Pilot Car Rates?

Biggest problem with having wife do it is the insurance. I had looked at having a couple of pilot cars just for our own loads and the insurance cost as much as the trucks insurance. Would only be worth it if you had full time work for them.

 

I have been contemplating starting a Pilot/Escort business out of Houston. I am a woman and from what I have seen the quality of these pilot/escort drivers leaves a lot to be desired. I believe that with the right knowledge, dependability, and guts I could make a go of this. It definitely will take some time to build a business and prove myself but I think a breath of fresh air is needed. Any thoughts?

 

Probably about to take the plunge & buy either one or both of these used pilot cars, completely rigged out & very meticulously maintained. While not mentioning exact numbers, both can be had for a very good price. The guy selling them is retired & only does pilot work to get out of the house & pay for some of his other hobbies. He also has a penchant for getting bored with a vehicle & just wants a new one to do another build on.

Both of these vehicles are set up with beds, custom one in the rear seat of the pickup, custom queen size bed in the van, he pockets the overnight money as well.

Not planning on coming out of the truck though. Looking to set my son up in a business he can continue on with after he gains the experience. I’ll probably end up doing some pilot work after I decide to come out of the truck. Get him trained up & qualified to be a quality lead, I’ll be happy to take up the tailgunner slot. Until then the other vehicle will be a backup in case the other one goes down.

Intend to put my son in one for my rear escort & continue to use one of our current high pole guys for the lead, until my son gains the needed experience. It will give my son time to learn on the job. I’ll have him under my control to make sure he’s learning & doing it right.

To start out, I’ll be handling all the business end & teaching him how to do it so I can eventually relinquish it all to him.

Being as he will be my tail, I intend on putting his vehicle on my trailer going to the shipper & if he doesn’t have a load back in order to save fuel & wear on the vehicle.

 

Nice looking rigs. I especially like that van.

 

@2old This is one of those vans I was telling you about before. I have seen both these vehicles on some of our jobs & know the guy, he is anal when it comes to the smallest details & maintenance. I don’t have a problem buying them without going to look at them again, but my wife wants to lay eyes on them first.

Like I said, they come fully equipped & ready to roll. All the signs, flags, safety equipment, lights, control boxes for the lighting, dual radios running off separate antennas & a spare radio, 2 handheld radios, high pole mount & pole for the van. The van has 52 strobes, the pickup has 24, all separately controlled so you can run all or just some.

He’s got between $5-$8K worth of pilot car equipment on each one, the pickup is about $6k under book, the van is $1k under book, without the additional equipment.

I figure at worst, I could buy them & flip them & make money, but my goal is to put my kid in business & get him trained up properly myself.

 

@soloflyr The way you initially described them, I figured you were familiar with them. That van really caught my eye because that's what I would want. He put those nice wheels on it and sounds like he tricked it out with strobes and other equipment very nicely! Turn the key, fill 'er up and go! On coming traffic will take notice! Your son is really lucky to have you help him get established and trained. I wish you two the best of luck... Maybe one day I'll get to meet you guys. Sounds like you really have your #### together

 

@2old if I really had my #### together, I’d be sitting on my private lake catching my private fish & playing with my RC cars & planes all day.

I’m still just trying to make a dent in this world & leave something for my family when I’m gone.

 

That guy selling those vehicles...is his last name “Peterson?” Old, white haired fellow?

 

BTW, if your son is just getting started, tell him to specialize being the lead car. It’s been my experience when I need two cars, they both want to run in back. Yes, I like an aggressive chase car when running wider than 14ft, but a good lead car is rare. The last one I had couldn’t pace me from the front and he’s calling stuff out after he passed it and he’s only a thousand ft in front of me.

Was supposed to meet him on the fly at Texarkana. He immediately wanted to jump in behind me. I had a rear car all the way from Houston, and she did a fine job. I yell at him to take off and get out in front and he tells me that the last time he had to run out in front, he got fired off the job. Well, as I said, he couldn’t stay out on front of me. And when we got to the two lane, he was afraid to flag oncoming traffic in Arkansas.
100ft long 14’4 wide, you will need to wrong way on the two lanes. He couldn’t stop traffic. Totally useless.

Anyway, school your son on the lead car stuff.

 

Different old, white haired fellow.

Going to start him as a tail, school him on being the lead & work him into being a high pole. He’ll have the benefit of my experience as the truck driver & what I need. He’ll also have the benefit of people with exceptional high pole experience.

He knows I set a higher standard for him, being he is my son & my reputation, which I highly value, is backing his opportunity as my money is as well.