Bucyrus, Ohio-based Dan Linn, owner of Linn Acres Farm, operates one rig on the trucking side of his farming business, hauling dry bulk agricultural products from Ohio to locations in the Southeast, Indiana and elsewhere.
"We do dry bulk, ag and feed," Linn said. "Food-grade products" in a hopper bottom. He hauls product as far as South Florida, bringing product back up out of South Georgia back to Ohio. He also hauls to Indiana for a local farm.
Linn's built the business to be protected from much of the recent lows of the spot market, as about 90% of his work comes from direct customers. Business has been steady, he said, but like everyone else in trucking, "the high cost, like everything -- tires and food on the road and all that" -- has impacted the business in some ways.
On the rates front, though, he's seen a measure of stability, though loads are fewer and farther between at times. Using the Bulk Loads load board when needed to fill the gaps, Linn said he's noticed there aren't as many posted loads as he's seen in the past.
Yet he's working "a little smarter," he said, to offset higher costs. "We don't head out on a load unless I know definitely what we're doing. Like the old days, you could kind of just head somewhere and you'd find something in between." He takes care to plan ahead to make sure the wheels are turning for the right reason. He's more choosy about the loads he takes, making sure the money's worth it.
At the 2024 Waupun Truck-N-Show in Waupun, Wisconsin, Dan Linn and his son, Daniel, showed off their new rig, a 2025 Western Star 49X that they took possession of back in the Spring.
The elder Linn said he typically stays on about a four-year trade cycle, and he traded in a Western Star 5700 that he had owned since 2019.
