Is Owning An 11 Car Stinger Really Profitable?

@Banker possibly could help?

 

Must be a stingy fugger if he is maken a 120k after expences..OR no home,no kids,no wife n no life..
There are a few who can make a go of it but its rare..
Perfect example..Lets say you pick out your truck and run it for 4 yrs and 364 days..You go in to office to make last payment on your truck and company sez we just closed up shop for life....You dont have any p/w in hand saying you own that truck...You loose EVERYTHING!!!

They usually decide how much you spend on the truck and where ect ect....Nope,not me bud..I would never consider it..Better off buyin a 5-10-20k truck outta pocket and do it on your own..

If you dont have that kinda $ and still wanna lease programm your behind the 8 ball before you turn a mile..

 

It is certainly do able, o/o's are doing it and making a good living. Banker, et al.
In my opinion it won't happen getting traffic off a load board. Plus remember this, the Auto industry as a whole, and carhaul is very cyclical. It rides high for 5 or so years, and goes down, and then up again etc. Also, at 58 are you ready to plunge into this? Or is it time to start winding down? All things to consider. That said, it can happen if done correctly.

 

Your not the o/o till papers in hand..Your not much more that a company driver who pays their bills and takes alllllll the risks..
There is a show that is on sirius xm all the time..Its a call in show..
Its live from 4-7(eastern) pm every sat and sun an i dont know the live recorded hrs during the week..Head to letstruck.com for his call in # and schedules....He will give you more info from an educated point of view..

 

A play on semantics. Same as any business that the owner took a loan to buy said business. You still own it.
You buy a new car and pay on it every month, it's still your car. So renting a house is better than plopping down money and owning one?

I would not base any business decision on what comes off XM Radio or this forum, etc, etc.

 

While the op used one example of another who leased, he specifically noted he was looking to purchase.
So your points about fleece purchases do not apply here. Additionally, your $5-$20k truck idea will not net more than a rusty old scrap heap in car haul.

 

I can give my input, but I have before and those who don't agree or understand new car carhaul may call me a liar. There is really good money in being an owner operator carhauler with an 11 car car carrier for me. May not be good for everyone.

I will tell you a few things about myself first and then you can decide what is best for you. 5.5 years ago I walked away from a $100,000-$140,000 Union job at UPS with the long term goal of being a carhaul owner op. I was tired of working my life away working nights and weekends and I knew there was a better quality of life out there that also payed great.
I worked for Cooper, Cassens and Allied over the next 4 years learning the trade. After I had a good idea of how to haul cars I ordered my rig at just shy of 50 years old. Then I leased it on to a great company Hansen and Adkins.

The reason I built an 11 car is because that is what the most productive carhaul companies use. I.E. Cassens, Hansen and others like them. I don't haul 11 very often now because I got a taste of daily home time and left the road. I haul big stuff from a railhead now but my 11 car highrail will still haul some very productive loads. As you should know the 11 car high rail is heavier than a quick loader but most times I can handle the weight issues. As long as Hansen has the short traffic from my terminal I will be hauling from there. If something happened to this traffic I would haul out of Montgomery Al where most of the loads I have hauled were 11 unit loads. If you can haul 1-2 extra cars on 2 loads a week then an 11 car is a no brainier in my opinion.

Money is not everything, but those extra 2 units out of Montgomery makes it worth having an 11 car, in my opinion. I have had other owner ops tell me that they don't want to work that hard hauling 11. After you have hauled 11 several times it really isn't any harder loading 11 than 9. Just takes an extra 30 minutes or so, but depending on where your load is going that 30 minutes may make you 400-600 extra bucks. I don't consider that working harder, just working smarter.

I am now making more money than I did at UPS and I don't want to go back to Big Brown. I am happier because I now work a reasonable schedule. Most of my weeks are 40 hours. Sometimes I work 6 days, but not very often. I don't have to ask for a day off, I take it. If I wanted to make $2,000 a week more than I do now I could by pulling a short load every day first or going back on the road, but I don't want that $2,000, I want my happy median of home time and good money.

Money Bravo I am not going to try and talk you in or out of buying a rig and doing what I have done. The reason is because I don't know what your priorities in life are and what will or won't make you happy. What I have done definitely works for me, but I can't promise that it will work for anyone else. Hansen is probably the best company in America to be an owner operator carhauler with in my opinion. I know the United Road guys do great, but I am not ever going to stay out for 10-14 days at a time. There is not enough money available to cause me to to that.

For those of you not in the carhaul business, I am not trying to be rude. But please don't confuse our business and earnings with general trucking using a $20,000 used rig. That does not work in new car carhauling. It just doesn't!

 

Banker speaks truth. The best thing you can do is buy an 11 car high rail. Not that you always want to load 11, but you can just do so much with it that you can't with other types. You can get really creative combinations on a high rail. And I'll say it again, Hansen is the real deal.
I know guys who are still at it that were way older than me when I was in the rank and file. I was just pointing out one aspect at being 58.
Good Luck, I hope whatever decision you go with, that it all works for you.