Thinking about a change to car hauling

I have been reading this forum for a while and have been especially interested in the car hauling discussions.I'm 47 and have 26 years driving experience ,mainly in the Northeast and some midwest.I am the lead driver at the company I work for and make around $75k a year,no benefits,vacation,sick days etc.
I drive a new w900 daycab with a 600 cummins and keep the truck at home.I am usually home most nights .The company is a trade show logistics company,and most work is in NYC ,and is very busy in Jan-Feb (when most industries are slow) and the rest of the year(Most of the year) I haul construction demolition upstate NY ,which is 85% of what I do.We have an overweight permit and I haul 102k LBS in a 2011 walking floor trailer.I have been with the company over 12 years and consider the owner a friend.I run the construction demolition end as if it's my own business (But with a wealthy owners bank account) and work on my own,and when a show or multiple shows come up ,The owner let's me know when he is going to need me in NYC.I have a pretty diverse background.I have worked for UPS in management and as a driver.I have been an owner operator hauling grocery loads that had to be hand off loaded into supermarkets in NYC AND NJ (Hard work---great money $500-$700 or more a load for loads that went 50 to 60 miles round trip),I have owned 3 restaurants and a restaurant supply business,and I buy and sell equipment.I am mechanically inclined and own 3 service trucks,2 set up with welders,plasma cutters ,gas air compressors etc,and 1 to do mobile hot water pressure washing with hot pressure washers,reclaim/water filtering equipment and big water tanks.I do most minor repairs on the truck and trailer and wash it just about everyday.I actually enjoy my work and am grateful to have it.I also work freelance for a company that provides luxury motorcoaches for movie/tv shoots,magazine shoots,concerts,commercials etc they use the coaches for the talent,for wardrobe,hair/makeup video editing/production etc and I have worked on projects for Saturday night live,VH-1,Toyota commercials on the Hamptons,2 music video's with Jennifer Hudson some pretty cool stuff.The owner is a great guy,real smart and very calm no drama personality.It pays good ,but I have to commute 2 1/2 hours each way to Brooklyn and it's freelance,I tell them when I am available and they book me for jobs.I got into it last year when our walking floor trailer was stolen and we were looking for almost 3 months for a late model ,clean trailer and could not find one so the owner bought a new Titan trailer ($71k delivered).During that 3 months I worked fulltime for the coach company and they gave me as much work as I wanted and I became one of their top drivers,working more than drivers that were there over 15 years.If I was 25 years old and single ,I would probably move closer and just work full time for them.You pretty much sit in a luxury coach all day,eating catered food for breakfast,lunch and dinner(They call it craft services,it's pretty standard in the entertainment industry),talk to models ,actors,production people ,and hang out on your lap top.You have to make sure all the systems are okay,generators,bathrooms,etc but it's pretty easy,but surprisingly very boring after a while.Some days are tough,you might have a magazine from London doing a shoot in NYC on a Friday,and the production manager has been sitting on Mapquest all month in London picking all the spots they want to shoot without ever being in NYC or the 5 boros on Friday in the summer and they want to shoot in 8 locations from China town to the bronx in one day.Those days are the worst.Then there are days when you are sitting on the beach in the Hamptons all weekend shooting a Toyota commercial with a production company from California and they put you up in a $480 a night hotel on the water with the rest of the crew and take you out to dinner,those are the best!I still have a great relationship with them even though I have not been available due to being busy with my regular trucking gig.I have to get a new car to commute with too,my Mazda Miata I was using to commute with is having engine issues.

