Car Hauling Is Not As Lucrative As It Once Was

Thx B, the 00 rent/non rent part just threw me off! lol

 

It did me also when they started doing it. I am not sure why they switched, but the gross numbers stayed the same when I add the three categories together. Years ago the Union Owner Op. companies paid drivers wages to the owner op and a separate check for the truck.

 

None of my business but since you brought it up, would you say that most people that are leased to your carrier are making the same, OR, is a lot of this a particular run or works for you because of proximity to home, the market you are in (big city I would guess) I just don't honestly think that out here in the boonies where I live you could make that kind of money running those few miles, I am guessing that you are on some kind of a somewhat local lot of stops lot of drops run that pays a premium, Don't get me wrong, good for you, just wondering if you are the norm,,,,,or the exception? Thx

 

Short haul does typically pay better per mile than running long hauls. I would assume my per mile revenue is fairly good, but my gross numbers aren’t anything special. The carrier I am leased to posted on their website that average owner ops gross $6,000 to the truck. This is after the company’s cut of 15% of the freight charges. I am certain that some people make less and know at least two owner ops who make more than me. I made less the first couple years here because I only pulled 5-125 mile loads a week and went home and then back MTY. Now I generally pull loads from 2 terminals running a closed loop and run loaded more than 50% of the time. It does help living midway between both terminals. I generally do 3 rounds, but run into others who do 4 rounds weekly. My age, feet, elbow, back, desire to be home most afternoons and most importantly the lack of desire to work more are the reasons I don’t choose to do 4 rounds.

 

Old guy once told me, look at trucking as a triangle, keep two sides of that triangle loaded and you will be fine, lol

 

I guess if you buy a $350k truck out right it does not depreciate, if i knew that i could ad 65k to my annual income. Payment and insurance is free. Im a believer, all those H&A whiners on glass door driver reviews saying a handful of favorites get the same money runs week in and week out are probably just slackers and only make 100k because they only work 20-30 hours a week, it would not be possible for H&A to have that many one star reviews from current and former employees. But then again there is a youtube video by an H&A driver who said in 6 months there was one out of 30 drivers hired that still worked there Again must be all lies.

 

The truck and most other assets of a business do depreciate, but depreciation is one of the best parts of owning a business come tax time. Payments are not part of my current business, but most successful businesses finance most equipment purchases. Insurance is part of mine and everyone’s business expenses.
Whiners on glassdoor are just that. Some people come in the door day one and expect to get what others having been getting for years. People who consistently whine consistently get the worst work and usually leave. Some people also become carhaulers and think they should immediately make great money. I personally took a $1,000 a week paycut when I started hauling cars for Jack Cooper. Once I became proficient at hauling cars I got fairly close to my old income.
Short haul wouldn’t ever work for me personally as a company driver as I wouldn’t make enough money to suit me because I don’t work hard enough. It didn’t work for me at Jack Cooper, Cassens, Allied Systems and wouldn’t work at Hansen and Adkins.
People that try hauling cars for less than a year and can’t hack it then blame others for their shortcomings on Glassdoor. If someone doesn’t make enough at Hansen and Adkins or any job they should leave. Why would someone stay anywhere they don’t like? I believe that most rookie car haulers at the end of 6 months no longer work for any carhaul company. My class at Jack Cooper started with 8 drivers. It was whittled down to 4 of us before graduating and 0 are left working at Jack Cooper 8 years later. Only 2 of us still haul cars. The other one left still hauling cars is a friend of mine who works for a non-union company making $2,000-$2,400 a week. That probably is just a lie also. You seem to think that because 30 drivers quit here and then complained on Glassdoor, that it must be terrible for everyone. It is not terrible for me or the nearly 1,000 others who choose to work here. If someone comes here and doesn’t like it they shouldn’t stay here. Life isn’t always fair so make the best of it or move on to greener pastures.
The main thing we can take from all this BS is that you don’t believe me and that is ok. I see the glass half full and you see the glass half empty. No one is going to hand either one of us anything. As long as you are happy complaining about how terrible everything is, I am happy telling how good it is. ***(for me and not anyone else)***

 

It’s amazing how different people think. Your mind can either hold you back or push you forward.

 

I speak in general terms about bussiness as a whole , i said once before in the 90's when i delivered beer there was a driver always waving his paycheck that made 130k + a year everyone thought it was the job to have he never said his brother owned the distributor and he had 4 forklift stops a day at the largest wholesale stores in Chicago, he also only worked 40-55 hours a week. Bottom line is most independent drivers hauling new cars have $3500- $5000 a month truck payments pay 12-15k more for insurance and are lucky if they get $4 bucks a mile one load a month. If you are a one man show booking your own, billing your own, driving your own wearing rose colored glasses doesnt do anything for your bottom line. Booking loads trying to get more money for loads , you get the feel for fair carrier/ brokers and H&A isnt one of them. I never pulled a one of their 6 stop 31 cent a mile loads and never would.

 

I enjoyed car haul. I liked the work, but I punched my ticket and went back to ltl. I miss the freedom of car haul, but I make basically the same money and benefits. This is more consistent, boring yes but oh well. Got tired of changing truck colors. Hopefully this is the last driving job I ever have.