Moible Home Toter

Discussion in 'Questions To Truckers From The General Public' started by doglover44, Jun 27, 2011.

  1. doglover44

    doglover44 Light Load Member

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    Apr 30, 2008
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    Why arent there many moible home movers is it not a big thing ?
     
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  3. Rerun8963

    Rerun8963 Road Train Member

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    there can be some reasons for this

    1) it is economically driven, meaning the sales of mobile homes are down

    2) the companies that hires these drivers may not need any more drivers, again, no sales, no need for drivers

    3) it's more of what i would call a "niche market" meaning one may have to be very good at it in order to obtain work, and it might be an o/o job, not so much company driver job..??

    do a google search on toter trucks and see how many relatively new ones are for sale....that in of itself "could be" an indication of lack of work..??

    that job may not be as "big as you think"
     
  4. Allow Me.

    Allow Me. Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    Yeah, mobile home movers generally do the tear down and set up also. With labor and actually moving it, you're talking about 5 grand. You need a crew too.
     
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  5. Roadmedic

    Roadmedic Road Train Member

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    Most mobile home movers from the factory do the delivery to the dealer.


    The dealer then does the work of the delivery and setup.
     
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  6. shantyshaker12

    shantyshaker12 Light Load Member

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    Oct 11, 2009
    warsaw,in.
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    I transported new mobile homes for 15+ years out of northern Indiana. One reason you don't see many these days is because after the economy went bad a few years ago manufactured home sales plummeted and many manufacturers and dealers went bankrupt. I have many friends who were forced to leave the industry. Contrary to popular belief almost none of the drivers do set up or tear down, just deliver the new home from factory to dealers lot or to home site. Drivers who work for dealers do set up and tear down. Also there are set crews who tear down and set up homes for a living. Most toter drivers are o/o while there are a handful of company drivers. Most o/o are leased to transport companies that have contracts with the companies to transport their homes. Very few companies will hire anyone without at least 2 years of experience in that field. I was able to stay in the industry until March of this year, I still had enough work but could no longer stand working for the company I was with, but that's another story.
     
  7. Michael76043

    Michael76043 Bobtail Member

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    I Have a truck and have thought about rigging it up as a toter. Any advice or suggestions ? I live south of Fort worth ,Tx . Seems to be allot of mobiles built around Alvarado area .
     
  8. Stubby T Slapnutt

    Stubby T Slapnutt Light Load Member

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    I have done this work for 20 years, as a owner operator with my own authority. It is tough work, and everyone expects you to take all the risk. The people you work with, [your customers, or company you are leased to] will set up every advantage to themselves. You will get the shaft everytime. Even when it's their fault or problem, they will push it off on you and your insurance. Good luck if you go this route.
     
  9. Stubby T Slapnutt

    Stubby T Slapnutt Light Load Member

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    It's been three years now. I stopped hauling shacks July 1, 2012. Lots of reasons, Chop Suey Luey tires a big reason. My customers a big reason. The big companies demand you provide up to 5 million in insurance, and name them on the policy as additional insured. So if something happens on the road to the pos, they are covered by your insurance. They have no incentive to properly maintain the rolling gear. If you ask them about obvious defects to the axles, tires, hubs and suspension, they will say "Thats a truck driver thing". The wheels fall off all the time. I would stop every 30 miles to check tires and hubs, used a laser thermo gun to shoot the tires an hubs, a big difference in temp on one part, could alert you to failure. I installed a cctv system on the truck and hung cameras on the trailer to watch the tires { it worked awesome }

    I hauled for all the big modular space companies, General Electric, Resun, Mobile Modular, Williams Scotsman, Morgan Blds. Not a nickles difference between them. Over and over when I pointed out operational safety issues, and ask them why they kept doing unsafe things, the answer was always the same " That's the way we always do it ". I replied that's the way we always do it does'nt work for me when the " crap is falling off on the highway.
     
    Last edited: Aug 3, 2015
    Reason for edit: spelling
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  10. bandit74

    bandit74 Light Load Member

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    Poor driver was killed a couple of weeks ago, 4 tires blew, the home fell off the jack when he was under the home......claude tx on 287
     
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  11. Stubby T Slapnutt

    Stubby T Slapnutt Light Load Member

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    [​IMG] Well I'm not going to pretend to know the exact circumstances that led that driver to be on the side of the road with 4 flats, but I got a pretty good idea.

    This started happening after the Chop Suey Luey tires showed up. We called it laying down. As in the trailer laid down. Once all the tires let go, thats where you are. It happened to me several times, and is one of the reasons I don't haul shacks anymore.

    I left Indicom Plant in Burleson Tx { Fort Worth } Hauling half a General Electric Eplex. 12 x 60 a very light unit. Left after 9:00 am curfew. Light rain { good for keeping tires cool } Temp in the upper 50's, as usual I had passenger window down listening for trouble. It is about 40 miles to my first safety stop at the loves in Hillsboro, TX. I arrived in Hillsboro, checked tires with laser thermo gun, thumped them, all ok. Set off for my next safety stop in Malone, Tx. It is only 17 miles, has a good wide spot. It is better to stop safely in a good pull off location, than to be caught with no shoulder or narrow shoulder changing flats. The next stop after Malone would be Coolidge, Tx, about 20 miles from Malone. Are you getting it? I literally stop every 20 to 50 miles checking tires.

    I am one mile west of Malone, and wham the trailer lays down. It stops quicky, there was no sound of a tire letting go, no blowout to alert you of trouble just wham, you ain't moving no more. All three tires had come apart, and were wrapped up around the axles. It usually takes more time to cut the tires away than to change the flats. In the old days when a tire did this you had to use wire cutters for the steel wire made into the tires. Not the Chop Suey Luey tires, you use a utility Knife { no steel for you, }

    In this situation, it takes 3 hydraulic jacks. Two to lift the house off the axles, and one to lift the axle of the tire you are changing. It's hard dirty work, and oh yeah cars and trucks are coming right down the side of the shack. I have had to lay completely under the trailer, to keep from getting hit by passing traffic.

    The bottom line ? In my experience if you knew a tire had failed and immediately got on the brakes, the other tires would let go before you could stop. They went like popcorn. It got so bad with these tires, I installed a cctv system on the truck, and it helped alot. But at the end of the day the risk became unmanagable, you go down 635 in Dallas, and lay one down, you will rethink your career choice faster than you can say ####ing Chop Suey Luey tires !!!!!

    In closing I know some will read this post and assume I was driving at high speed, beyond the capacity of the tires. Nope not the case, I rarely drove over 52 mph. Th tires are " China Bombs " put that in google and start reading, you ain't gonna believe the horror stories. Nuff Said
     
    Last edited: Aug 4, 2015
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