What is the current Hauling rates?
I just contacted a hauler to haul two 16 miles, 11 highway, and was quoted $110!!! That is $6.90 Per mile. So before I say that is way to much for a local haul when you are local to, what is the current going rate?
Had to post again to get off that post number. Eek!
Around here it costs $50/day +/- to rent a trailer, and that assumes you have your own truck that can haul it. $100 to have someone drive to your location, load up, drive to the drop-off location, drive the truck and trailer home, and do all the trailer cleaning doesn’t seem unreasonable. Not to mention all the maintenance and insurance they are also paying on truck and trailer.
Most local haulers I know charge a minimum rate and would be in the $100-ish range, because it’s not worth it to them to hook up the truck and trailer otherwise. Barn mates or barn owners who are effectively subsidizing their boarders might charge less.
Buy a trailer and pay all the maintenance and extra wear and tear on the truck for a year. $100 starts looking really reasonable in comparison.
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I would have no problem with that charge. As Halt Near X has indicated, there is much more to the job than the road travel.
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Trust me, I do want to buy something but I am after a European style lorry with full living, not just a trailer or I would have taken the jump on it a few times if only to avoid this situation.
I am having a hard time with $6.90 per mile though. That is high.
But it’s not really 16 miles…it’s the distance from that person’s house to your horse, the 16 mile trip, then the distance from your horse’s new location back home for the person hauling.
For ease of calculation, let’s say it’s just an even round trip of 32 miles…that’s only $3.45 per mile, which isn’t outrageous.
And that doesn’t count the time it takes to go get the trailer, hitch up, put it back, clean it up, and un hitch.
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Once you buy that, figure out how many miles you’ll have to drive to get the cost down to $6.90 per mile after initial cost, fuel, maintenance, etc, etc, etc.
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Think of it like a cab drive, then.
There’s a pick up fee and a minimum milage fee. If the minimum milage is 5 miles (in a cab, just so we’re clear), then you’re going to pay the base fee + milage on five miles even if the cab only takes you one block because it was raining and you didn’t want to walk and get wet.
In this case, you almost certainly aren’t paying $6.90 per mile as a calculated per-mile rate on the hauler’s part. You’re probably paying their standard hook up fee (to cover the cost of just getting to you and then getting home from your drop-off location, which is likely a lot more than 16 miles) + their minimum mileage fee.
It sucks that you only needed to go 16 miles, but it is literally (once you do the math and honestly include everything as a business would, and don’t skim over details the way friends/barn owners often do) not worth the hauler’s time to pick up and haul you those 16 miles for less than the $100.
But if you don’t like that quote, throw something on on Craig’s List or Facebook. If nothing else, that will help you figure out if the first quote really is realistic for your area or if it’s high.
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Add the cost of unknown horses. They may be good easy loaders or not. They may be good in a trailer or not.
I’ve been the last to leave a show because old hoss just didn’t want to get in the trailer. Had a friend get her trailer enlarged by the bump-out from a horse kicking the trailer wall.
I don’t haul other people’s horses because of the unknowns that I get to become responsible for. $10.00 per mile is too cheap for my rig. For a friend in trouble though, my rig is there ASAP. Just a tip… If you HAVE to unload and transfer horses to another trailer on the side of a highway. Call the Highway patrol. Traffic will pay attention to the flashing lights and badge … slowing/moving over. Otherwise not.
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I have been charged $200 for an 800 km trip, one way.
I was quoted a fill rate of $550 US for a one way trip from NC to Ontario Canada. And had a few other quotes from $1800 - $3000 for the same haul.
I called for a quote to take a mare about 15 mins up the road. $150 yikes!!! I saddled her up and rode her there instead.
Haulers will charge whatever people will pay.
I know that the initial $ figure has shocked OP, so let us break down the cost.
From your post, I believe you are moving 2 horses. Correct? That makes the fee $55 per horse.
Hauler must hitch up, check lights and brakes. This takes me somewhere between 10 and 15 minutes. I am sure others are much faster than I am, but for easy calculation I will use 15 minutes. Then journey to pickup location. Lets assume location is close, and assign another 15 minutes to this. If lucky, owner and horses will be ready to load, and departure will be 15 minutes. Chances are this interval will drag on. Horses may or may not be good loaders. Owner may attempt to load entire tack room of supplies to accompany horses. Actual pickup can be 15-60 minutes. I will use 30 minutes for calculation. Travel 16 miles to new location on mostly good roads another 20-25 minutes. Drop off 10-15 minutes. Drive home 30 minutes. Unhook, clean trailer 10-15 minutes.
