"Bedbuggers" Average pay rate.

One new driver in Florida was hired by United in Tampa & quit because he said it was too slow in the winter months. He is married with 2 children, so that makes a difference.

 

Sounds as though the van line moving business can be quite cyclical, as in the construction industry. From what I understand, the van line moving business is fiercely competitive, along with being extremely physically demanding on one's body.

God bless every American and their families! God bless the U.S.A.!

 

There are many variables. You can work for a moving company and be an employee, and possibly get paid by percentage of the line haul (and be responsible for paying for your labor to load and unload, and perhaps many other things like tolls, fuel, etc. depending on the agreement) or be an owner operator and pay for everything and get a larger percentage of the line haul. Some drivers haul special commodities during the slow months to stay busy, some take extended time off the road during the winter, but stay out all summer during the busy season.

Yes household pays much better than your regular freight, but there is also much more to deal with. Fussy customers, loads of paperwork for inventorying everything you load, fussy customers, claims from damages (real or imagined, and even fraudulent), having to work with helpers when you load and unload, that may also be good, or bad, and if bad create damage that you end up paying for, and the physical work of the actual moving and loading and unloading. And you may have extended time between loads, with no income.
Some van lines will not hire drivers that do not have experience, so the only way to get it is to be a low paying helper, or co-driver to start with.

 

A few decades ago I broke into trucking as a bedbugger. Before my first driving experience I spent a couple of years going to a local truck stop and asking if anyone needed help unloading their truck, with most of the work being with bedbuggers. That experience is really helpful if you want to get into the business. You really have to know how to load the van tight, heavy items on bottom, how to wrap and protect furniture for the haul, how to use a hump strap to easily carry heavy objects by yourself, etc. etc. There's a lot of tricks to the trade when it comes to the actual loading and unloading that will help you make an efficient move that will exceed the expectations of your customers.

While it's true there are some nit picky customers, by far my experience was positive. When they see you working hard and taking professional care with their family possessions it is common for them to extend a little hospitality, getting you lunch and/or dinner, and I've even slept in a bed I unpacked with breakfast served in the morning. I've never had that kind of hospitality from shippers and receivers in the door swinging side of the business....