RV Transport questions...

Why is it that your so negative about anyone who wants to pull RV. When someone new show up to ask questions you show up with your negative comments. I have yet to see you post any thing positive about hauling RVs

 

Resets at home can be difficult to plan. Remember you are on a 8 day 70 hour cycle. I wont get into the details but you have to be careful to not run out of hours. You can do what is called a recap. Do a google and you will get the whole explanation. Trip planning is very important. Drivers who run 5 days and then take 2 off get a reset every week. I am playing devil's advocate but also remember that you cannot cook in the towed unit. I do not know what the policy is on sleeping in the unit in a sleeping bag. Do the companies pay all tolls? Washing the trailers? Have you studied the hours of service? Very important. Your clock starts as soon as you do the pretrip and nothing you do after this can stop the clock unless you go off duty for 10. There are ways of splitting that 10 hours but most drivers do not follow that practice. It is complicated and many DOT officers do not understand how it works So if you do that pretrip at 6 a.m. then you cannot drive after 8 p.m. ( 14 hours). If your truck breaks down and you are doing emergency repairs that clock is still running. FMCSA has made it very hard to make any money!

 

lgarrison: This poster has done a lot of homework and he deserves honest answers. I would hate to see him get into this and be sorry. It is tough to make money hauling RV's with a pickup. There are more negative comments on the net about this "career" than positive. Must be a reason. Lots of retired guys try it and quit within a year.

 

From another thread:

Team- The main trucking industry problem is that not enough younger people are entering the profession. With RV Transport it’s not enough older people are entering. Of course it’s a mixed blessing. The older RV drivers up until this year had keep the “per mile” number artificially low. This is the first year in the last 6 that in mid season several transport companies had to rase their per mile pay.

I don’t want to minimalize the efforts of full time drivers. I know a few who are doing it and making a living at it. The industry does not need me to defend or support it’s efforts to hire. There are very few positive comments on this or other forms that paint an overall positive picture of the industry. It is what it is. I understand what it is, but just as important I understand what it is not. I’m often asked at rest stops by truckers and curious individuals if it’s a guid job? My response is and will alway be - maybe. No amount of comments by me on any web board should convince anyone to try it. My situation is an RV delivery companies dream come true. Early 60’s, Government pension, no debt. I have been towing a fifth wheel for 6 years. It’s a hobby - that’s all. Approaching it as such is not meant to degrade anyone who does it as a profession.

 

I have never nor will never haul RV's. but all these they say no back hauls Uship is full of cheap loads that will profit some,way better than deadheading.. I know ucrap is bad but I have made decent money there at times. Just have to pick and chose the flaky ones (I speak of running legal as I do). I know your leased so your would have to run it though dispatch but driving back at a dollar a mile beats negative per mile right? What am I missing? No I have no plans to run them but iv always kept up with them.
(I run flat and wedge regional duallys)

 

It pay's just slightly better than that right now Tom. $1.78 per loaded mile. It's just all the unpaid deadheading miles that make this business tough.

 

All things being equal this was the best year for RV delivery. The industry had a phenomenal year. The only down side was the lack of delivery drivers. In turn the per mile rate was high. A lot of standards the industry adopted, (no sleeping in the units, washing the units, delivery windows to dealers) , were all suspended this year.

At that per mile rate it’s much more attractive to the truck owner. It’s still at best a sessional opportunity to the many - full time to the few.

 

Thank's for bolstering my confidence Roadmedic. There's so many negative posters on these forums a guy could start to think he'd made a horrible mistake getting involved in the hotshot world. I just started never having trucked before and thought I was doing ok. Lots of miles with a pretty good rate. Hate all the deadheading but what are you going to do?

 

You might want to think of getting a nice thick chunk of foam to lay over your back seat jet. It makes a huge difference. And I didn't notice you mentioning anything about a trailer battery set up or tension bars in case you end up hauling t.t's. You need both but you might already know about that.

 

I have stayed away from this thread for a while, but have been thinking about it. In my original post (not far back, page 24) I stated that my cost calculations where $1.07 per mile. I've only seen one response that stated his were not $1.07 per mile, but never said what they were. Obviously, making money or not making money comes down to the difference in cost vs. pay and then how many miles you drive. So, if my numbers are wrong/way off can someone please let me know where? Additionally, if others want to put it out there what their cost per mile is, that would be welcomed. Obviously, I'm doing calculations on "best guess" and what I can "calculate" based on what I understand, not from experience. For those that have experience, would love for you to share.