auto hauler information please?

Funny !!
I wont take one of those old trucks. I heard they have replaced most of them but who knows. If that's what they want to give me then I'll stay home. I Don't care.
they are hiring 50 drivers. (maybe they have 50 new trucks for the senior guys and need to fill the old trucks with rookies.. lol)

 

Are you positive you want to get into hauling cars????? Just asking because I did it for a few years hot shotting with a wedge trailer and a small freightshaker. Especially if you are going to haul from dealer auction yards etc. I have walked around auction yards for hours looking for a car that was supposed to be in a certain area only to find it way over on the other side of the yard in a different area. Then went to go get in it and bring it to the truck and only find that it has a dead battery. Then spent another hour walking back to find someone to jump the car.

Finally inspect the car from front to back, noting any scratches (even the smallest) on my inspection report. Find someone williing to sign off your report. Then hit a freaking bird or something on the road and end up being responsible for the scratch that the bird or whatever put in it.

Then you have inop cars to deal with. They were advertised as working vehicles on the load board but you get there and there are no wheels on the #### thing or no brakes or some other issues. You then need to winch the car onto the trailer. This gets to be a pain since you may have to take everything off the trailer and put the inop on the nose so that you don't have to move it later to get another vehicle off.

Did I mention hauling private vehicles out of residential areas. Oh that is another FUN thing to do. You get directions that bring you down some narrow street that dead ends with no were to turn around. You get people that are not willing to work with you in finding a place that you can get your truck into because you are not allowed on some city streets with your big truck?

Lets not forget the loosers that want in your load when you are parked for the night. Had that happen when I had two Porches on my trailer. My radio blared up in a truck stop one night and it was a driver saying that some kids were on my trailer trying to get at one of the cars. I always carried a loaded Ruger Blackhawk, .45 LC in the truck. I know it was and is not legal but it has saved me a couple times.

Car hauling may not be right for everyone. Personally, I would find a local gig first and see if you really want to get into trucking in the first place.

I went from hauling cars etc to hauling farm products and construction materials. People don't really come looking to steal a load of spuds or a load of gravel etc. It is real hard to damage these types of products also. I don't make quite as much money but then I am home most every night so my expenses on the road are not that great. It is kind of a wash for me. I never have to worry about having to park for the night in some auction yard were there is NO bathroom or other things that you might need because there was not a truck stop or even a rest area within 100 miles of the yard. I don't have to worry about mother nature damaging my load either. And yes she can be a ######, especially if you have some type of expensive vehicle on the trailer. I lost count of how many times I was trying to find cover for my load. Sometimes that even ment unloading the vehicles to get them under cover.

My favorite was picking up a single that someone bought off of fleabay and all they seen were some hacked up pictures of it on the net. You get to their place with this GEM that they bought and they are pissed because it is a bondo bucket POS. They don't want the to pay for getting that bondo bucket delivered to their house. Usually a call to the sherif and a call to the broker and the documentation/paper work IE written contract. Well get the problem fixed but it can be a pain.

Don't think people are always willing to bend with you either. I once had a guy that was going to sue me because I had to cancel on him because I had equipment issues and I could not get there in the time frame he needed. No compassion at all. I had popped a head gasket north of Albert Lea Minnesota on Highway 35, Had to get towed to Mankato to ge the truck worked on. Found it had torched the block out between two holes and scored two pistons in the process. Was going to be down for a few weeks since I had to get the truck towed back to my area to get someone that could fix it for a resonable price.

Just a fare warning. Car hauling is not for everyone. It can be joyable when you have customers that think you are awsome and are sad because you got out of it. I still get calls from some of my customers asking if I got back into it again. One dealer in Kansas even offered to help me buy another setup etc to get back into it. I also did alot of work for MDE Mercedes, hauling their test vehicles from some of their test facilities. They had one in Bemedji MN, one in Arora CO, and one in Port Huron Mi. After my first run for them, they told me to name my price. I could easily make enough money off of an MDE load so that I realy did not have to worry about a back load. Sometimes I would do a circle for them. Pickup in Bemidji, run out to CO and drop their cars, reload for Port Huron etc and end up back in Bemidji dropping off then back home from one of the auction yards to one of the local dealers.

So serious money can be made but it does not come without some serious headakes.

 

I don't think that the new guy should start by hauling cars.
I have never hauled cars on a big rig but I maybe going with PMTG and the loads are covered. They just got a big contract and if the money is good I'll do it for a little bit.
i just don't want one of their old cabover trucks.

 

Funny I have people come up & ask these same questions no matter when or where I am. It sure looks easy hauling cars... There has been some very sage advice given in this thread, but one thing that I think might have not been impressed on the OP was attention to detail. The fact that you lost a tarp says a lot about that. Most insurance won't even cover you without 3 years experience in the field. It is a very different animal to drive into the type of locations that a car dealership prefers to be located in. Let alone the advice about loading/unloading on the side of the road in very busy traffic. Or for that matter being told "sure you can pull into our lot"! Only to find out after you have that someone thought you were in a rollback!
What I am trying to say is you better be an exceptional or above average driver, who doesn't mind 100% touch freight, with attention to detail that rivals a surgeon. You can NEVER be lazy when hauling cars!

But I was going to answer some of your questions.
URS (United Road) drivers are paid 20% of the load and are responsible for all damages. It is pretty much the same with any non union parking lot job. Some of the companies pay a bit more (25%), some less. Jack Cooper or any of the union jobs are covered by the union contract and drivers are responsible for the first $1500 of damages per year. After that the company picks up the tab. Although don't expect to have a job if you reach the $1500... lol
I hope this helps

 

I have a job offer from allied in canada and im thinking about going for it. Union and its .71 cents a mile and 27 an hour for loading and unloading plus doing town work.

 

anyone currently working for cassens?

 

This needs a closer look

 

Looking at going to Jack Cooper. I made $60,000 my first year flat bed out of drivers school. Been physical all my life (athlete) and over 50. The key to me making 60k my first year is because of my discipline and commitment. Applying the same to car hauling my goal is to exceed 75K. From Columbus, Ohio can anyone provide me any advice on back hauls and the lanes I may cover?

 

Just reading up on your old post did you ever get into hauling cars and how did it go