kinetichotshot

This is something that I have been thinking about myself, and recently came to light, which has left me in somewhat of a quandry. I do not, at the moment, have the room for a staging area. I do, however, have a truck and trailer(trucking company) and (live) very close to Ft. Sam Houston (San Antonio, TX). I know what my standard transportation rates are, my local rates, and what I used to charge when I drove a wrecker!
Now that I have said that, here is my quandry..
First, is there anyone in the San Antonio area with room for storage? ( I think I have found a place, but havent work out rates with them yet...)
Second, What would you all consider reasonable rates for pickup at base and delivery to a local storage lot? Obviously I would have an apx 14 day window, but this could potentially take a considerable amount of time... as a wrecker driver I charged a base rate plus mileage, and hourly depending on the situation. Now, over distance, every thing is basically based on mileage, however I have a "Minimum rate" that applies even if you just need me to move something across the street, and I have an hourly "demurge" fee if I am held up to get loaded or unloaded over a certain amount of time... this is all part of the industry that I am in, and as you all have mentioned, the "high" cost of transportation. Transportation being my business, I have to charge for my services, but want to provide my service at a reasonable rate without going upside down, of course.
Thoughts?

Laterz,
Gator
>|--|~

Kinetic Freight Services, LLC
Leased to: ACME Truck Line
Bryan (Aggieland) TX
Kineticfreight@gmail.com
(210)862-9501

ida34

I appreciate your input Gator. You obviously need to make money hauling. Most of us have day jobs and I make my money while at work. With that being said when I help someone out I like to at least get my fuel costs back but I do it mostly to help my fellow SS member. I have done so on occasion in the past. Unfortunately this would kind of mess you over if you were in my area as I am not trying to make money. I can see two reasons for getting a vehicle off base and to a staging area. The first reason is to spend the least amount possible to get something home. The second is time factor. Either wanting to get the truck off the GL lot in the 14 day window or ,in my case, wanting to be able to come get it on the weekend my self without taking a day or two off. My main motivation is I am willing to pay more than my fuel costs to get a truck shipped home but not double or triple my cost. I recently put up a request on uship for an m818 from Columbus OH to Ann Arbor MI. The only offer was $1500. My fuel costs would be about $200 to $250. Figure in snacks and eating out and the figure goes up to about $275 or so. There is not way that the hassle factor is worth $1225. I would probably pay $500 to $600 to not have the hassle. That is about $3.00 a mile for the $600 figure. Going 500 or so miles away and I am willing to pay more hassle factor money as I would have over night accommodations and more food and such to factor in.

I guess the whole thing is that we do a lot for each other as favors or for a little scratch and I think that is what the thread is about. Some guys are not as cheap as I am. I have done a long day picking a truck up at Fort Knox and bringing it back to Ann Arbor MI. That was a really long day. I did it in one day. I will not do that again.

At any rate, I would check for a quote on shipping but if I got something within 300 miles I would be more inclined to do it myself unless the price was low enough. I would also hope a fellow SS member would be able to help me out by getting it off the lot for me so I could get it on the weekend. If you were closer I would be checking with you for a good price as I will probably get a truck from Columbus or Wright Patterson in the near future.

Chuck Graham
1969 Kaiser-Jeep M35A2

kinetichotshot

Ida; I whole heartedly agree with you on the assistance factor of helping out a fellow member, especially knowing that I will most likely be in need of assistance in this or a similar manner. My rates for transport vary dependent upon what I am hauling and where due to many factor, including dead head (ie: how far will I have to go empty to pick it up or to get to my next load) and the rate that I can get to get back from a certain region... There are many many factors involved in the cost of freight that I don't think this is the place to get into.... I already discount for members here and if I know that I am going somewhere empty and have the time to make a stop or two I may post that emptiness for everyone here to see because I would rather give an even deeper discount to help someone here out than to take cheap freight from a broker! All of this is why I decided to ask for all of your opinions as to what you feel would be reasonable cost for said service as opposed to charging you my "Minimum" or an Hourly or whatever that would quickly become $500 or better just to get it off post when I am willing to haul a truck from San Antonio to Houston for the same $500 (with flexible schedule).

I just realized that some of this may sound inflamatory, Please don't take it that way as that is not how it is intended, just further explanation of my intention behind the post...

