Why does pulling car trailers pay so much more than most trucking jobs?

Great Answer.

 

Ouch That had to hurt.

 

If your worried about scratching cars on an open transport, try high end enclosed.


Oh, and don't for get to watch you height, an open transport in Mississippi went down the road with an SUV raised up on a top deck, he went under a bridge and it ripped the SUV off of his truck and when it hit the road, a car following the truck, ran into the SUV......

 

Always got to be on the look out for trees limbs to.

 

Exactly why I don't have a CB ant on my mirror- especially since 90% of my loads are POV's- I never know where the heck I'll be the next car. I DO try to google-map my stops to look for anything crazy near the drop/pickup and ALWAYS ask the POC about anything I should be concerned with. When it comes to open versus enclosed, I've done a good bunch of pricey antiques ($125-$250k EACH) on my open 3 car wedge, but it's all about your level of coverage, how much trust the customer has in your ability NOT to scratch a car, and it really helps if he's a cheapskate that won't call Reliable or Covered Wagon LOL! Here's a $550k load.....

 

I will try to give you a few very good reasons why it pays so much. I started driving in 1966. In 1977 I started hauling cars for E&L Transport out of Dearborn Mi. Best job and pay I ever had. Also hardest work and hardest job on your body. I have had surgery on one hand, one ankle, had bursitis in both feet, surgery on both shoulders. they both now have to be replaced and I have a bone spur in my spine. I started drawing my 30 yr pension in 2001 before by body was total broken.

NOW DO YOU THINK YOU WANT TO HAUL CARS.

 

Alot of difference in hauling Cars then anything else
ALOT more work it takes no brains to be a door opener. If you got no brains you will not get a load of 9-10 cars on a truck and get the weights and height down.
Also Put half your load on the top of the box and drive down the road and see what the difference in the truck is it sways and leans ALOT more then a normal truck
As Stated before some of the cars are worth ALOT of money.

Ive met 2 O/Os that sold there refeers and went into hauling cars not knowing anything about it other then they Heard that it paid good one lasted about 3 weeks before he lost it all because he had more in damages then he made.
The other is upset everytime i talk to him because he did not get trained he is a guy that wants to learn it on his on ( well i did myself) and learning on your own you may get them all on the truck then find out your height is 16 foot
Well guess what? your fixing to unload the whole truck and redo the load until you firgure it out LOL

Also some of you guys are posting really low ins for cars?When i owed my trucks a few years back I had to have 1 million cargo etc for almost anyone i hauled for?

and to the guy talking about why is it most of the cars over the hood are backed on? well hauling cars think of it like a jigsaw puzzle if its drove on a SUV for example the back is flat and the front is sloped because of the window shield .
with the angle you set that deck on if you drive a SUV ,Mini Van etc ( cars dont matter) then you will be over height because the back will be up higher then if you back it on and use the window shield Slant to get your height down.
If i Lost yea maybe someone else can explain it better then i ca

 

Think about this - 20 years ago a scratch or a gouge on a roof could cost $50 to $100 bucks as a damage. These days, that same scratch or gouge on a panoramic roof could write off the unit. $$$$$ !!

 

Backing some vehicles on a car hauler does have something to do with making the load work so that you can keep the height down. Another reason some vehicles are backed on while others are pulled on forward is weight distribution. If you were to pull all your vehicles on your weight will usually be heavy on some axles. Most car haulers don't haul all of the same vehicles. I recall that unless I was hauling out of a new car facility that I rarely hauled an entire load of the same vehicles. It is like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. That is why most experienced car haulers will first stage their load to get an idea of how to best load their truck. You want to make sure that you can get your weights right the FIRST time, rather than taking a chance of being over weight or having to unload and reload to move your axle weight. Most of the newer ramps will move forward and back in addition to up and down. When I first started hauling cars we could primarily move ramps up and down. It takes time to learn how to load a car hauler. In some respects, I think that hauling cars can be one of the most challenging segments of the trucking industry. You will certainly earn your money.

 

I definitly wasnt hauling cars 20 years ago but I bet it was more of a lucrative career back then too.