Driveaway

crackinwise · May 20, 2023

brian991219 said: ↑

Fire apparatus is a very specialized subsegment of driveaway, just like transit buses because they require special attention when driving. Depending on their intended use many have speed restrictions or distance before taking a break to allow things to cool down. Not many companies want to fool with them so they probably pay better than regular trucks. Add in aerial platform or tiller units and the skill set is in very high demand. I had an Uncle that did driveaway for Kovatech, he was a retired professional firefighter and loved what he did. When they sold out he lost his job, worked direct for the manufacturer, and is now fully retired.

As for my dealership experience, when we move a brand new stinger-steer car hauler it is a little more expensive than even a three-way deck set because of the extra care required, same with the rotator tow trucks. With the rotator tow trucks having a retail price near or even north of $800-$1M, we don't want just any driver in it. This is why we have four part-timers like myself and one full time driver, just to handle the complicated moves.

Please do update on your insurance meeting. I am curious how the market has changed from when I sold my company 7 years ago. Working for the dealership part-time I have no idea what it costs them for their insurance, and I'm sure it is not comparable to being a for-hire driveaway carrier since we own the trucks we are moving, we likely assume some of the risk internally.
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I have 28 years experience in the fire service and been a commercial driver since 1992. I worked around my career in fire rescue to keep driving every chance I could and I obtained my authority and ran my own trucking business for a few years. My job now is to spec and purchase fire apparatus so I have a solid background in all aspects of both industries. Well I should say almost all. The drive away side is all new to me and I am learning a lot from your posts. I will follow up with any new numbers I am quoted. I hope this person understands what it is I need but I will use the information you provided so I ask the right questions.

crackinwise · May 25, 2023

The update so far is that there isnt much to update. I had a consultation with the insurance company and they basically told me they have never written a policy for a drive away carrier. I read the info posted by BRIAN991219 and he agreed that the coverages mentioned in his post would be needed. He did however tell me he would make some calls and get me some more info.

As of now I am waiting for a follow up from him on the possible cost of insurance. I will do some more research myself and follow up here. Something I did find out is that the vehicles that I am hoping to move are provided a temp tag from the manufacturer. I do not know if that helps me in terms of needing a transporter tag but if it does that would be a significant savings in start up costs.

brian991219 · May 25, 2023

crackinwise said: ↑

The update so far is that there isnt much to update. I had a consultation with the insurance company and they basically told me they have never written a policy for a drive away carrier. I read the info posted by BRIAN991219 and he agreed that the coverages mentioned in his post would be needed. He did however tell me he would make some calls and get me some more info.

As of now I am waiting for a follow up from him on the possible cost of insurance. I will do some more research myself and follow up here. Something I did find out is that the vehicles that I am hoping to move are provided a temp tag from the manufacturer. I do not know if that helps me in terms of needing a transporter tag but if it does that would be a significant savings in start up costs.
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That could complicate things. Using the temp tag, which would be issued in the name of the purchaser would put the liability on the purchaser's insurance in most cases. When we have trucks moved at the dealership we do not display the temp tag until delivery and use our dealer plates or have the driveaway service use their plates to make sure the liability transfers to them.

crackinwise · May 25, 2023

brian991219 said: ↑

That could complicate things. Using the temp tag, which would be issued in the name of the purchaser would put the liability on the purchaser's insurance in most cases. When we have trucks moved at the dealership we do not display the temp tag until delivery and use our dealer plates or have the driveaway service use their plates to make sure the liability transfers to them.
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That what I thought might be the case. It wouldnt make much sense for the manufacturer to be liable when a seperate entity is moving their truck for delivery. I am going to make some calls and find out the cost of a transporter tag. I appreciate the information.

brian991219 · May 26, 2023

crackinwise said: ↑

That what I thought might be the case. It wouldnt make much sense for the manufacturer to be liable when a seperate entity is moving their truck for delivery. I am going to make some calls and find out the cost of a transporter tag. I appreciate the information.
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Depending on the state you are based in the price varies with an average of only about $100. Transporter tags are relatively inexpensive. That said, you have to be careful because not every state offers reciprocity with transporter or dealer type tags, meaning you may need to order temporary permits for some states. Arizona is well known for this within the transporter community. It has always baffled my mind that there is not an apportioned transporter tag available. That would've make my life as a driveaway guy so much easier. Also see about an IFTA account, which some states will not issue without at least one actual IFTA qualified truck registered. Otherwise you will need fuel permits for many states and that gets expensive real quick. The good news is for driveaway the IFTA decal is reused, it is attached to your signs you tape to the door or taped in the window so you only need one set of decals per transporter plate you have. The bad news is tracking all the miles driven and the truck records, the reporting gets messy.

