Like most people in the midst of the holiday season, you are likely spending more cash on gifts than you wish you had to and are wondering how you are going to get ahead again financially as the new year rolls around. If you already own a pick-up truck and haven't thought about posting ads online offering to haul large items for pay, then that is a great way to begin earning some extra cash in your spare time immediately. However, if you purchase an affordable dump trailer you can attach right to your pickup truck, you cannot only haul more items at once, but also different types of items and materials. Read on to learn how to select a dump trailer that is compatible with your pickup truck and how you can use it to earn extra cash year-round. 

Choosing the Right Dump Trailer for Your Pickup Truck

As you likely know, pick-up trucks all vary in size and power, and both of these factors affect how much weight the pick-up truck can tow. If you still have the original owner's manual that came with your truck, then determining how much total weight you can haul (the combined weight of trailer and items in it) may be simple. 

You may find your vehicle's payload in the manual, but this number reflects only the number of pounds that can be safely carried in your truck and its original bed. To find out how many pounds it can safely tow, look for your vehicle's designated "towing capacity" or "maximum towing capacity." 

Can't find those numbers for your old pick-up truck? The average mid-size pick-up can tow up to 5,000 pounds, the average full size 1/2-ton pickup can tow up to 10,000 pounds, an average full-size 3/4-ton pickup can tow about 16,000 pounds, and the average full-size 1-ton pickup can haul about 21,000 lbs. 

If you are going to base your dump trailer on the number of pounds an average truck of your size can tow, stay on the safe side and plan to tow slightly under the maximum load to avoid putting too much stress on your truck. 

Once you find a dump trailer that is suitable for your truck, you will need to pay attention to how many cubic feet or yards of material it can hold when it is filled. There will be a learning curve to determine how much of a specific material you can fill it with while staying under your vehicle's towing capacity, but with the internet and a calculator, you can easily determine whether or not your truck can handle a load before bidding on a hauling job. 

For example, if you find that someone is paying to have sand hauled, you can perform a simple online search to find out that the weight of sand averages about 2,600 to 3,000 pounds per square meter. If your pickup truck has a maximum tow capacity of 10,000 pounds and the weight of your dump trailer is 2,500 pounds, then you know you can fill your trailer with just under 3 square meters of sand before exceeding your vehicle's maximum towing capacity. 

Over time, this will become easier and easier for you as you haul the same materials and realize that you naturally begin to remember their weights without having to look them up. 

3 Easy Ways To Make Extra Cash with a Dump Trailer

1.  Reach Out to Local Building Contractors

Building contractors have big supply hauling needs, but many of them own minimal hauling equipment that isn't always enough for their fluctuating day-to-day needs. Call a few local contractors and simply leave them your name, phone number, and an offer to haul items, such as building debris, wood loads, and machinery, when they need you to. Negotiate your rate based on the cost of gasoline and how much you think your time is worth on an hourly or per-haul basis. 

2. Place an Ad Online Offering Services to Homeowners

If you have already used your pickup truck to haul items for cash, then you may have already encountered jobs that you just couldn't perform due to the limited capacity of your pickup bed. Homeowners often need people to help them get rid of their "junk" during spring cleaning, bring them mulch from garden supply stores when landscaping, or simply help them move to a new home or apartment quickly. 

3. Rent Your Dump Trailer Itself

While hauling items in your free time is a relatively easy way to make some extra cash, renting out your dump trailer itself is even easier. Local business owners, such as contractors or landscaping professionals, may need an extra dump trailer for a full day when you may be performing your full-time job or occupied in another way. Renting your dump trailer is easy cash that requires little to no work from you. 

If you are watching your savings dwindle due to holiday spending, then devote the new year to working extra hard and performing a side job on evenings and/or weekends. If you own a pickup truck, then you can already haul some items for cash, but after purchasing an affordable dump trailer, you can haul even more types of items and even develop long-term business relationships with local builders and landscaping businesses. 

For more information, contact companies that sell utility trailers and dump trailers, like Colorado Trailers Inc.