Car hauling

like 1 car

 

Stay under 26 and no CDL is required. There is a couple of guys on here doing car hauling they better understand your question. IMO car hauling needs Bigger Truck to be successful long term

 

That's such an open ended question it is almost impossible to answer.
Is it a single or 2 car bumper pull?
What are you towing with?
Get a DOT# and get an insurance quote. If you plan on crossing state borders you also need an MC#
Can you make money? Depends on your expenses.

To get a rough idea, cars off the load board for an open trailer average about 75 cents a mile. You can run about 500-600 miles a day (still need an ELD with any vehicle over 10,001 lbs).
You can haul 2 cars and still be non cdl. With 3 its a bit of a balancing act.

 

No.. it's hard enough to make money with just 2 cars let alone a single car. You can still do non CDL with 2 to 3 cars and be under 26k but both your trick & trailer are extremely important.

If I were to restart from scratch, I'd buy a 1ton 2wd dually single cab& chassis, then get one of these low non cdl trailers. They are expensive though so if you can't swing that off the start I'd still get the single cab 2wd truck and a Kauffman flat 2 car.

2nd trailer down Buckeye Trailers The weight of that trailer is 4,9k so a 1 ton single cab dually cab and chassis is probably about 6,5-7k. Meaning you would have around 13-14k cargo capacity maybe a bit less. You start going with heavier trucks like crew cabs ect.. you are losing capacity fast.

Again those are pricey so just starting out might be best to go for that lightweight Kauffman 2 car. You can barely get 2 sprinters on them and with a standard cab & chassis truck, you will be light enough to stay under 26k loaded. The advantage of that other trailer though is you can carry 3 cars or 2 vans as non cdl and maybe even 2 trucks but at the very least the mix of a truck and maybe a SUV.

Anyway, for a cheap trailer, I'd go for a used Kaufmann 2 car to get started and the lightest truck you can get that is a dually. No, you can't really sleep in a standard cab truck but the ability to carry that 3rd car will more than cover hotel costs if you are smart where you stay and of course, with a bench seat you can always rough it here or there if you really need to.


For the record, I have my CDL but I've been running 2 cars on a heavier trailer and it's a lot harder because I only have about 10k cargo capacity to play with. due to my trailer being 6,6k and my truck being 8,1k.

I bought a F550 to go CDL, but haven't put it on the road yet because I've been dreading dealing with all the ifta, drug test ect..ect.. I've been toying with selling all my stuff and going the ultralight set up like I just described and staying non CDL.. but the reality is I'll probably just keep the 550 because it is a nice truck.

 

Take 3 Ultra Lite 48 is completely redesigned to lower the weight without lose of function or stability. Fully equipped and empty weight starts at 5400 lb

12,000 gvwr or 14,000 gvwr



Ultra-Lite-48

 

There is really nothing to dread. It's not as complicated as everyone thinks. IFTA and fuel receipts are tracked by keeptruckin. Just copy and paste once every 3 months. Drug test you piss in a cup when you start and then they email you when its time for a random. I got called in for a random 14 months after the intial.
It's all worth it when you can pick up a couple heavy trucks or sprinters paying $1.50 a piece and piece of mind picking up any 3 units knowing you are for sure within your weight limit.

From my experience so far every trailer on the market is heavier than what they advertised. Buckeye said my trailer weighs 7000 and its more like 8500. My truck is a 4x4 with 74 gallons of fuel and all my kit weighs 10k. I scale at 18,500 and registered for 38k. I'm over 26k with just one diesel truck on my trailer...

 

Yeah I know, I just don't have my trailer sorted out yet so been contemplating too much.. I've also been taking my sweet ### time getting it ready. Ended up tearing it down to double-check the EGR delete and did some preventive stuff. I did finally get my hitch built though. So really I just need to get mud flaps on it and go take it for an inspection. I have to do it soon anyway because Oct my current truck inspection is up.

Quick question though, do we need air horns when we go over 26k on these trucks?

 

I wouldn't trust a lightweight built wedge trailer with a car up high like that. Just asking for it to flop over on you. Get the other type if you go that route the low boy lightweight one that I posted. Personally I don't even like the heavily built wedges and putting a car or truck up top like that with all that weight on that skinny gooseneck.. too many pictures out there of wedges on their sides...

 

My wedge weighs 6500 lbs(scaled it at CAT scales)

Inserted a pic,been 10 months and it hasn't flipped yet,I've had 5k on the top ramps.