roads.

18 wheeler goes for around 11,000B per day plus fuel, weight per kilometer prices the roughly the same.

[WatersEdge]

Hi soundman,

This is what we needed,

directly from an operator.

All my information was from memory of freight quotations received in the past.

Thanks.

[Foreverford]

Truck and Trailer 30 ton load for relatively long hauls,

say more than 300 km

will be around B1.20 / km ton

Ten Wheel 16 ton load around B1.50 / km ton

Fairly close to the mark with these prices.

We charge our 10 wheelers out at 5,000B per day plus fuel, or 1.50B per tonne per kilometer on decent roads, up to 2.50B per tonne per kilometer for poor, hilly roads.

18 wheeler goes for around 11,000B per day plus fuel, weight per kilometer prices the roughly the same.

Hey there guy with the Sounds. As W E said verification of #'s will allow people to reference this for a long time and have a rough idea of what trucking should be in and around their area. thanks also for the off road or semi-off-road quotes. If i may I would like to know the reason for the eighteen wheeler (sometimes I'm really slow on figuring things) costing more than two 10 wheelers. Obviously the ten wheelers would be more versatile in a situation of multiple runs where you can dump and go (maybe like sugar cane or ferilizwer or earth). Are the ten wheelers dump beds? If not then I can see certain advantages to a eighteen wheeler. Forever Figuring Finances with a Ford

PS Where are you located?

Edited July 14, 2011 by Foreverford

[joker7]

The wife has since retracted her earlier statement and now says the cost is only 100 / baht per tonne. Seems much more in the ball park. Plus all the waiting around is done by the truck driver and we only pay for delivery.

[WatersEdge]

Hi joker7

B100 / 30 => B3.30 / km MT

For small loads on short haul, that's good.

1 less Zero does make a difference

[soundman]

Truck and Trailer 30 ton load for relatively long hauls,

say more than 300 km

will be around B1.20 / km ton

Ten Wheel 16 ton load around B1.50 / km ton

Fairly close to the mark with these prices.

We charge our 10 wheelers out at 5,000B per day plus fuel, or 1.50B per tonne per kilometer on decent roads, up to 2.50B per tonne per kilometer for poor, hilly roads.

18 wheeler goes for around 11,000B per day plus fuel, weight per kilometer prices the roughly the same.

Hey there guy with the Sounds. As W E said verification of #'s will allow people to reference this for a long time and have a rough idea of what trucking should be in and around their area. thanks also for the off road or semi-off-road quotes. If i may I would like to know the reason for the eighteen wheeler (sometimes I'm really slow on figuring things) costing more than two 10 wheelers. Obviously the ten wheelers would be more versatile in a situation of multiple runs where you can dump and go (maybe like sugar cane or ferilizwer or earth). Are the ten wheelers dump beds? If not then I can see certain advantages to a eighteen wheeler. Forever Figuring Finances with a Ford

PS Where are you located?

18 wheeler is more suited to longer distance travelling, it actually uses a little less fuel than two 10 wheelers for the same distance. I guess we charge slightly more for it because of initial outlay, larger insurance premiums, and trailer maintenance costs. We have both trailer, for moving machinery, and dump versions. 18 wheelers are not really suitable for rough off-road work, whereas 10 wheelers will go practically anywhere, and are small enough to maneuver in those tight country 4m wide sois.

Horses for courses.

[Foreverford]

Truck and Trailer 30 ton load for relatively long hauls,

say more than 300 km

will be around B1.20 / km ton

Ten Wheel 16 ton load around B1.50 / km ton

Fairly close to the mark with these prices.

We charge our 10 wheelers out at 5,000B per day plus fuel, or 1.50B per tonne per kilometer on decent roads, up to 2.50B per tonne per kilometer for poor, hilly roads.

18 wheeler goes for around 11,000B per day plus fuel, weight per kilometer prices the roughly the same.

Hey there guy with the Sounds. As W E said verification of #'s will allow people to reference this for a long time and have a rough idea of what trucking should be in and around their area. thanks also for the off road or semi-off-road quotes. If i may I would like to know the reason for the eighteen wheeler (sometimes I'm really slow on figuring things) costing more than two 10 wheelers. Obviously the ten wheelers would be more versatile in a situation of multiple runs where you can dump and go (maybe like sugar cane or ferilizwer or earth). Are the ten wheelers dump beds? If not then I can see certain advantages to a eighteen wheeler. Forever Figuring Finances with a Ford

PS Where are you located?

18 wheeler is more suited to longer distance travelling, it actually uses a little less fuel than two 10 wheelers for the same distance. I guess we charge slightly more for it because of initial outlay, larger insurance premiums, and trailer maintenance costs. We have both trailer, for moving machinery, and dump versions. 18 wheelers are not really suitable for rough off-road work, whereas 10 wheelers will go practically anywhere, and are small enough to maneuver in those tight country 4m wide sois.

Horses for courses.

Hey there again Man with the Sounds

Thanks for the info. Where are you located? I'll be needing trucks after rice season. Fill em Up Fords Forever

Edited July 22, 2011 by Foreverford