Carhauling: Is this any place for a woman?

Go for it! As long as heights don't bother you and you are in good physical shape you should not have any problems. I have hauled cars fo 15 years. It can be very frustrating , but it can also be very rewarding. With this king of trucking you can stay in shape and still drive a truck! Pays good too!..

Question 2. You will get the driving experience anyway. If you can find a car hauler to hire you now, do it. A lot of Car Carriers( stingers) do not respond the same as regular tractor trailers.

 

Think about a $300,000 vehicle......

 

they build them everyday....
lol.

 

I agree and disagree with some of the posts on this thread. I'll explain. Safety should always be the number one priority as some have stated. However, I'm not sure how much driving experience you may have since your profile doesnt state any number of years. To be honest, if was me, I would put car hauling as a near future goal. Operating a 10 car is a little more difficult then your normal hauling a 53' box trailer. Specially if your someone like me who used the over the hood deck as a low profile sun visor lol.

Anyways. I would reccommend getting some experience under your belt if you have less then a few years of driving. Many auto hauling companies are going to require X number of previous years experience as well. Not all, but the majority may. (I could be wrong, since I've not been in a truck in about 2yrs). Also, I disagree with the statement about anyone can be a car hauler. Sorry, I disagree with this statement. I believe anyone can be a truck driver, but not everyone can be a car hauler. Its something that is either in your blood, or it is not. Not everyone can back a manual transmission vehicle up a truck and over the hood and be comfortable with it. Just like me, I tried flat bedding once, and it was not for me due to ice, ladders and tarps all wrapped up into the same day during "training on how to tarp and chain" day.

Now being your a big gal. Theres nothing wrong with that. Though to be honest, just keep in mind, you may find yourself, having to climb over seats, to get out through the back door, back hatch, back trunk, etc. Sometimes you'll have lots of room to move around and exit a vehicle. Sometimes, you'll only have inches.

The most important thing I can tell you is this. Regardless of if you take my advice or not. If you do haul auto's. Please, for the safety of other drivers, chain or soft wrap all 4 corners or tires of your vehicles. It may take a extra minutes, but the end result is much safer for yourself and others. There are some that only single chain or only double chain. And to me, thats to much of a gamble for everyone's safety.

 

Justmom

I would recommend getting a few years OTR experience before jumping into car hauling. Yes it is lucrative although it has gotten a little competitive in recent years. I haven't seen a woman car hauler other than the ones helping husbands or whatever. But, I don't see why a woman can't do this work either. There is a learning curve that will usually take a good year. Things were slow my first year and yes I did have damages. Every car hauler has damages sooner or later and at every level of experience. That's why they have insurance. Each load is like a puzzle and knowing what will work and what won't work will take some to learn. It is also highly recommended that you are somewhat thin in order to get in and out of vehicles in tight places. Although, all car haulers lose weight eventually because you will do a lot of walking. You also need not have a bad fear of heights. It don't look too bad from down there but when you get up there and and you are trying to hug the outside of an SUV on your #2 deck and make your way to the back of your trailer with little room to play with, it's a long way down.

The car hauling business is going through some transitions right now. Used to be that cars had what are called tie downs underneath for securing vehicles. Some still do but more and more, wheel straps are being required. This is a breeze with some of the new equipment that has appeared in the industry but if you have an older truck that was engineered to use chains, it will present you with a few challenges. Modifications are being made to older units as they slowly make their way to the scrap yard.

I'm just getting back into car hauling after 4 yrs of household goods with my church. Prior to that, I made over $85K per yr at Continental Auto Transport as a company driver in 06. Then, they sold their trucks and became solely O/O. The drivers where I work now(as of 11/12) are on the same 25% of load as I am and one said he made $120K last year and another said $126K.

There are companies that will train you how to be a car hauler but most require a few years commercial driving before hand. There's a lot to think about as a new driver and there's a lot to always think about as a car hauler. Car hauling requires a special breed of driver and it is not for lazy people. If you are willing to take a year or so to learn the basics and build up your speed, it will get in your blood and you won't regret it.

Like the acronym used by the Marines;

Earned-Never Given
Car Haulers

 

Back in the seventies when I was with United ( before Jack Cooper bought us ) we had a lot of women who applied and had to be accepted..because of affirmative action laws...I had a few of these " FNGs " ride with me as students...Only one ever stayed and she was petite...but TOUGH....The biggest one whose name was Nell....steered a Chevy Blazer off a set of double skids unloading at a Harlingen Tx. dealer.....She wet her pants.....Not funny...but true...Complete had a little blonde working for them out of their St. Louis barn....She was about 5ft.2 in. and her handle was " Kitten "....One of Jack Cooper's companies....( PMT )....had two women working out of their Milpitas Ca.terminal when I retired....Both of them were good sized gals..In answer to your question.....Women can be carhaulers.....but in all my years .....I saw very few

 

Old Tex is right, there were few women hauling cars, and back then there were few women driving OTR too.
I worked with a gal in the mid 80's out of 175 guys on the list.
She married another driver, and then broke her arm, and never came back to carhaul. I think they both ran team after that?
In Ontario with Allied, I think there were no women, and Cassens has none, thought a few feminine guys that should be wearing dresses,lol.

Doesn't mean it can't be done. I say if you find an opportunity to haul cars, jump on it, worry about the rest later!

 

If she wants to haul cars then haul them

 

At my rail head I see two teams male/female from time to time. Both are brokers. I assume a Mom and Pop team each. Both will load and unload as well as securing cargo units. One team operates an enclosed carrier and the 'she' half of the team is pretty petite, thus making it easy for her to do the loading and unloading of the larger units. I saw her put a Rolls and two 4 door Astin Martins in the trailer back in the summer. She made it look pretty effortless.