Adapting and Taking Advantage

Filed Under (Trucking, Trucking - Industry)

An excellent example of taking advantage of the situation -

WCFCourier.com | The Waterloo Cedar-Falls Courier Online!.

By MATTHEW WILDE, Courier Staff Writer
STEAMBOAT ROCK — Iowa’s burgeoning ethanol industry is fueling the growth of regional trucking firms.

And the best part, officials with both industries say, is it will only get better.

The state’s ethanol industry has exploded in the past few years. Currently, 21 ethanol plants are producing 1.1 billion gallons of the corn-based fuel, according to the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association. By the end of the year, that amount will grow by at least 600 million gallons, if not double, due to the number of plants under construction or expanding.

"If You Have It, A Truck Brought It"

Ethanol plants need truckers to keep them running at capacity,
especially with ethanol prices at an all-time high due to demand.
Haulers consider plants a steady source of income that wasn’t there
years ago.

Dwight Schuneman, a farmer and semitrailer owner near
Steamboat Rock, often hauls corn to nearby Pine Lake Corn Processors
and takes distillers grains out.

"It’s a great supplemental income, since we don’t raise livestock," Schuneman said of hiring out his big rig.

Before
Pine Lake opened last year, many of his loads went to Cedar Rapids or
destinations much farther away. Now the truck stays closer to home.
Customers still have to pay the minimum charge, and he can haul more
loads in a day while burning less diesel fuel, which isn’t exactly
cheap these days, Schuneman said.