Truckers who get stuck

[hobbyfrmr]

A neighbor called yesterday he had a truck delivering building materials get stuck. I went with 2wd to pull, didnt work, so I went for the 4WD. I tugged him out and left the tractor for the second load which didnt require a pull.

There seems to be a lot of confusion about who is going to pay for the tow. Ultimately I will send an invoice to trucking company owner. This was a 4 hour call out. I phoned a reputable real towing company in Saskatoon and got a quote. Basically it is $160.00/hour from time of departure to time of return back to home base.
For what its worth, today I am dealing with questions like "was the tractor running for 4 hours?". Basically everybody wants to pay less for the service. This is a minor event but it reminded me to put the towing company phone number in my contacts for future.

[bucket]

And most will have a minimum call out charge.....

[blackpowder]

I'm not that guy but...... Really we need to think about our liability exposure more.

[Oliver88]

Truckers and sometimes hunters always assume a farmer will just help them out and magically have a 4WD they can start at -20C.

[Partners]

Talk dollars before you even start your tractor.

[Guest]

A neighbor called yesterday he had a truck delivering building materials get stuck. I went with 2wd to pull, didnt work, so I went for the 4WD. I tugged him out and left the tractor for the second load which didnt require a pull.

There seems to be a lot of confusion about who is going to pay for the tow. Ultimately I will send an invoice to trucking company owner. This was a 4 hour call out. I phoned a reputable real towing company in Saskatoon and got a quote. Basically it is $160.00/hour from time of departure to time of return back to home base.
For what its worth, today I am dealing with questions like "was the tractor running for 4 hours?". Basically everybody wants to pay less for the service. This is a minor event but it reminded me to put the towing company phone number in my contacts for future.

it's because you are a farmer , farmers are not expected to get paid the going rate ? but in the end , won't they just add it to your nieghbors bill anyways ?

[Oliver88]

I'm not that guy but...... Really we need to think about our liability exposure more.

I had one trucking company that wouldn't move my auger with a mover and used liability as the reason not to do this task.....little bit overboard.

Towing out a trucker with a tractor could be a liability though no doubt about it. Pulling out stuck equipment can always be dangerous.

[wmoebis]

it's because you are a farmer , farmers are not expected to get paid the going rate ? but in the end , won't they just add it to your nieghbors bill anyways ?

Why didn't neighbor pull him out with his tractor?
Had a neighbor come ask me to unhitch from my drill to pull him out because he didn't want to unhook his other tractor from harrows and shut it down.

[GDR]

A neighbor called yesterday he had a truck delivering building materials get stuck. I went with 2wd to pull, didnt work, so I went for the 4WD. I tugged him out and left the tractor for the second load which didnt require a pull.

There seems to be a lot of confusion about who is going to pay for the tow. Ultimately I will send an invoice to trucking company owner. This was a 4 hour call out. I phoned a reputable real towing company in Saskatoon and got a quote. Basically it is $160.00/hour from time of departure to time of return back to home base.
For what its worth, today I am dealing with questions like "was the tractor running for 4 hours?". Basically everybody wants to pay less for the service. This is a minor event but it reminded me to put the towing company phone number in my contacts for future.

Question to me is did the neighbor have his yard plowed and prepared for a large truck?? Or did the trucker drive where he shouldn't. I often see these "professional " drivers do some dumb things like stopping at the bottom of a hill on ice or cutting corners too tight and drag their trailers through the ditch etc. But sometimes it isn't their fault but that doesn't make it your problem either.

[danny W1M]

At any time your tractor is running the $160/hr fee would defiantly apply, Warm up period, fueling time, travel time to site of tow, towing time, return, fueling and cool down time. (you might not be fueling/service, but time should be allotted for that, as well warm up and cool down.) Remember that amount will be including the operator wage, which would be at least $30.00/hr. and also fuel, which we know is high, as horse regularly reminds us. Also remember to charge GST on top of the $160. fee, as if you don't an audit may cause you to pay for it, rather that the client.
You could look at a "standby rate" of $80-$100/hr, or perhaps you might think the fee for standby is $160 - operator cost - fuel(if tractor is shut off) = $_____
When towing in the oilfield, my invoice always went to the company I was towing, and I left it up to them to decide who will pay for it in the end, or whether it'll be shared. The exception would be if a rep for the oil company was there to give me a PO. number for the job they were working on.

[farmaholic]

Don't you guys think farmers do enough "charity" work?

We're expected to pay for every little ****ing thing we want or need!

Wake up.

[AlbertaFarmer5]

For some reason I always thought that good deeds such as this was just the neighborly thing to do. I know I will be, and have been on the other end of that arrangement enough times too. Although 4 hours is extreme.

[farmaholic]

AF5, I hear you loud and clear but.....

Had a comoany from N.Battleford come in to do.some mulching...had to pay travel time! Same as this fall had a bit more work done and paid for hauling the machine in.....but we do it for nothing? Is our equipment, fuel, wear and tear and time free?

Talk is cheap and I tend to be lax and giving when it comes to helping out....

Just to show my hypocrisy. ..last year the mulcher got hung up(stuck) on too much snow.... couldnt budge him with the MFWD so we called it a day. Plugged in, reconnected batteries, added fuel anti gel and started that old 855 the next morning...couldn't budge him. Helped out digging out some snow and he lifted the front end up a bit and put some railway ties under...enough for a bit of clearance...then was able to pull him out.....ALL FREE. HYPOCRITE!

[danny W1M]

farmaholic has it right, "Don't you guys think farmers do enough "charity" work?"

That reminds me of the "old Food Grains Bank" that would come around in the fall. Farmers would haul 3-tons, tandems, over the years I even saw a couple semis roll in. Then when it was mentioned that town people could donate too, $5 and $10 dollar bills were the gifts, maybe the odd $20 dollar bill. The total cash donated by the town people likely wouldn't have covered the cost for the gasoline to drive one tandem truck to town and back again.

[danny W1M]

farma, if that guy is working for you, on your land, you should be pulling him out at your expense. Just as hobby's neighbour should have pulled out that delivery truck. Guessing here, but probably an acreage without the equipment to pull the truck out.
maybe your just entertaining us with wit and sarc?