This all sounds pretty decent right? Well the hitch in all this is the majority of my work is hauling the construction demolition for one place that owes our company around $70k at all times,it's been this way for 8 years and they are really slow payers,months behind,and the owner is always complaining about it.The only reason he stays in it is to keep me with the company,because he knows I enjoy it,I handle the day to day operations of it without bothering him,and he can pull me off it at any time if he needs me for the trade shows.When I leave,he's out of it that day,and will sell the truck and trailer.The construction demolition company is getting slower and slower also.The owner is desperately trying to sell it and get out of it.I actually have found him a large company (135 million dollar private power plant) that burns demolition to run the powerplant that is interested in buying it,and their top operations guys and VP flew in to tour the facility,and go over the financials.I was actually trying to broker the deal initially,and set up the initial meetings,but have decided to step aside,and just let the deal happen without trying to earn a commision,but let our company get payed their $70k plus and hopefully we will remain the house trucking company if the power plant decides to buy it and take the facility to the next level.The current owner just wants out and is a very difficult guy to deal with,big time bi polar and hot headed one minute and hugging you the next like his long lost brother! Lol! I have been researching the gas drilling for a few years up in here PA and it seems hit and miss,boom and bust.I see a lot of trucks sitting everyday at one company,and more and more out of state trucks getting in on the work.I actually set a friend up with a company I was talking with last year from Texas that is involved in hauling Frac sand,and he put a blower on his truck and rented a pneumatic tanker trailer and has been doing well with it ,but I am not sure if it's something I want to throw everything into.The owner of the company told me if I want to do it he'll buy a new trailer and sleeper truck and sell my current truck and trailer,but I'm not too sure about the long term prospects,especially with big companies like schneider starting to get involved.

Now to the car hauling part of my question.I met a guy a few years ago in NJ who worked for some huge nationwide companies that move a lot of cars.He was a driver at one time,and then worked in the brokering side of the business.After about 12 years he went out on his own and started brokering himself and was currently being offered over 1800 cars a month to move and had to turn down a lot of work.He was looking for owner operators with their own tractors and car trailers.After speaking with him for about an hour he made me an offer .He offered to front me $5k for the down payment on a used tractor and trailer,He would co sign the loan,and give me a 5 year contract guaranteeing me a minimum amount per week.He promised me if I ran hard I would profit around a $1000 a day,after expenses,and that he had the financial records to support his claims.He would teach me everything I needed to know for the most part to start out in the business,loading cars,everyday procedures at dealers,auctions,private owner moves etc.and basically mentor me in the business.He made me the offer because he was looking to build a quality team,and develop a great reputation with his own company,and we pretty much hit it off.The reason I did not take the deal was that it was all OTR work,all across the country and you would be out atleast 2 weeks at a time.At the time I was not ready to make that move.I was very busy with work then,and being home during the week with my family weighed heavily in not taking the deal.I think about that situation all the time ,and think I am ready ,if the money is there to make that move if the situation was right.I still have that guys cell number,but it's not active anymore.My question is what kind of money,once you have the experience and connections can a hard worker with the right attitude and commitment make as an owner operator or as a company driver with the right company? One last thing about me is I am a fanatic about whatever industry I am in ,I throw myself 100% into it and want to learn everything about it and become the best I can be,I am very easy going and friendly on the outside,but super driven and motivated internally and like to be very good at what I do.In the fields I am in now I know a lot of people and could pick up the phone and have 5 jobs by tomorrow morning,but none that pay or as good as the situation I have now,which took years to develop,and I appreciate greatly.But I see a lot of danger signals with my current situation with the construction demolition,and I have been seriously looking for a while
for the right situation I can hit hard for the next 20 years or so and make serious money ,if it's out there.Tell me what You think,and feel free to PM me if you don't want to put your information on a public forum.Thanks! Jim

 

lOL! I hear you on the lengthy post ,sorry about that. I just broke it up into 3 looong paragraphs. . Although it seems like a resume,it would take about 2 more pages to post that! I realize when I spoke to that broker a few years back the economy was still pretty good,and although if the money was right,I would run OTR,but owning my own truck again is something I said I would never do,unless the money was extremely good and being home in my own bed and having dinner with my family most nights is more priceless than I realize. When I think of not being here with them for weeks at a time ,watching the kids grow up everyday and doing things with them,I don't know if you can put a price tag on that.The fact of the matter is I really do have a nice situation,but I always like to see what else is out there.I also have three food concession trailers that you see at fairs and festivals,not the $200k kind,but the $40k kind,that I have just sitting.I have a friend who just does that May to Oct and does very well,I want to start doing smaller events on the weekends and see how it goes,it's something I can get the kids involved in too.The reason I am still with my present company is that it's as close to working for myself without the financial headaches,and the owner has become a friend ,who pretty much will do whatever it takes(with in reason) to keep me on board and I do appreciate that .I was just throwing it out there seeing what the current situation with car hauling is,and those numbers that broker gave me seemed pretty good.Thanks for the reply,and I'll try to keep my posts a little shorter!!!

 

It tried to keep it short and to the point!!

 

I have 3 screen plays I have been working on,and a couple of producers phone numbers from working with the onsite coach company.........