Truck for Picking up Coal From NEPA

The choices of suppliers in Winchester, VA seem to be dwindling and the prices seem to be going up. Thinking it maybe getting a full size pick up truck and picking up some coal from the Potsville area. It would be nice to have a truck for other uses as well since I am a home owner and have a house thats in need of repairs. I was thinking of getting either a used Ford f-150 or a chevy 1500 would let me haul almost a ton in the bed at a time and cost around $85 in gas (15mpg on a 330mile round trip). If I get it locally costs are $335/ton here delivered for loose coal, 30 delivery charge up to 8 tons. If I pick up a ton from nepa I figure I would save $75-100 per trip. I need about 3 tons per year to heat the house. Is there a better way to do this?

Some friends has suggested getting a u-haul truck/van to get multiple tons but I think the rental cost and associated milage charges would make it more expensive then just getting it delivered locally.

Is there a better way to do this?

I hauled 1600# from Pottsville to NE Ohio in a 1/2 ton pickup. Made it with no problems but it was a long trip. If I was going to haul 2000# on a regular basis I'd go with a 3/4 ton F250.

Your math may be optimistic. Buy a pickup if you NEED a pickup. Don't buy a pickup to haul coal. 2000 lbs in a 1/2 ton pickup is overload and risks damaging the truck. I have had 2100 lbs in a 1/2 ton and it squats bad. You would need a heavy duty model. (more$$$) I have also put 2600 lbs in a 1/2 ton pickup and went 15 miles, not going over 45 mph. The mechanic said he never has seen a truck frame bent that way.

You can get a landscape trailer and haul coal if you have something that can safely pull 3000 lbs. A 5 x 10 landscape trailer with 12" plywood sides will fit 2100 lbs or more of rice or buck coal. The trailer weighs 800 lbs. As long as you don't go over 2990 lbs gross on trailer and load, you generally don't need brakes on the trailer. Check you State's DOT laws however.

A 1/2 ton GMC pickup with a 5.3 Liter pulling a trailer with 2200 lbs of coal and about 800 lbs in barrels in the bed gets an average 12 mpg through PA. This I know from experience.

Redo the math. You might only be saving $65 a ton or less, not including wear and tear on the pickup. The next question is it worth spending the 6 or 7 hours on the road to move coal for a $65 savings minus wear and tear. Tires are not cheap.

Do you have a place to dump a full truckload of coal? If you can dump the 20 to 24 ton load, why not invest in a full truckload, have it delivered, and be set for the next 7 to 8 years?

A lot of good recommendations given above. If you go the rout of getting a half ton pickup because you need one, consider adding a ~$100 pair of Timbren SES rubber helper "springs". They really help not only with keeping the rear from sagging but also helps make steering better by limiting body roll and pitching some of the weight to the front end. Once the front end is unloaded by a sagging rear end, the front tires aren't biting the road as much. You end up with that 'squirrely' feeling trying to steer not to mention limiting the front braking ability.

It's a little extreme for most people but a dump trailer really works out well with a decent mid-range 1/2 ton pick up. Choose a pickup with a brake controller and at least an 8,000 lb towing capacity. Install a pair of Timbren SES and get yourself a decent used 6'x10' 10,000 lb trailer, preferably a dump trailer, and your set. You'll easily be able to bring back 3.5 - 4 ton in one trip with a weight distributing hitch. 3+ in the trailer and 1/4 in the bed puts ~ 1,000 on the truck with the WDH set up properly. I get ~ 15 mpg traveling empty and ~ 11-12 mpg loaded with my 4.6 3 valve F-150. I'm amazed at how often I (or my budddies )use the trailer!

I wouldn't try talking you out of a pickup because mine ends up getting used for many non coal related tasks, but hauling a ton of coal that far in a 1/2 ton wouldn't be my first choice. I have a chevy 1500 and only get between 900 - 1000 lbs at a time. I have the 4.8 v8 in it. Of course I am only about 40 minutes from where I pay $210 / ton so it isn't as painful a trip for me as it would be for you (and work takes me past it quite often so stopping in on the way home is easy).

I would look at the dump trailer option presented above. If you have a network of friends that you can trust using it, it will get borrowed quite a bit, charge what you want...a couple six packs, some gas money, etc.

or you could just call a trucking company and get one big 20 ton load delivered that will last about 5 years and buy a 4x4 front end loader to move that stuff around!!

Well I'm here to say that I saved money by hauling my own coal 1 ton at a time in my 1/2 ton pick-up. Then paid for it back when I had to replace my broken Leaf Springs, ZERO savings.

I'm amazed at how often I (or my budddies )use the trailer!

And I appreciate it greatly!

Better to have more capacity to carry a load then not enough. Overloaded vehicle+long trip=certain disaster!
That photo is without the weight-distributing hitch in use. It really makes a big difference. This photo is with the hitch installed, almost the same payload:

If you have any friends that have a Ford F550 or F450 flatbed/dump(14-16') body, thats is what I recommend. F550 you can load 6 tons on the truck itself no problems, not sure what F450 holds, but they have pull power and suspensions are designed for the loads. Plus the F550 if you want to add another 3 tons on trailer still will be ok. the only thing is you have to watch out for combination weight limits(max combined) for pa DOT.max 23,000 pounds I think it is.
i used my friends F550 put little over 3 tons on it, only about 1 foot deep on bed(nut), didn't even get to where extender boards were on side of bed.

I run a Sierra with a 4.8L V8. I usually put 5000Lbs in my twin axle dump trailer which tilts the scale at about 2000lbs empty. So towing 7000lbs with my rig is at the realistic max as long as you don't push it, and Tow/Haul mode helps.

The dump trailer is a great way to go but if its to pricey for you I think I have seen on here that guys rented a uhaul trailer and put plywood in it. If you have to rent a truck it gets expensive but the trailers are pretty cheap to rent. I am not sure about the capacity on them but they look to be built pretty well and could probably handle at least 11/2 -2 ton.

vulcan wrote:The dump trailer is a great way to go but if its to pricey ..8<...

To a point this is true. Personally, I started truck shopping with an F-250 in mind. Once I thought it through and ran the $ numbers, I went with the F-150 4.6 L @~ 7000 GVW because of the gas mileage and towing capacity. The price difference between the two models, the gas mileage (big factor: ~21 mpg highway) among other factors (yearly $s to registration and insurance) swung me to the "half ton". Most of the time the truck is used as transportation and the gas savings adds up quickly. I'm not dragging the bigger truck around sucking up gas $s and the "half ton" is more comfortable.

What I saved I put toward a future dump trailer purchase. You do need a place to store it and the space to maneuver it around. When I need the hauling capacity I hook up the trailer and I have more capacity than what I would have had for the same $s invested in the F-250. Not for everyone, just sharing my thoughts and decisions.

Edit: In light of Freddie's comment below, the truck-trailer combo keeps the load distributed within the weight capacities of each vehicle. You have to keep your tongue weight properly distributed with a WDH and keep the load in the truck bed in the equation. Both vehicles stay level and no sagging at all with all axles sharing the load within their design limits.

Here in Maine they have come down HARD on overweight anything, be it pick up truck or trailer. The State police carry portable scales & love handing out $750 tickets. While they aim mostly at small businesses, last year I saw two people stopped that were just "Joe average".

Best bet is get a couple friends and go together on a TT load direct

mattcoalburner wrote:Best bet is get a couple friends and go together on a TT load direct

What are the costs involved for a TT load direct?

hell from what I read on here some one from conn. got a truck load for 183.00 ton from lehigh call lehigh see what they can do for u ask for terry...oh yeah u got to buy 20 ton min.