Starting a hauling buisness?

[BigdaddyDupree]

I enjoy hauling stuff and I like my diesel truck. I'm great with people. But here's the just of what I'm saying, I want to start a little side buisness hauling cars for a living and see what it works into. I've got my f350 and I'm looking at buying a 53' wedge 3 car hauler soon as I make up my mind. I know ill have to have a good insurance that won't be cheap. What do you guys think? I have a 20 foot open trailer and a 28 foot enclosed trailer I could also haul with depending on the load but I think the wedge would be the money making trailer. Ideas? Anybody know how one would charge? I'm looking for something that could go from a part time gig to a full time job.

[KRYPTONITE]

Go for it... Good Luck Buddy,


I know theres good money in Transporting Boats also

[dkbmxer002]

Had a buddy in charleston that did it for about a year or two. He sold the business and trailers though. I can ask him, make sure you have everything you need so you don't get screwed by dot.

[BigdaddyDupree]

If you could do that Paul that would be great. Also why did he get out?

[MARTYROBBINS]

money maker but the biggest pain in the ass is the dot need a federal saftey insp. on truck and trailer dot reg #'s driver log dot physical and biggest of all make sure your truck and trailer with vehicle's is not over weight if it is there massive fines when i was at johnny's we had a wedge 3 car hauler and a f350 our guy loaded the trailer wrong and was 900lbs over on the weight allowed on the rear axel the company got a &10,000 fine and we had to send a cdl driver to rearange the load and drive it back



best of luck to you tyler but get the rule book and read the shit out of it know the loopholes and buts the assholes on them

[dkbmxer002]

If you could do that Paul that would be great. Also why did he get out?

I think it just wasn't what he wanted. He was hauling cars from Jax to Sav alot. Some people on here know him. I'll hit ya up on Facebook about it.

[Matts94Z28]

Take the time to talk to plenty of customers and owners alike. Find out what it is that people do and don't like about the business from both angles. If you can solve the customers pains you will be at the top with a new spin on your business.

I think you should go for it while you can.

[BigdaddyDupree]

Where do i get the DOT book at? also this isnt some spur of the moment thing. ive been thinking about it almost 2 years. ever since i cared more about the way my enclosed trailer looked and cared more about hauling neals and rays car to the track just because i enjoyed hauling.

[MARTYROBBINS]

I belive you can get the regulation book on line or at the dmv might also try the dept of public saftey behind the piggly wiggley on otranto rd but i am sure we got ours from the dmv

[DIGGLER]

i bought a spare duramax engine from a hot shotter. he hauled exotic cars in an enclosed trailer, along with boats. he was in mooresville, nc, but i cant remember his contact info.
anyways, he had pretty much gotten all the way out of it when i talked to him. he said there was alot of money in it a few years back but the dot and a few other things have screwed everything up. market is more flooded with haulers now i believe, too.
i would try a few hauls out and see how they go? i would want some steady and reliable customers with plenty of stuff to haul. you can also check into hauling some campers maybe? i know those guys run back and forth from indiana where the forest river plant is.

[slowgreen99]

Dot with a tri axle trailer...$$$$$

[BigdaddyDupree]

Brandon what are you saying? Would I be cheaper going with a dual axle dually wheel trailer dot wise?

[Carlrx7]

There is a TV show called SHIPPING WARS. You should watch all the episodes and get an idea.

People post an auction to haul shit, and the job goes to the lowest bidder. A&E channel.

<iframe width="960" height="720" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/yV6CTqduv-I" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

BOOM! If you just stick to cars, get a HNIC winch.

-Carl

[BigdaddyDupree]

Yea I love that show

[slowgreen99]

Yes, dual.

[paul wall]

call me i can get you hooked up, you know i work for a Towing company, and i also can get you into a spot at iaa give me a call 345 1902

[BlackSheep]

Boats is where the money's at, the money's in being able to pick up boats and drop them off without having to use a forklift or boat lift, there are hydraulic trailers that will lift the boat and allow you to block it and pull out from under it. My old boss payed $3300 to have a boat pulled from the previous owners yard just north of Wilmington to Mt Pleasant

[paul wall]

i'm sure Towing 3 cars from Wilmington would pay around that much too

[04ctd]

most of what I heard was that free-lancing does not cut it,
you have to go through a company, and they take all the profit, and you end up working for free before you know it,

you gotta reckon: tires (both truck & trailer), maintenance, fuel, food, time, wear & tear, insurance.

i think there's too many guys out of work who will tow for NOTHING...so a guy can't charge a good price, because the other guys will underbid him.

i would contemplate this deep & wide.

FWIW, once you are in a dealership gig, like you are, you can usually float around from lot to lot for the rest of your life, esp once you have a customer base like you do.

