car hauler owner op question

Not as an employee and probably not starting out will you make $1,000 a day- by per day, I mean 365 days a year if that makes any sense. If you consider only the days you work, it is possible, but not starting out. On the other hand, as an O/O, you could possibly make TWICE that a day, with experience, maybe more. A fast truck that does not break down combined with a someone (or a team) who will work extremely hard, break rules (being dangerous to themselves and others), ignoring the speed limit, weight/height restrictions who load very fast – If you had that combination, one truck could theoretically bring in a million dollars a year – yes, $1,000,000. It IS possible to gross 7 figures, but not easy, nor safe.

The highest end car haulers usually make up to $150,000 a year, and that is with a lot of hustling, law-breaking - running overweight bypassing the weigh stations, running plenty 20 hour days. And then only specialized things like exotic cars and covered 7-10 car trailers. A good car hauler may earn $2500 a week as an employee if they work very hard, and stay very busy - at or a little over illegal hours. The biggest paying jobs are from say Atlanta to California, Texas, out west, etc. An entry-level car hauler may make $60,000-$80,000 a year to start if they work hard, smart, and efficiently and are quick learners. That is as an employee.

Now I drove mainly from Atlanta to Jacksonville to the port. Legally, it is 11.5 hour drive down there and back, so you can make it in a day. If you are stupid or lazy enough, or unable to run a log book, then technically you would have to pull over at 11 hours, 30 minutes from home and sleep in the truck for 10 hours. You think I did that? Anyway I ran a 7 car hauler, and the owner drove a 10.

He averaged $150 per car, a few were $175 (usually SUVs, vans, or large trucks), and the most expensive car he ever had paid $225. You charge more for big vehicles that may have to be on the top, and also a large vehicle can cut your 7 cars down to 6. So think of this: If you load up on a Sunday, then drive down the next day, drop off at the port (get there early!), get a load, and return Monday evening. If fully loaded, 7 cars would bring at least $1,050, so a load up there and back would be $2,100 fully loaded. A 10 car hauler would bring in obviously $3,000 fully loaded. If I went on to Orlando, across I-4 and up the Turnpike to Tampa, and places in between and back home, that is a 3 day trip legally. You can make 2 such trips a week if you are willing to work more hours than you log - another topic.

The VERY BEST THING about car hauling is you rarely have to back up, never, ever bump a dock, and there are NEVER any appointments, so long as you get to where you are going before it is closed. You will never hear these words, 'You missed your appointment and will have to come back tomorrow". You will never have to wait for a lazy, slow or spiteful forklift operator to load and unload you. YOU decide how long it takes to load and unload. You decide when to pick up and deliver most cars, although there are time constraints sometimes. They are usually just happy to get their cars on the same day you promise. You will always want to pick up cars before closing obviously, and get them to their destination when you say, but it is usually a generality like later today, tomorrow afternoon, or by 5 pm on Friday, for example. You also almost never have to unhook your trailer, so no glad hands, pigtails, or landing gears to fool with. You work basically on your schedule, within reason.

I guy I almost worked for claimed he got up to $1,200 a car from Atlanta to California, and $900 to Texas. They pay less coming back for some reason. He said with his enclosed 7 car trailer he could make $17,000 for a load out and back. At 25%, that would be $4,250 per trip out and back, and you can make 4 a month if you ran hard and fast and were smart, although I doubt you could legally make 4 trips a month - it would be close.

Personally, I prefer EZ Loaders to 10 car haulers, but would be willing to learn 10. You can load or unload an EZ loader in 15-20 minutes. A 10 car hauler probably takes 3 hours, at least - especially when new. Plus the aggravation of having to wait for three more cars to pass post inspection in some instances, not to mention finding them in a very large 10 acre lot. Sometimes cars are where they are supposed to be, but many times they are not. Depending on whether you have someone at the auction that will help you find a car, especially if it is your first car (you can use your first car to drive around and find the rest.

In a 10 car hauler, I would expect to spend up to 8 extra hours per day for two loads starting out, but experienced people can do it somewhat faster, maybe half or a quarter that. Remember, there are like 1-5 adjustments on hydraulics for an EZ Loader, depending on the model. There are 2 sets of 18 hydraulic levers on a stinger, plus maybe a few more controls for a head rack (if you have one). On a stinger, you have to remember what 36 levers do – on 10 places on the truck. One mistake can crack a windshield, and then you have lost a LOT of money! It is a LOT of extra work for the money.

So in answer to your question, yes you can make more than $1,000 a day easily as an owner operator, but not as an employee. You of course as an O/O have to think of fuel, tags, plates, millions of $ in insurance, tires, breakdowns, maintenance, hydraulic lines, and of course paying for a truck, etc. I would NEVER consider being an O/O starting to haul cars with no experience. You could not make any money. You would damage cars, get stuck on everything, not know how to load, and may forget about the high center of gravity - especially due to the fact that you always load the top deck first. Plus there are chains and hooks, which if you are not careful can not only break windshield on your cars and scratch the paint, or drag along on the road, making a nice shower of sparks to alarm other motorists. Then you have to buy new chains and hooks unless you are 100% strapping instead of chaining.

