Trucking Specialties

Canadian Truckers Forum

 

Cartel deliveries my man, long delivery I assume

 

Not a dumb post at all. So many in this industry put very little, if any effort into researching the various segments in trucking and planning their career out.


Below is a list of some specialty segments in trucking. These segments typically pay better than general freight but you can also make great money doing not so specialized things. For example: food service delivery (Martin Brower, Gordon Foods, etc). Certain LTL and parcel companies pay well (UPS). Tanker work (food grade, fuel, chemical, pneumatics).

It really all boils down to what is a fit for you. Personally, I’d rather pass up a bit of coin to work in a segment I enjoy than work in one just for the money.



- Cryogenics/compressed gas. (Air Liquide, Praxair, Air Products). **Canada Cartage is the outside carrier for Air Liquide and Praxair but I wouldn’t recommend them.

- Hazardous waste /Environmental transport. (Harold Marcus, Clean Harbours).

- Oversize loads / heavy equipment hauling.
(Earl Paddock, Scott-Woods)

- Exotic/fine car transport.
(Mackie Transportation, TFX Int.).

- Concert tour / Trade show transport.
(Stage Door Transportation, Truck N Roll).

 

I’d stay away from Scottlynn Longhorn. There’s a whole thread on here with the trouble there. I know a couple drivers myself that were drawn in by their fancy iron and it didn’t end up being a happily ever after story.

Doing long haul strictly within Canada and making great money is tough criteria to meet.

The livestock hauling might be a good opportunity to gain long haul experience. There is a few good old school outfits from SouthWestern Ontario that run out West with freight and livestock back. (Luckhart Transport being one of them).

Team driving might be a solution. Although it does meet your long haul and better money criteria, It’s not for everyone, getting good rest isn’t easy while the truck is moving. Secondly, finding a good teammate willing to do the same might be a hunt in itself.

This is not to say there isn’t good money to be made trucking within Canada’s borders, it’s just to say that the good money here isn’t made in doing the long trips across the country. It’s commonly in the specialty segments, food service and certain LTL companies, which are typically short-regional hauls.

I have found Western Canada to have a lot more Canada only work (mostly within the Western provinces), it’s not cross country long haul but there’s still a lot of distance between Winnipeg and Vancouver. There’s lots of resource / mining related trucking that pays well.

 

It all depends on the company where they go to and the type of runs they do.
Some do “line hauls” (out and straight back -like you were referring to), some do “triangle hauls” (Ontario to Alberta/BC then down to California and back to Ontario). Some do a mix of line hauls and triangles or do irregular runs altogether. It’s totally dependant on the company and you’ll want to find that out when you’re researching them.


On the surface it sounds like they’ve got a decent offer.


Teams are used in other segments as well. Reefer and dry van are the most common, but there are some in flatbed and tanker, even livestock. -There used to be a company in Wroxeter, ON that ran teams doing that same freight out/cattle back stuff Luckhart is doing.

 

Anytime you can get some experience doing something other than dry van or reefer is an opportunity you should consider .

as for the personal finance , you need to get that figured out
Learn how to set up and stick to a budget, how to save etc