Finding Dump Trucks For Your Overnight Work

Unlike other jobs in construction, road work doesn’t typically wrap up at the end of the day. For a number of reasons, this type of heavy construction that relies on dump trucks often continues from dusk till dawn. Sometimes strict deadlines mean working around the clock is necessary to complete a job on time. It could be that your crews aren’t permitted to perform certain types of work during the daylight hours. Or it could be that the season is in full swing and you need all hands and dump trucks on deck (and more) to complete your contracts.

Whatever the reason, overnight trucking jobs and night work are essential parts of road building, but it can be a struggle to find enough dump trucks for those overnight shifts--even more so than finding haulers for daytime work. Overnight truck driving jobs and work are inherently more dangerous and call for stricter attention to safety protocols and good judgment. 

Most of the time, construction companies try to rotate their crew so they’re not working the night shift all the time or using drivers of dump trucks who are overtired from working during the day. But with current labor shortages, you may face the troubling dilemma of how to meet an important deadline with an already overworked crew. Do you risk falling behind schedule or risk putting an overtired driver behind the wheel? It’s not an easy choice.

When you’ve come up against this situation in the past, you’ve probably turned to one or more of the tried and true methods for locating dump trucks. These methods have been used for decades with each option having its advantages and drawbacks.

Your go-to list of local haulers or fleets

Pros: You’ve worked with these independent owner/operators or companies in the past. You trust them to show up and do good work.

Cons: Making phone calls, sending texts and calling again is time-consuming when you’re looking for dump trucks. Also, it takes some organizational skills to make sure your supply need is covered--especially to be prepared in case there are some last-minute cancellations.

Known or unknown brokers

Pros: If you turn to a broker you’ve used before for dump trucks, you can relax a bit knowing that they will do the searching for you. After all, that’s what you’re paying them for and they’re likely to know of more hauling companies than you do. 

Cons: Although most brokers are going to work hard to find what you need, you can’t be 100% sure. As with every industry, there are some bad apples. And whether you’re familiar with the broker or not, you give up a level of control when you turn the task of finding dump trucks over to them.

Local job boards 

Pros: Usually used as a last resort, local job boards are another backup option available to you. Most of the candidates will be independent owner-operators which means they take pride in their dump trucks and are experienced. They will want to make a good impression on you in the hopes of gaining a spot on your standby list.

Cons: Scouring job boards to find haulers looking for work is tedious and you can’t be absolutely sure the time you put into searching will pay off. Like using a broker for your dump trucks, this option comes with risks too. You don’t know how reliable or skilled the driver will be.

A Marketplace for Dump Trucks

A newer option for finding dump trucks rolled onto the scene in 2015. It’s gaining traction across the United States as more and more contractors and material producers start to leverage it. That option is the Trux Marketplace. It works much like Uber, connecting supply and demand sources for dump trucks. Trux is a digital marketplace where haulers can look for work for their dump trucks and contractors, fleet owners, material producers and brokers can find available haulers to fill their trucking supply needs.

Let Trux Do The Hard Work

Although Trux is a powerful tool, it makes finding haulers quite simple. Rather than pulling out your list of contacts or calling a broker, you just log in to the marketplace and post your overnight work via Trux Find. You’ll be able to post details about the job including a thorough description of the work, location, hours, type of truck needed, pay rate and any special instructions that a hauler would need to know. 

With the marketplace, there’s no guarantee that you’ll find a hauler for your work, but with a network of over 30,000 qualified haulers, the odds are in your favor. You can increase your chances of success by making sure to adjust your rates if the local market tends to pay more for nighttime work. To learn more helpful tips on how to get the most out of Trux Find, take a look at this article.

A newer option for finding dump trucks rolled onto the scene in 2015. It’s gaining traction across the United States as more and more contractors and material producers start to leverage it. That option is the Trux Marketplace. It works much like Uber, connecting supply and demand sources for dump trucks. Trux is a digital marketplace where haulers can look for work for their dump trucks and contractors, fleet owners, material producers and brokers can find available haulers to fill their trucking supply needs.

