Wanting to deliver/haul new campers & trailers from Elkhart

If in a pick up , figure on about 90- 95 % will be dead head . Very few back hauls .

 

The Rv transport companies will take anyone who's willing to do it. It's a great business to get into if you enjoy working for free.

 

10-4. Been there, done that, then couldn't afford the shirt.

 

Since I am in my 60's and have been wanting to slow down a bit, I have tossed around (just a little bit) turning my Columbia into a 1 screw setup (maybe a liftable "cheater" to replace the front drive axle), getting a specialized RV/Cargo transport trailer and hauling multiple RV / Cargo trailers. Could haul autos, light trucks, compact tractors, class B RV's, etc with it also, like vehicles from conversion plants to customers. 53' RV/Cargo trailer with ball ramps, winch setups, cargo boxes, e-track wheel bonnet tie downs, etc, I have found new for around $24K with a single 20K trailer axle, $30K with two axles.

Hauling one trailer behind a pickup doesn't seem like too lucrative a deal.

 

90-95% deadhead? Well you certainly would be going somewhere to reload that is different than where you loaded. Running out loaded and back empty would result in approximately 50% deadhead, not 95%.

 

Good catch

 

I have read in other threads that being able to haul other stuff isn't really as helpful as one may thank. It was explained that those companies are there to deliver campers for the manufacturer. Not to make you money. They'd rather not look for backhauls. They would rather you waste no time getting your truck back to grab another camper. I had been interested in hauling campers too. Read a good deal about it. Seen a lot of stuff i didnt care for. Like the nearly 50% unpaid empty miles and knowing they dont care to do much to change that.

 

Wrote that wrong . What I meant was after you deliver your camper - 5% of the time , you will get a backhaul .

 

That is why I would consider tow/haul or as I mentioned, tractor with 53' low boy step with channel for trailers. Would broaden the range of available loads going out and improve chances of access to another load at the other end or near. Would not be limited to Travel Trailers only. Really could care less if it is a load back to actual origin. There is no such thing as a back haul. There is only loads. The idea of "back haul" is what messes things up. One could, say, take a set of trailers to TX. Grab other trailers or conversion vehicles, take them back to, say, IA/WI/IL/MI/PA/OH, and then head to IN for another load trailers or conversion vehicles. The out and then direct back is pretty lame and limits productivity. And it would not be limited to TT. Could be cargo trailers, dump trailers, etc of various lengths. Something that would be dumb to move one trailer at a time with a pickup truck.

 

You will just need to research well what company you haul for. My point was not so much about being able to haul other stuff as it was about not being allowed to. Some of them RV companies will not allow you to haul other stuff if you are running under their numbers, even if your particular equipment will allow it. I know it sounds silly, or even stupid, but it is what it is. Good luck.