Now here is the good news: I have several years of experience working closely with an O/O and could get into more details, but only if you are interested. I live in the north metro Atlanta suburbs, and will be moving to rural north GA within a year. If we could get along, I can teach you most everything you need to know as far as the loading/unloading/auctions/dealers/driving/personal vehicles, etc. I know a fair amount about the business end to, because like I said, I knew the guy well.

My old boss found a very nice Volvo 18 speed with 10 car trailer. It was governed at 80, and had a nice CAT engine I believe at 450 HP, though it could be turned up if he wanted. I will tell you this: You NEVER have to worry about being overweight or over height on an EZ loader, but will have to use a measuring stick and go thru the scales on a 10. Back to his truck: I drove the 10 car once, and I weighed in at 79,873 pounds if I remember correctly. I may be off by 50 pounds. Point being is I was barely legal, but that truck was a beast. No kidding, loaded at that weight, on one of the steepest hills in Florida - yes there are hills - I started at the bottom of the hill at 65, and to test it, half way up the hill I mashed the pedal to the floor. She jumped to the 80 mph cutoff in no time at all, uphill, fully loaded. He got that rig at auction for $20,000.

The FINAL ANSWER: Yes you can make more than $1,000 a day as an O/O, so long as you work hard and smart. That is with ONE truck. I want to get back into car-hauling very badly. If you can afford a truck, I will teach you everything you need to know for 25% of the load - gross, not net. If you are serious, let me know. I am, so please do not pass up this opportunity to help us both if we get along, which I usually get along with most anyone decent. My hope is that you will let me teach you the ropes, then either let me drive for you, or you save or have enough to buy a second truck and put me in it. I know everything 7 car. I have loaded and unloaded a 10 car, but only a few times. It took my boss over 8 hours to learn to load the 10 car his first time, and about half that to unload. I can do it, but would not be super fast for the first week or two on a 10 car.

Unless you want to spend all your time on load boards, building a customer base is one of the hardest parts. I still have dozens of his contacts. While I would not steal his customers, I would ask them all if they needed a new hauler, for example if he quit hauling for them, or could not handle the volume himself. I got him new business on my days off - on my own time, own my own dime. Yes, I am that dedicated. I am married for 13 years, and have three young boys, so I want to keep my family well taken care of. If you care, I am a Christian (Southern Baptist), do not smoke, do drugs, or engage in illegal or immoral acts. I am white, 5'10" 225 pounds. I am strong and much of my weight is muscle, but I sure am not in the same shape I was in high school - 20 years ago. I do have a belly, but am not a giant fat body. The reason I bring this up is that you sometimes have to squeeze into very tight spaces to get out of cars. The taller and fatter you are the harder the job is. I would not suggest anyone with a waist over 48 inches consider this as a career path, unless you drive a 3 car trailer. Every car hauler is going to bump their heads, but once again taller folks do it more, and get stuck easier. I wouldn't want to be much over 6'2" either. An Ideal car hauler would be the size of an Abrams tank operator.

Yes, I may go a little over the speed limit. I will accomplish what needs to be done. I will NOT run routinely illegal. Yes, I may do some creative logging from time to time, but I will no longer run 18-20 hours every day. I may do it in a blue moon for a real good reason, but I try to run legal - or close to it. I don't like team driving, but as long as I determine that you are a good, safe driver, I will do it for training, maybe longer if we want to. I have been driving for 6 years, and have hauled cars several years. I have a SPOTLESS 7 year MVR - no tickets, no points, and no accidents.

I ham honest, clean cut and presentable, and so that way most weigh station operators who stop me just pass me through. They usually just have me stop at the shack, take one look at me, and turn the light green and I am on my way. If for no other reason I look and carry myself as Military or Law-Enforcement. Because I look like them, and carry myself the same way, they assume that I am like them. They realize that they do not need inspecting, so in their heads I am guessing they figure, hey this guy is clean cut, looks and acts like me, his truck looks safe, and so I will wait on a rusty container ship. Not to brag, but that does keep me out of trouble. I am courteous, polite, matter of fact and professional. They see my neat truck and my logbook ready for inspection. That is why they like me, and that is why my customers do as well. I am not trying to be a braggart, but am trying to sell the idea to you; you buying the truck with me teaching you the ropes. Reply or PM for more info if you want. Sorry, I did not mean to write a book. I just wanted to give you a good idea of what is involved.

P.s. When my boss lost his company, my wife found a job before I did, so now I am stuck at home watching the kids. I love my kids to death, but can't stand not working. I am one of those old-fashioned people who think the husband should work and the wife should stay home. Plus she does not make even 1/4 what I did. I am a very hard working dedicated safe driver, so I am offering my services to others as well if this guy does not go through with it.

 

At the minimum, any truck should be grossing $1000 per day. So yes I would hope so.

 

Thats half a load for a flatbed, so actually at under $1 pm I think your getting a good deal.

Then the broker is getting their cut most likely, so yeah.

 

Very well said, in 1% of the book I wrote. I concur.

 

One of my friends tried it last year with a pickup and 3 car trailer. Went bust after about 6 months, now he's back to working a regular job.

 

Thanks TruckOn-Morphine-Windsmith- I feel at rest about not hauling myself. By the time I found a trailer, permits, ect, the fact remains I have no exper. with flats. Anybody can walk by with a arm load straps, but where do the go?? Flat Boys are another breed. Let them do the driving. Thanks again Mike-Z

 

Morphine....Thanks for all the good information