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cost of hauling stone

Stone Conversations : Archive 8 : Message 00603

From: Norman Watts <Norman_Watts@zzzzzzz>
Date: Mon, 7 Mar 2005 16:16:14 -0500
Subject: cost of hauling stone

On Mar 1, 2005, at 9:02 AM, John VanCamp wrote:

Quoted text begins. I've been charging $300 for deliveries to Houston
(about 180 miles each way).
JVC
End of quote.


John,

I looked closer into the hauling of a big (e.g. 3-5000 lb) block of
granite from a quarry in VA to my place in MD, a distance of about 80
miles. Originally I was told it would be about $500. After phoning
several places its more like $750. Yikes! The going rate is $85/hr for
a boom truck, plus $21/hr for any time over 8 hrs. The geography of the
situation means the truck pretty well has to go in morning rush hour
traffic and return in afternoon rush hour traffic. All in all its an 8
hr day I'm told. The charge is always portal-to-portal, meaning you pay
the return trip for the truck regardless of where it originates. There
is also a 5% tax on crossing from VA to MD. Add to that the basic cost
of the stone at $20/cft and it adds up. And its still just a rock
sitting there. No wonder sculpture costs a lot. I suppose the public
normally assumes the sculptor is charging too much, but they don't
think about the material costs for something as seemingly common as
stone. So John, you are a bargain.

Norman Watts, Ph. D.
National Institutes of Health
50 South Drive, Rm. 1509
Bethesda, MD 20892-8025
Phone: (301) 402-3418
Fax: (301) 480-7629

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