Let Trux Do The Hard Work

You can find a variety of dump trucks within the marketplace. In addition to standard dump trucks, these common types are on the roster:

• Transfer (Truck & Transfer)
• End Dump Truck (Dump Trailer, Semi-End Dump) 
• Tri-Axle Dump Trucks 
• Super Dump Trucks
• Bottom Dump (Belly) 
• Double Bottom (Double-belly Dump Trucks) 

Now that you have a basic understanding of how the Trux marketplace works, let’s go over the many pros of using this newest and proven method for finding the dump trucks you need for overnight work.

Pro: Have confidence in your hired haulers. Drivers of dump trucks who sign up with Trux can be counted on. They have to meet minimum requirements to accept work through the marketplace. Additionally, they’ll know you can keep tabs on them in real-time through our GPS tracking feature as soon as they digitally punch in until they digitally punch out. The tracking requires no extra equipment on your part. Drivers are tracked through the app on their mobile devices, giving you route verification and visibility into their whereabouts at all times

Pro: Let haulers come to you. Instead of the hours you put in trying to find someone willing to take the overnight work, you spend a few minutes posting the job. Then continue with the tasks at hand while your job gets accepted by a qualified and reliable hauler. 

Pro: Scale your trucking at a moment’s notice. Although it’s always better to post a job 24-48 hours ahead of the shift, sometimes that just isn’t possible. When you have a situation where you need to quickly add dump trucks to your schedule, the marketplace will usually give you results much faster than the traditional methods of finding haulers--with little effort on your part. 

Pro: Trux drivers are audited daily for insurance. Ensure that all the hired haulers on your job have the appropriate levels of insurance without checking them out yourself. Trux audits hauler insurance daily to prevent you from getting into a situation where you have to pay fines or be responsible for damages.

Pro: Prevent overworking your company-owned dump trucks / drivers. As we mentioned earlier, it’s a risk to schedule a driver who’s not fresh and alert. Filling that nighttime shift with a driver who is rested and ready for work is a safer alternative. This is also a good solution for those times when one of your trucks is out of commission and you need to locate a replacement.

Pro: Cut down on paperwork. By circumventing the usual process of finding a hauler to hire, you’ll save your back office from having to generate all the necessary paperwork it takes to get a new third-party driver in your system.

Pro: One invoice versus many. Because haulers of dump trucks are actually paid by Trux, you don’t have the administrative burden of dealing with all the different invoices from your hired haulers. You’ll receive one consolidated invoice per week from us. Owners and haulers of dump trucks like this arrangement too!

Pro: Take advantage of the built-in communication tool. When you hire haulers through Trux Find, you’ll appreciate the ease of communicating through the app. Updates and last-minute changes can be efficiently sent to everyone on the job. The messages are saved and organized so drivers and everyone else can take a look back whenever they need to check a detail.

Pro: Add to your list of favorite haulers. It can take years to build relationships with haulers of dump trucks that you get along with and trust to put on your go-to list. Trux can help you add to that list. When you work with a hauler you particularly like through the marketplace, you can favorite them which makes it even easier to find them in the app the next time an overnight shift needs filling.

Pro: Use the marketplace to find work for your own trucks. Don’t forget that you can also use the app to find extra work for the dump trucks you own. If you find yourself with a truck or two sitting in the yard, post the availability and keep your assets generating revenue. Read Top Tips for Finding Work on the Marketplace for a more detailed explanation on how it works from the “other side.”

The Final Pro

Trux was developed by construction veterans who have a deep understanding of how dump trucks are an integral piece of roadwork, night truck driver jobs, and other heavy civil construction projects. Connect with one of our pros today to find out if Trux is available in your area, learn more about using the marketplace, or how the Trux trucking logistics platform can transform your operations.