[1 Slow Z]

most of what I heard was that free-lancing does not cut it,
you have to go through a company, and they take all the profit, and you end up working for free before you know it,

you gotta reckon: tires (both truck & trailer), maintenance, fuel, food, time, wear & tear, insurance.

i think there's too many guys out of work who will tow for NOTHING...so a guy can't charge a good price, because the other guys will underbid him.

i would contemplate this deep & wide.

FWIW, once you are in a dealership gig, like you are, you can usually float around from lot to lot for the rest of your life, esp once you have a customer base like you do.

There's gotta be money in it or so many folks wouldn't do it.

[BlackSheep]

most of what I heard was that free-lancing does not cut it,
you have to go through a company, and they take all the profit, and you end up working for free before you know it,

you gotta reckon: tires (both truck & trailer), maintenance, fuel, food, time, wear & tear, insurance.

i think there's too many guys out of work who will tow for NOTHING...so a guy can't charge a good price, because the other guys will underbid him.

i would contemplate this deep & wide.

FWIW, once you are in a dealership gig, like you are, you can usually float around from lot to lot for the rest of your life, esp once you have a customer base like you do.

Being so many are doing it the more unique or specialized your service can be the better chance to build clientele. When I was in the dealerships 5 years or so ago we would pay a handling fee on top of high mileage rates to haul vipers and high end srt products

[BigdaddyDupree]

John ill agree with everything you just said because alot of it is true I believe. But in my defense this is what I want to get into if its feasible. This is sort of a "dream" of mine per say. You always hear of people saying that if you find a job you like you will never work a day in your life. I want that and I believe I deserve that. I'm old enough to know better but young enough to not care. I'm going in this thing with my homework done and I still have months of talking to people and research before I ever commit to anything. Will I buy a trailer shortly? Probably but it's just the way I am, ill buy it and that will motivate me to move forward with it. Before I do anything I will have everything paid in advance for at least 6 months if not more. I've never heard anybody day that they wish they didn't pursue their dreams whether or not it works out.

[04ctd]

There's gotta be money in it or so many folks wouldn't do it.
I think you got it backwards

dude gets laid off work, has a diesel truck what does he do?

he gets up and finds out he has to under bid everybody to get work
prices go down
Profits go down

[1 Slow Z]

http://www.rampagetrailer.com/hydraulic%20trailers.htm

[1998ta__1991rs]

should have done it before diesel got back to $4 a gallon

[Jimmyz18]

Tyler, you can get a DOT book at any truck stop as well, they have both the short and long log books. Goodluck with it, I looked into it awhile ago, if you haul for someone (company) they have a bunch of requirements. If your truck is over 4 years old, they want a DOT inspection, mud flaps to the ground, fifth wheel and tag hitchm yadda yadda yadda. I got a Class A if you ever need someone to drive something big...lol

[BAD BOB]

Had a car lot guy that end up selling his tri axle 3 car hauler for a single trailer bc of the dot stuff. That is probably going to be your biggest kick in the nuts. I would say with the money envolved it will have to be a all or nothing deal to be profitable.

As far as what to charge, I know that when I was pricing out hauling a car from Greenville back here, the normal rule of thumb for single car haul was the price of a gallon of fuel for every loaded mile so like $4 per loaded mile

[WWhittle]

My dad is retired, he's bored, and is use to driving all over the country. I thought this would be a great idea for him to do so I started checking into it.

First thing I can tell you is that I wouldn't haul cars. Everybody hauls cars.

Do your homework for sure. The licensing and insurance is a bitch. My dad has two diesel dually's, (2) 32' enclosed goosenecks, and 2 open trailers. Even with all that, it still didn't make sense.

You have to pay your insurance, licensing and permits, fuel, maintenance and food and shelter while you are on the road. It adds up quick, especially at 4.00/ gallon.

It's all about the coordination. If you can coordinate the loads extremely well, you might make a living- if you can't figure out how to do that, you will go broke real quick.

I would suggest two things- go on some of the sites that you would be trying to get some work from and do some mock loads. You will quickly see the trick to the coordination.

The next thing you should do is write a business plan. I've had a lot of great ideas and a business plan was quick to point out that it wouldn't work. Don't ever start a business without a business plan. Ever.

[minytrker]

I agree with every thing Wes posted. I have friends here that haul equipment, cattle and hay mostly. By the time you factor in having a CDL, insurance, fuel, tires, truck payment, trailer payment they make ok money. All of them always have a 1-2 year old truck and trade it in soon as it out of warranty, so they will always have a payment. Just between normal maintenance, tires, fuel and tickets they can easily lose money on a load. They all have some other form of income also, none make enough just hauling. I remember tuning a couple of dually's that they guys hauled cars in SC for a living and they said the first 3 weeks of the month covered just there expenses and the last week they could finally make profit if nothing went wrong.

[minytrker]

Had a car lot guy that end up selling his tri axle 3 car hauler for a single trailer bc of the dot stuff. That is probably going to be your biggest kick in the nuts.

Here in Texas almost guaranteed to get pulled over with a 3 car hauler behind a crew cab dually.