Thanks for keeping us updated. This will help others in the future looking to break into driveaway with their own authority instead of as a contractor for one of the big companies.

crackinwise · May 28, 2023

I have to say, your replys have opened my eyes to a lot of things I have not considered or even thought of in terms of needs to pull this off. So thank you very much. I will keep researching and posting what I find. If I find a way to pull this off the opportunity I am presented with could be a perfect set up for me. It really does feel as though the expense of operating will keep me from making this happen. Had to travel this weekend so I will call about transported tags on Tuesday and if I do not hear back about insurance I will follow up myself next week. Have a great weekend. And thank you again for the valuable information.

IAmSecond · Sep 12, 2023

brian991219 said: ↑

I have done driveaway as a before I semi-retired and it is extremely expensive to get the correct coverages, especially without an already exisiting asset based trucking company to add the driveaway service to. There are only a few insurance carriers that will underwrite driveaway due to the risk of the unknown.

To do it properly you need a policy that covers the normal public liability ($1 million) required by all motor carriers with a "any auto" endorsement also known as a non-scheduled auto or fleet policy. This base policy is very hard to get as most insurance companies only write declared or scheduled auto policies to cover a specific list of vehicles.

Then you need cargo insurance in the amount of the retail, not wholesale, value of the most expensive truck you plan to transport. The cargo insurance is what covers the trucks you are driving since they are the "cargo" even though you are driving them. This cargo policy must be for transporting, not hauling, as there is a big difference.

Lastly, if you want to do brand new trucks you will also need diminshed value and constructive total loss to cover the retail price of the trucks for when you damage them, and damage will happen. Once the damage exceeds a certian amount, or on components like the roof any amount, the truck is not able to be sold new so the dealer wants to be paid the reduced value. Traditional cargo insurance for vehicle transport does not cover the diminished value nor does it cover things that result in the vehicle being "totalled" and crushed when there is only a little damage but it is on a part the manufacturer conciders critical, leading to a constructive total loss.

When I did this I had an active auto transport company and added driveaway for trucks and my cost was $10,000 per transporter tag I had. This was in addition to the premium we were already paying for our insurance. I sold my company 7 years ago and went into consulting full time.

I was going to keep just one set of transporter tags to keep myself busy but, even with 15 years expierence and a good loss run, the wanted $30,000 for just one tag, and that was 7 years ago. I can't imagine what it costs now. To me, it just wasn't worth the cost.

Now, there are guys that will say I'm full of it and the driveaway coverage isn't that expensive or you don't really need all that stuff I said. They would be known as wrong!

True, there is less expensive coverage that repossession companies get, but it only covers 50 mile radius and doesn't cover all the other stuff a dealer or manufacturer is going to require, nor does it meet the FMCSA requirements to maintain a valid operating authority.

Just an idea of the rates, unless you have a special lead that is highly unusual, I work with a tow truck and car hauler dealer part time and we pay on average $2.50 per mile to hire a driveaway company and they are providing the transporter tags, insurance, fuel, travel to/from and take full responsibility for $400-800k rigs for that rate. We pay less than that for new chassis out of Denton, heck a 3 way deck set only pays a little bit more than a single unit. We can't do it in house for less than that, and only move them ourselves when time is critical or the customer is a special customer because our cost is nearly double the contractor rates.

Good luck and best wished for success if you do decide to try this. If you have never done driveaway before Insuggest signing on with Bennett Truck Transport, Iron Tiger, J&J, Group One or one of the other big names so you will learn about the special permitting requirements, transporter tag restrictions and how to do the job.
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Thank you for this info. Also, it was helpful for me to learn that Driveaway insurance is assigned to plate as you said. In Texas its called an "In Transit Plate" and takes about 2 months to get. Costs about $100. Only on the idiotic Texas E Lisence website

Carolinablue · Jun 14, 2024

brian991219 said: ↑

Fire apparatus is a very specialized subsegment of driveaway, just like transit buses because they require special attention when driving. Depending on their intended use many have speed restrictions or distance before taking a break to allow things to cool down. Not many companies want to fool with them so they probably pay better than regular trucks. Add in aerial platform or tiller units and the skill set is in very high demand. I had an Uncle that did driveaway for Kovatech, he was a retired professional firefighter and loved what he did. When they sold out he lost his job, worked direct for the manufacturer, and is now fully retired.

As for my dealership experience, when we move a brand new stinger-steer car hauler it is a little more expensive than even a three-way deck set because of the extra care required, same with the rotator tow trucks. With the rotator tow trucks having a retail price near or even north of $800-$1M, we don't want just any driver in it. This is why we have four part-timers like myself and one full time driver, just to handle the complicated moves.

Please do update on your insurance meeting. I am curious how the market has changed from when I sold my company 7 years ago. Working for the dealership part-time I have no idea what it costs them for their insurance, and I'm sure it is not comparable to being a for-hire driveaway carrier since we own the trucks we are moving, we likely assume some of the risk internally.
Click to expand...

Hey did you ever get your driveaway company set up?

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