Jack Cooper Transport

If you run out of Ft Wayne your best paying trips would be Iowa and Nebrasksa and backhaul out of Kansas City. They have plenty of Wi outbound freight and backhaul from Chicago to In or Ohio. Southern Il or Mo loads will get you in to Wentzville Mo or Princeton In loaded back towards Ft Wayne. Tn and Ky loads will get you a backhaul from Louisville Ky or Georgetown Ky back to In. Mi loads will always get you a load back. We haul some out of Toledo, but not a whole bunch. If you deliver Wv, Pa or Ny you will probably come back empty, but you could get by the house probably 2 nights in a row if you wanted. They have a terminal in Buffalo but I'm not sure if you get any backhauls out of there. There are other backhaul points but I'm not sure how often you would get in there or whether they load to In. You will find an area that you like to run in and out of and may take those trips anytime you can get them. Ft Wayne is a first in, first out terminal so it's luck of the draw. Sometimes you will come in and have 20+ loads to pick from and the next time you might be the last driver, which means you could be forced on a hot load or only have 3 loads to pick from. Every driver eventually gets the same opportunities to pick the trips he likes.

 

You have been more that helpful and I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to go deep into detail.

 

You guys are still faster than us. 61-63 is best we got.

Im out of LAF, things run about the same here except we have seniority dispatch. I think first in first out would be nice occasionally.

To the OP, Good luck. It's defiantly a good time to get into hauling cars.

 

Yes I drove a big red Cassens rig for a while. It was nice not ever having to pass anyone but a Prime rig every now and then. I don't miss hauling 10-11 either. 9 unit loads will definately spoil you! I stacked 4 on the tractor the other day just to see if I still could and it took me longer than loading 9. I guess I was just out of practice.

 

Going to go ahead and give this car hauling thing a shot. Having done extensive research, the only place to make the big bucks driving for someone else is oversize flatbed and auto hauling for Coopers or Cassens. Not afraid of the work, I feel one can make a realistic six figure annual income once you learn the ropes and system. I really like the first come first serve dispatch system in Ft. Wayne. Any pointers for training --- classroom, dock and road out of Ft. Wayne Indiana?

 

Pointers? 1-Listen 2-ask a question if you do not understand something. It takes all of about 2 seconds to destroy a vehicle by pulling the wrong lever, etc, etc.

 

man I would be so paranoid of those levers

 

I had an interview at the Ft Wayne terminal today, I had pretty much made up my mind before I went in that I was not going to make the move because I have grown accustomed to being home daily. Hard work doesn't scare me a bit, hell I've pulled skateboard, now I haul scrap & do all the maintenance and repairs on my own truck.

My attitude quickly changed when they started breaking down the pay structure & benefits. This sounds like a dream job! I couldn't say no.

Great bennies, great pay, decent home time, never have to sleep in a truck...I'm in! It sounds like I'll be able to get through the house a few times a week too because I live a few miles from the terminal.

I start on the 22nd.

 

Congrats on the new job. It is a great job with the opportunity to make great money, but not at first. It will suck and you may very well hate it and want to quit at first. If you can promise yourself to stick with it for 6 months, you will like it by then and your check will be where you want it to be. Most carhaulers do not leave this job until they retire, but you have to make it past your individual learning curve before you start to get comfortable, develop your own routine, and really enjoy the job. Good luck and I hope it's your last job. Ft Wayne has some very experienced trainers who really know the carhauler business and are very fair to deal with. Do exactly what they ask and ask questions and you should do fine.

 

Does Ft Wayne have forced dispatch?