[RobertHolton1]

I think u should do it on the side... And not get caught up in all the red tape

[KRYPTONITE]

should have done it before diesel got back to $4 a gallon

X2 FML!!!

[KRYPTONITE]

I think u should do it on the side... And not get caught up in all the red tape

BINGO!!!!!:bigthumb:

[paul wall]

i see trucks come in everyday at insurance auto auctions, they have online buyers that need cars delivered every week.

[WWhittle]

I think u should do it on the side... And not get caught up in all the red tape

BINGO!!!!!:bigthumb:

I thought that too, but it doesn't really work that way. If you do it part time, you will just lose your ass even more. Whether you do it part time, or full time, you still need the same insurance, same equipment, etc. The only way he could avoid some red tap is if he wanted to haul intrastate only, but you can't make any money like that. If by "on the side", you mean just hauling for friends or family when they need something hauled, then yeah, I guess he could do that. But that's far from a career, and he certainly isn't going to make any money. Not to mention, what happens when he damages something he is hauling "on the side"? No insurance means big problems.

i see trucks come in everyday at insurance auto auctions, they have online buyers that need cars delivered every week.

No doubt, but there is a million people hauling cars. And the only way to make a living hauling cars is with a big rig, cross country, with perfect load scheduling so that you are picking up and dropping off cars non stop. If you are riding down the road at any time with any empty spot on your rig, you probably aren't making any money.

Tyler, do what I said and go online and do some mock loads. Calculate your expenses, etc. You would have to learn how to always keep your trailer full. For example- you could take your enclosed trailer and probably haul 4 motorcycles from here to california and get paid $400-$500 each. Obviously, making $2000 to drive to california is going to put you in the red. But if you can learn to coordinate your loads so that you are picking up and dropping off loads all the way between here and there, you could make a buck. By the time you cross the country, you may have picked up and dropped off 12 motorcycles, then you do the same thing coming back, then start over. The catch is that you have to find the loads, and all of them have to be picked up and dropped off inside of their window. It's not easy.

Remember that "Shipping Wars" is just a TV show. You aren't going to be able to hop in your truck with your ipad and bid on a load and then hit the road. It doesn't work like that.

[dkbmxer002]

Shipping wars is very scripted IMO. Our company does use uship though for freight loads sometimes.

[ForceFed4g63]

Wes is spot on with everything he's said.

[KRYPTONITE]

[QUOTE=WWhittle;213017]I thought that too, but it doesn't really work that way. If you do it part time, you will just lose your ass even more. Whether you do it part time, or full time, you still need the same insurance, same equipment, etc. The only way he could avoid some red tap is if he wanted to haul intrastate only, but you can't make any money like that. If by "on the side", you mean just hauling for friends or family when they need something hauled, then yeah, I guess he could do that. But that's far from a career, and he certainly isn't going to make any money. Not to mention, what happens when he damages something he is hauling "on the side"? No insurance means big problems.


Ray better look at getting a Trailer Hitch For the Dodge Caliber:poke:

[RobertHolton1]

Yea that's what I meant by on the side...

[1 Slow Z]

When I was in the military I worked as a munitions guy (AMMO) and we'd constantly be sending munitions (explosives) to other bases, depots, and manufactures for scheduled maintenance. The guys that hauled this stuff made serious money but its very difficult to get your foot in the door. Plus all the certifications and licenses you are required to have is ridiculous, not to mention having to have 2 drivers and only stoping for fuel and food. I remember one of the drivers tell me that he wouldn't even get out of bed for less than $4 bucks a mile. The one thing that always seemed constant with them was the recipe to succeed. You must somehow set yourself apart from every other swinging dick out there in either your performance or the product you offer. They always would tell us that bending over backwards for every client was a must, regardless of what they were shipping. Like any new business its going to be difficult to break into the field but if your dedicated to putting in the long hours, loads that might not pay the best, and kissing everyone's ass then you might just make it. Building a great reputation and a large clientele takes dedication and time but once you do you'll be on the road to full-time success. I would think that one thing that might really help is trying to find someone that solely uses you as their shipper, like a local dealership or something. I would suggest trying to find a niche market somehow, there's gotta be a product out there that has less transporters than say just hauling cars? I have thought about getting into doing this as well, but wouldn't ever think about making the leap unless I had six months of full living expenses and a CYA fund for any truck or trailer issues that might come up.

Just my .02

Mike

[ForceFed4g63]

$5 a mile? He must not get out of bed very often lol

[1 Slow Z]

$5 a mile? He must not get out of bed very often lol

Sorry that was a typo it was supposed to be $4 but still a high number. Hauling munitions for the DOD is apparently a very lucrative business, plus most of them owned their own trucks so they had to cover all their own overhead and fuel. I can say that almost every truck we loaded explosives onto was extremely large and super nice. Most of them looked the this on the exterior....

http://www.trucksleeper.com/Brochures/1736%20SS%20INGRAM%20W900%20XCAB%20166%20_39_.pdf