Is it possible to make good money hauling containers (intermodal)?

True but not everyone needs that kinda life style. Not everyone the same. Different strokes for different folks.

 

I agree, I live pretty frugally as well but I have few hobbies. That doesn't mean that ill sell myself short because im one greedy ####### when it comes to rates, and I get them and the customer is rewarded with excellent service and they are happy. Its mostly because I have a goal and that's to be done with this industry sometime when Im in my early 60s preferably enjoying life while I still have some good years left.

 

Hey i agree with you of most of what your hace said just some people are happy with a single wide trailer on a lot lol

 

Thank you! Yes, I do have my own company. I spent a bit of time as a company driver too, so, I know both sides. I have also been an Owner Op leased on with several different companies.

I have my own authority.

I typically don't hire company drivers because they destroy trucks, and right now, I run OLD iron so I don't need an ELD. Old Iron in the hands of a company driver is a recipe for trouble.

I do hire Owner Ops, and, have several perks I can offer, once we get to know each other.

There are definitely company jobs out there paying drivers over $100K. And, some of them are local, guys run the same route every day and are home in their bed every night.

HOWEVER...you are not going to walk in the door of any company and command 6-figures, even if you have tons of experience. That is something you have to work up to and, you have to be willing to put up with a LOT to get there. That is something I never had the stomach or patience for. And, you might have to work night-shift to start, you might have to go over the road, you might have to be willing to work holidays, etc. At least to start. A lot of guys won't.

There are also a LOT of company driver jobs were guys can make $60-$80K, both OTR and local.

WalMart is supposedly starting drivers out at $80K...now, I don't know anything about it, just something I read.

Rail containers are the lowest form of trucking on the planet. Why guys do them is beyond my comprehension. I have talked to several who do, and, they have told me why they do, yet, for each reasons they give me why, I can show them 10 that are better, offer the same thing, pay way better.

Hence why you will hear over and from guys like me the words "Stop hauling cheap freight!!!".

The simple fact of the matter is, trucking services are, for the most part, a commodity. And, like ANY commodity the price is based on supply and demand. If you guys would QUIT hauling the cheap freight, sooner or later, there would be so much DEMAND, the prices would go up. But, it seems every low life in America buys a POS truck and immediately heads to lease on to the first intermodal carrier they can find.

Now, please understand, I am not calling you or anyone else who posted up here a "low life", but, if you step 1 foot into a rail yard and look around for 5 minutes, you'd know exactly who I am referring to.

I did the rails, many different times and many different ways. I just never found anything but garbage.

I don't consider myself garbage...do you consider yourself garbage? I'd HOPE not. So, quit hauling garbage.

OK, feel free to contact me if you want to be an owner op with me.

 

It sounds like you are on the right track and have an excellent plan laid out. Make sure you check in on how your doing, monitor your progress, so you can stay on track. No doubt, trucking is a young mans game. Not to take anything away from the old timers who can still do it, but, the older I get, the more I realize how hard it is as you age and the more amazed I am when I do find a guy who is 75 or 80 still doing this! There aren't many, and I don't know how they do it...I met a guy doing flatbed loads at 79. Now, he said he had recently given up tarping, put a conestoga on his trailer, but still...it is WORK securing a load, walking around and around it, up and down, in all kinds of weather, uneven ground, etc etc etc.

Just do me a favor, don't tell others that there is money to be made at $1.40 a mi. That does nothing beneficial for anyone except set too low an expectation. New guys starting out will go broke running at that rate. And, like I said, there is no need for it.

Trucking is the perfect example of the economic principle of supply and demand. You don't have to be a genius or have cracked an economics book to understand it. If people just refused to haul $1.40 freight, eventually, the rate will go up! And, like I said, the way things are right now, you shouldn't be doing things for under $2 mi. Of course, this is all predicated on how many miles you drive, and how many days and weeks a year you work. If you only haul 200 mi a day and are off all winter, you better get WAY more than $2 a mile!!!

 

LOL!!!! You are absolutely right!

Live in a trailer, next to the nuclear plant, got 6 little kids all running around with rickets. You send them all out every day to bring home roadkill for dinner. That's living!!!

 

thanks. can u dm me ur email incase u ever leave this forum. i like my company just hate rails. not looking to jump ship yet.......but there might be a day i do

 

is co. treating you right or you got some mixed feelings about em now? how long you been w/ them for?

 

kiswani. for little over 2 years. kiswani rocks. but man the struggle to get empties etc. its gettin hard. but these rates r fire

 

The rates are fire? Or, did you mean fine.

And, back when I was doing containers, it was often times hard to find a decent empty. In fact, you had to be real careful on what you pulled out, or, you'd get blamed for the damage! In the rain and dark, hard to see sometimes.

I don't mean to argue. Maybe I am misunderstanding you, so, my apologies if I got this wrong, but, I don't think getting $400-$500 for a local round trip or $900 to run 400 miles is "fine" or "on fire". In fact, I'd say it is pathetically low. Perhaps as far as overall container rates go, maybe it is good, but, that is like saying getting punched in the eye is way better than getting kicked in the nuts. While true, I'd rather have neither!