Houston/San Antonio car hauling

I don't run that lane, but you're kind of asking the Golden Goose to give you her only egg. Most folks take it as a trade secret to reveal such things. I've been running Texas lanes only for about 1 year (decided to run a 500 mile radius for awhile) and most of the lanes here are pretty saturated. Everyone is going to make it big in Texas with a car hauler, fortunately I'm already retired and have a pension coming in. But to answer your question most likely hit the load boards and gain customers, like most others do. There's no easy way to just jump into a lane without hitting the spot on a board and meeting people. You gotta get a reputation with specific customers they'll start calling you. Houston is tough though, I don't run into there because of the rates. If you aren't hauling 7-9 bulk loads you can't make a ton in Houston. They'll get down to less than .30 a car. I've met a few from the Houston area and hauled for them up to DFW from San Antonio, if I have a customer call me and needs something moved from Houston I call one guy and give it to him, but it's few and far between. I know another guy for instance that's in Houston with a 7 car. He has a customer and dead heads to Waco twice a week comes back loaded. Prob took him awhile to get that sole customer. But he also owns a repair shop and 12 other things to keep going, and he sleeps about 1.8 hrs per day.

 

I tried sleeping a couple of hours a day didn’t work out too well.

 

You need to call U.S Auto Logistics. Though they do have multiple loads going both ways every day. I’m not sure about them needing more O/O...

 

I know they haul Toyotas out of the San Antonio plant to a distribution hub in Houston and then if SA dealers need trucks they come back from Houston. Years ago they used to haul autos of all makes out of a rail yard next to Ft Sam Houston at the I-35 Loop 410 interchange. I don’t think they do that anymore. It used to be a cool thing to go down there and see your shiney new special ordered car being off loaded from a railcar to go to the local and regional dealers.

 

Does usal do o/o? I was assuming they were company only.

 

I avoid running this lane. I am located out of San Antonio. You can find a lot of the brokers running this lane on Central Dispatch, but many of these loads are in the .40-.55cpm per car, which is too cheap for me to run, especially considering how low the pay is. You can catch junkers from the IAA's or Copart's back to San Antonio, but expect long waits and troublesome loading/securing. A lot of the return loads for you will very likely be the ports, so make sure you are squared away for that. Think less favorable brokers on this route, such as RCG Logistics, Wholesale Express, Montway. There are some dealer/Upfitters you can chase if you like moving brand new trucks, but I don't find them worth the risk personally.

If I were you sitting in Houston, I would look up I45 towards Dallas, according to the loads on Central, these always seem to be a bit more favorable if you like spending the night at truck at least.

 

Why not?

 

Cannot speak specifically for the other poster. But assuming the reference to higher risk would be toward more insurance &/or damage claim potential with new (or upfitted new) vehicles. If you are a single o/o, this could be a significant difference.

 

Liability for one. For two, I personally don't care much for customers that go over each vehicle with a fine tooth comb looking for something to bill me for. If you find a dealer that is reasonable to work with, go for it. If you get somebody that comes out with a magnifying glass and your pictures from pickup, I'd run.