Camper/Trailer dose NOT pay enough!

Here's my take on it. I started full-time on tow-away 17 months ago. I have a newer 1 ton Ram and a 3/4 ton back-up truck prepped the same way (5th wheel, bagged, aux tank, tool box, full flap). Prior to this i ran OTR for 19 years.

I run 26-28 days a month. I haul anything that runs in the lower 48 (not a fan of Canada), except over-dimension loads that require flags, lights,, permits, etc. I prefer the big 5'ers and gooseneck horse trailers because they generally pay well and run stable down the road. When i started i was a ##### for the 1,000 + mile loads. Being from Oregon, i wanted back there often. I found myself doing the big West coast runs and usually deadheading back every time. I did one backhaul out of a repo yard that was a nightmare (mechanical issues, overweight, jerky owner), so i chose to avoid those. I have since changed that perspective.

I made just over $87,000 gross in 2015. I would have been at apx. $108,000 if not for the slow period between July and September. I was expecting the slow July but was not financially prepared for a three month slow-down with my company. It seemed like drivers with other companies were busy again by August while our drivers sat for up to a week at a time between loads. It nearly cost me everything. I even had an orientation date set with another outfit, but i dont like jumping ship all the time (i did enough of that in trucking and it got me nowhere). When it finally picked up in October i had to run like a scalded dog for the next three months to catch up on bills, not what i had envisioned for the upcoming holidays.

My net income for 2015 was apx. $38,000. I had one unit damaged by my self that cost me $2370 out of pocket, and one damaged by a big rig side-swiping me, and my damage deposit was held for 5 months before the other company settled. I've had equipment stolen while staying at a motel (which i rarely do anymore), and i was just recently hit by another big rig while sleeping in a rest area , so there are a lot of extra expenses and delays that you have to factor into your business profile. I admit i came one major breakdown away from going broke last year. It seems like the guys who ran full-time with me all had similar situations.

Lessons learned: Save, save, save, until you have enough money to cover at least three months of payments and expenses. I ran 147,000 miles last year, and about 52% of that was deadhead. This year my deadhead is at 31% because i'm taking the repo loads and any other kind of backhaul because these pains in the ### pay decent (at least the ones i haul do). I search the load board weeks in advance for loads that can keep my deadhead to a minimum. And it's working. I'm down from 14,000 miles/mo to 12,000, and i'm netting more money. I don't ignore the 300-600 mile loads anymore because they can fill in some downtime and improve my deadhead ratio.

I was all set to sell my beginner truck (the 3/4 ton) but i'm sure glad i didn't because it's come in handy when the 1 ton has been down. The repairs pending after that big rig hit me in the rest area will take 3-4 weeks to do, and instead of sitting i can replate my 3/4 ton for $6 and use it to haul small to medium sized loads.

I hope to earn over $100k this year and net about half of that. My mileage should be down 24k too. So it IS possible to make money hauling RV's. I make a lot of my income when the fair-weathered/ retiree drivers are home sipping cocoa. I'm not afraid of winter weather driving, but i do go out of my way to avoid unnecessary delays caused by weather by frequently checking the internet. Apps such as MYRADAR and QUICKMAP are great tools to get a heads-up on the conditions in front of me. My 19 years OTR experience has been invaluable, but i've learned a helluva lot just doing RV's the past 17 months. I think if you can weather the first 12 months you can make it in this business. The freedom it offers to work where and when you want is the biggest perk to me.

 

And the money you made after expenses is what our dump truck drivers make per year, and they don't own the truck or pay bills. And are home every night in their own bed and off most weekends.

No incentive there to be an owner operator.

 

My net is post-tax, not pre-tax. I've done local trucking (Redimix and tankers) and it's not my cup of tea. I prefer the open road. I can stop and fish any river or lake. I prefer to be my own boss and not be subservant to a dispatcher. I prefer to wake up and drive when i want. I prefer to take as much time off as i want. I cant be told to work holidays. So to each his own.

 

I hear you. Not putting you down JChors. I really enjoyed RV Hauling when I tried it for a while.
But I was driving three days straight non stop every week before I slept, then drove another day and a half before I got home, and when company employees make as much as an O/O, there's something wrong with that picture.
But it's the same with big trucks. The rates just aren't where they should be for the cost of new equipment and operating it.

 

I also laugh at you when my truck is getting 3 to 4 time better mileage than yours

 

3 or 4 times? Not likely, LOL. I can get 8MPG out of a class 8 tractor trailer on the flat interstates.

 

Your lucky to get that ..... I have owned a Dodge Cummins that got 18-20 mpg with a 3 car flatdeck fully loaded..... of course the former owner was a diesel tech and went through it and beefed it up properly


By the way did you know that they used the 5.9 litter Cummins in the freightliner FL 50 60 and 70 business class???

 

You did real good. My 2007 Ram 3500 dually (last of the 5.9) only got 13.5 empty and 13 pulling a single RV trailer.

Yes, I did. I always wondered what kind of mileage a medium duty would do (I have no experience with those) but everyone I talk to said a class 8 does just as good.

 

I give those hotshot guys some major respect. Our boss man also has a small hotshot service that is dedicated to his direct shipper. Well, he got in a bind and asked my wife and i to take a load 1650 miles. Never will we do that again. We are to old to be trying to sleep in a oversize pickup truck. Even our cabover days and crawling over a dog house to get in bed weren't that bad.
Wife said if we cant stand up and walk to bed we wont drive it. I agree. 72 inch sleeper is the minimum for us

Major respect for you guys sleeping in those 1 ton p/u trucks i just could not do it at my age. I have to have a bed and refrigerator and all the goodies.

 

Lots and lots of variables but 3 or 4 times? In the one and only experience that i had with a hotshot we did NOT get 3 or 4 times better than our cascadia .