GrainsWest Spring 2020

Spring 2020 Grains West 26 “That’s the kind of independence I’m looking for in a trucking company,” he added. “The odd time a grain broker has sent a trucker to the yard and some of those drivers won’t even get out of the cab. They expect me to get everything set up. And maybe that’s not such a big deal in January when I have more time, but if it’s at seeding or at harvest, I really don’t have time for that. “The tri-axle truck is fine for a relatively short haul, like five miles [eight kilometres] to the elevator or even 45 miles [72 kilometres] into Camrose with a load,” said Chevraux. “But then it depends what I’m hauling and how much is needed. “If I’m hauling to Rahr Malting at Alix, that’s about 70 miles [113 kilometres] one way. Realistically, I could make about two trips in a day with my truck. If that’s all the malt barley they need, I can handle it. But if they are looking for 100 tonnes and need it within a day or so, then I’ll hire a commercial trucker.” Also, if Chevraux is selling feed barley into southern Alberta, he usually deals with a grain broker who arranges for a commercial trucker. HAUL OF FAMERS Randy and Karie Dick of Dick’s Trucking in Didsbury have owned their own commercial trucking business for 30 years. Randy is the third generation of his family to haul agricultural commodities. His grandfather Joe was a cattle buyer and hauled the animals starting in 1935. He was followed by Randy’s father Melvin who was primarily in the grain- hauling business for 28 years. He sold a truck to Randy in 1990. “We started out in 1990 with one truck, which was a 1986 Western Star tandem with a grain box and pup trailer and it grew from there,” he said. Travelling the roads of Western Canada, they now have 30 Super B tractor-trailer units, each with a payload capacity of about 100,000 pounds, or 45 tonnes. The Dick’s Trucking fleet includes 20 company-owned tractors and 10 owned by lease operators. All of the grain trailers used by the fleet are company owned. “The company used to own more of its own trucks, but we figured it was good to include lease operators in the business and have more balance,” said Randy. Serving customers across Western Canada, about 60 per cent of the company’s business involves moving agricultural commodities for grain companies. Close to 40 per cent is moving grain for farmers with operations in the 1,200- to 60,000-acre (490- to 24,300-hectare) range. “Business seems to be fairly consistent over the year, although we run into peak periods during spring seeding and fall harvest,” he said. Starting out as a lease operator with his own truck in the late 1990s, Andrew Scafe launched Go-Fer Grain Transports of Red Deer in 2001. He combined his grain hauling and custom silage services in 2007, becoming Go-Fer Ag Services. Scafe owns a Super B tractor-trailer unit and he employs three to four truck-lease operators. Two of the lease operators own their own trailers, while two use trailers owned by the business. “Along with being the owner, I basically co-ordinate and serve as a dispatcher for the other operators,” he said. Scafe said his strategy is to keep the business simple and more profitable by working closer to home. “I learned over the years the further you have to haul grain, the less money you make,” he said. “The odd time we might make a trip to Edmonton [about 150 kilometres away] but 95 per cent of time we work within 100 to 120 kilometres of Red Deer.” While some truck owners think long- haul is lucrative, Scafe appreciates sleeping in his own bed. “I think there is something to be said for being home every night,” he said. “On longer hauls you might gross more money, but then your expenses are way higher, too. Depending on the time of year, our drivers may be working 10- to 14-hour days but they are home at night and we do our best to make sure they have most weekends off. At certain times of the year, we can be ferociously busy for a few days getting crop delivered to the elevator and then just as suddenly it can be quiet.” Scafe and Dick both have similar observations about working with farmers. Both have been impressed with the improvement in farm facilities over the past two to three decades. “There used to be times you’d show up with a B-train and you’d have to park both trailers on the road and take one in at a time to get loaded,” said Dick. “Yards were smaller, augers were smaller. Sometimes you might be at a farm nearly half a day. Today, with many of these operations, you’ve got plenty of room, good equipment and it might only take 15 or 20 minutes to get loaded.” Scafe finds farmers good to work with, and said it’s important to provide quality customer service in return. “Most farmers are fairly flexible in that if you don’t get a “[You] know farmers don’t have the cash flow either, so we do our best to hold the line on hauling rates.” —Karie Dick FEATURE Photo:CourtesyofDick’sTrucking