Thanks for all of you input and I hope I'm not opening a bad can of worms...
Gator
>|--|~

Kinetic Freight Services, LLC
Leased to: ACME Truck Line
Bryan (Aggieland) TX
Kineticfreight@gmail.com
(210)862-9501

ida34

No offense at all. I am just a cheap bastard so with it would probably be harder to come to a reasonable price to me than some other folks. I had a guy get with me and if I could have moved the truck right away he could have given me a real good deal as he was empty in the area after another haul. I wasn't trying to flame you either. Just giving my input. I am a tough sell but in my old age I am getting more willing to pay rather than do myself. In my mind $2.50 to $3.00 a loaded mile is reasonable if I had the money to spend and depending on the total cost. I talked to a towing company in Ann Arbor about towing my deuce home if it was not road worthy and they would just charge hourly. This adds up when the GL rep forgets to put you name on the list at the main gate. One time it took me about 2 hours to even get on base. This is the thing that really hurts but the haul was just a two hour drive there and back but you never know how long you are going to sit trying to pickup. My pickup today was great. I was in and out in about an hour including waiting for the rep. Maybe the staging thread will get you more work as we would not have to worry about paying you to sit while the base people or GL get their butts in gear and you get loaded.

Anyway, no offense and my comments were not made to offend. I am sure pricing on your end is tough with the fluctuation fuel prices and such.

After thinking about it if I was going to go through the trouble of paying a pro to get my truck off base I probably would either have them haul it all the way home or I would just go get it myself if it was close. If it was farther away and I got a great deal on the truck I think I would pay to have it moved to an SS members place while I try to get a trip going to pick up the truck. I would call $100 to $200 reasonable to pick up a truck from a GL lot and move it a few miles off post. Thats what I would pay anyway. I figure I don't want to pay a lot to ship a truck back from far away and I don't want to go 1000 miles back and forth to get a truck so I am stuck looking for auctions near me. The upcoming TN auctions may make me go back on that though.

Chuck Graham
1969 Kaiser-Jeep M35A2

Blythewoodjoe

I have in the past had at least one guy store a few trucks on our property. I don't mind doing things like that but it would be a "check with me before you plan on it" deal. I have also picked up a few things for other guys including one M35. If I have the time I don't mind doing anything but my business is very unpredicalbe and can't ever make long term commitments. I am 20 minutes from Ft. Jackson.

Having said this, if you want me to look at something or help out, if you ask me to and I say I don't have time right now, it either means I don't have time, or I am planning on bidding myself

citizensoldier

Anybody near Lords Valley PA that could pick up a trailer this week and store until I can come get it or make trucking arrangements? Its a beat up old M116 Pioneer trailer.. It will pull with a regular truck and pintle no problem.

Avatar = Self explanatory Get er done!
54' M37CDN,56' R2 "Argyle", 52' M42 project, WC51,M51A2,M52A2,M816,M35 Curtiss Wright gasser,M35A2 "Sandbox Slayer", M35A2 tank truck,M109A2,M1009,M56B1,M818,M135,WC52,M35A2x8,M8 87x3,MKT-90, MKT-89,M1009,and to many trailers to list.

2027Deuce

I have plenty of room here if you need to connect with someone. I'm in NE Nebraska just west of Sioux City, IA. If I can help or you need a place to park just let me know.

Scott

M35 Gasser
M35A2 W/W Tan Whistler
M109A3 Tan
M105A2 Tan

Semper Fi

MVPA #32423

http://peoplearecrazy.net/

"May the good Lord bless you with deuce tracks in your dirveway"

54reo

So, how do we know who is a "staging" memeber, and thier location?

Whould it be possible to have a different color "pin" on the locator map?

Of course, all of this is on a volunteer basis; and would be handled in PM's.

kinetichotshot

Ok... I found two places around here that I believe can be used as "Staging Lots" for around $15 a day. I still need to go talk to them (probably happen on Monday) about specifics, but they are fenced/gated... Also my neighbor drives a big truck wrecker and I spoke with him about this, and he said that he could tow trucks from Ft. Sam to said staging lot for between $100 and $200 depending on the truck (deuce or tractor only vs trailer or combo veh) and how much work is involved (if he has to drop a driveshaft or cage brakes) I can haul out single vehicles and believe that I can do for the same rates, just need to figure out if there is a way to get them back off my trailer if they are not running...
If you are coming in to town to inspect or load out yourself I will be glad to assist with that as long as I am in town and have the time, and can probably even show up with the "Oops, I forgot to bring (insert whatever tool here.)..." I have a fairly decent shop tool set up here. Just please let me know before you head down here to see if I am available or not...
Laterz,
Gator
>|--|~

Kinetic Freight Services, LLC
Leased to: ACME Truck Line
Bryan (Aggieland) TX
Kineticfreight@gmail.com
(210)862-9501

Melvinitis

This thread seemed to die. was there any resolution to getting a different pin color or somthing like that? Anyone float this by one of the "powers that be"? I did not see any comment from moderators I recognize.