15+15+30+20+10+30+10=130 minutes. (Providing everything goes smoothly and horses are good haulers)
Now consider: Two hours that might easily stretch to three hours, cost to own and maintain truck and trailer, fuel, insurance, several telephone conversations, possible damage to trailer. This trip has moved into the area of being more trouble than it is worth.
When I am approached with requests to move other peoples horses, I always have a scheduling conflict that will prevent me from providing assistance, or the trailer is “down at present”.
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Given the time it will take, do you still think the price is high?
Do you want someone with their capital sunk into equipment and some skill to work for minimum wage?
I also find that folks who don’t have rigs sometimes have horses who don’t load or ride well. That adds in time and also sometimes some extra wear on the trailer when the horse kicks or paws hard or whatever.
As others have said, there’s more to this than cost per loaded mile. If you want to pay $1.00 or even $2.00 per loaded mile, ask yourself how many miles you’d want to haul in order to make the job worth your time.
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That sounds very reasonable. Around here there is a base charge of $100 to $150 for them to hitch up and show up for local trips. Then $1-$2 per mile on top of that. So that would be $116 low end to $182 high end for 16 miles.
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We pay $75/hour for hauling. Could be one horse, could be four.
$110 / 16 miles = $6.88
$6.88 /2 = $3.44 per loaded mile per horse
$3.44/2 (assuming hauler has to get back to where he started and not taking into account how many miles it took to get to the original destination) = $1.72 per mile per horse
I wouldn’t do it any cheaper.
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I think the only way a cheaper per-mile rate could be expected if it’s the BO’s trailer, currently located at the same place as the horse to be hauled, AND your BO is a kind and generous soul.
Before I got my own trailer, I asked my then-BO re: how much she would charge to haul a couple of us out for a trail ride. The rate was roughly $1/mile per horse, with an additional per-hour fee for driver waiting time (i.e., while horse is being ridden). At the time, it seemed like a lot of money-- that trail ride would have cost the two of us well over $100 each for a few hours off-property.
Now I have my own truck and trailer, and I know better. :lol:
My truck gets (at best) 8mpg hauling, so the simple act of pulling a trailer costs about .40/mile. Driving it from my house to/from the barn to hitch up said trailer takes an hour R/T and costs me $16 in gas before I even hitch up. With the time it takes to hitch up, prep the trailer (shavings and haynets), check lights, load tack, fill water, etc., then unload after hauling, clean the trailer out, park, unhitch, takes at least an hour, before a horse even steps into the thing. So that’s two hours of my time without even actually transporting a horse.
Add in the extra registration fees for the truck (because it’s in a higher weight class), annual registration fees for the trailer itself, plus routine maintenance for both, costs me at least $500/year. Right now my trailer is at my mechanic’s getting new brakes, will probably be well over $700 by the time the dust settles. With any luck, that will be my only major repair this year; every year it’s something or another.
So I’ve already spent $1200 this year in registering/maintaining said truck and trailer, and I haven’t even hauled out for a single trail ride yet. :eek:
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I don’t think it’s unreasonable either. I wouldn’t hook up my trailer for less than $100 if I was for hire (I’m not).
Just curious, OP, what price were you expecting?
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I agree with all the above posters! This is a reasonable rate. I used to feel the same as you do that $1.00 -$2.00 was outrageous!!! However I now have my own truck and trailer and I charge my barn mates $1.00 a mile to and from. And I am usually going to the show as well. The amount I charge barely feels worth it when I consider gas, insurance, maintenance and yearly US Rider policy and then having to unload, clean, park and unhook trailer. I don’t think you will truly get it until you have your own rig! But trust us! Pay the rate unless you are willing to buy your own set up!
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What is someones time worth to you?
They have to get to where you are, get the horses loaded, get to where you are going, unload the horses and get home again.
Add to that the fuel, the cost of them having the truck and trailer to haul with and maintain and keep insurance on. Very reasonable.
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A local hall has to be enough for it to be worth it. Even though the miles may be low, I’d want to get paid at least that just for taking the time to do it. If it were a long haul, then I think you could mathematically work everything out. I let a fellow boarder hitch a ride with me to a show and I had to stay for one extra division and she gave me $100. Trailer ride was about 45 minutes both ways so I at least got my entries paid for the day.
