That's a joke. Three times in the last week people have contacted me for details on maybe transporting trailers and making some money. I will be as brief and open as I can to describe what 'transporting' is like from my experiences.


Five years ago I retired and 'occasionally' used my diesel 6.5 to deliver trailers. No license and just a few trailers so it seemed like a good deal. Then I got serious. Bought a new Duramax/Allison. It would be a good chance to travel around the country, stop for hunting and fishing and make money. At best it's just a get away from the house.


I get around $1.5 to $1.10 a mile ONE WAY. I also get tolls while towing and a $50/500 mile motel credit (use or lose) for miles towed. My situation as 'paper owner' of the plant does not require a Class A, B or C license and no truck registration for DOT/ICC. I DO have to provide commercial insurance but not for the trailers.


Those transporters like Hoosier, Classic etc. make around $.90 to $95 a mile right now with NO other incentives. Just a year or so earlier some of them made less than $.80 a mile. They literally LIVE in their trucks....day and night. They also must license and outfit the truck for pin, 5th wheel and ball trailers. All equipment is provided by the driver.


Lets get dollar specific. HOPE you have no major breakdowns. Fords lose transmissions and clutches, Duramax's lose everything and the earlier Cummins lose lift pumps and the older automatics. Last year I LOST money for the year towing because of major breakdowns. Actually had a sell my two-year-old GMC for a paper loss rather than deal with the huge monies needed to maybe keep it running.


Two weeks ago I towed Pa. to Arizona. My pay was $2,500. I spent about $600 for fuel, $40 for tolls, $240 for food, paid the truck $.20 a mile, had motels and misc. exp. like cell phone, laundry etc. My expenses totaled about $1,900. I drove 7 full days and covered 4,500 miles both ways. That works out to 7 grueling days at about $90 a day. Less than minimum wage. HOPE the truck doesn't break and HOPE the wind doesn't blow you over (happened to a guy here).


Just did about 17 hours on a New Jersey delivery. Made a profit of about $100 after expenses. Again....$6 an hour. YOU WOULD DO FAR BETTER AS A WALL MART GREETER.


Remember the three days idling and sleeping in the truck during a Wyoming snowstorm? Remember the icy mountain where the trailer tried to pass me up? How about the roof vents that blow off in the rain or the construction zones where each moment is one of terror to get through without crashing. Sleeping in an unheated trailer when it's below freezing or temps are above 100 degrees gets old real fast. Most transporters are NOT even allowed in their trailers to sleep and elect to somehow sleep in their trucks....night after night while showering at truck stops.


That's enough. You got the idea and most transporters make LESS than me. I do remember the great prairie dog hunts and fishing trips paid for by my labor and it has had fun moments but I'm always away from home.


Heading to Florida for a delivery tomorrow. Staying a week more to fish and fool around at a house I have there. Maybe this towing is a good deal after all?????????

Sure beats wrenchin for a living..http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Embarrased.gif

Sounds pretty rough captainmal. Is what you described the same thing as a "hotshotter?"

Eric and Ray,


Hi Eric! Might beat it but only if you could make a living towing trailers. I realize now the living would be subsistance and just tow for fun. Soon to move permanently to Florida and stop towing.


Ray, I do not know what "hotshotting" is. I thought that was having your own trailer and loading boats, campers etc. on it. That's probably wrong but it seems to be a way to make money. Two people quit the place I tow for to buy their own trailers and haul things. Both are still doing it and I think it does pay better than just hauling for some company or service that has a middleman taking the profits. The people I haul for bill the customer for the delivery. They bill them so high that the company sometimes makes more on the delivery than I do.


Companies don't get rich by being dumb.

Hey Captainmal, what about creating your own business?

I know lots of guys who transport horses for a living, don't know how they make the business case to do it. Not to mention the stress of mega dollar living cargo.


Hey Mal, check out the new injector warranty thread in the LB7 section. You might be in line to recoup some of your losses!

try hauling cars


they pay 100 bucks per car(3 cars) and we tow 100 miles to and haul car back also...makes it a grand total of 600 bucks a day for a 200 mile trip plus fuel

I'm what you call a "hotshot". It is what I do for a living and I make a pretty good living at it. I haul mostly oilfield equiptment, pipes, bop, production equiptment, ect. It pays much better than what Capt. Mel is talking about, but if you have a family at home, (kids) it isn't for you. My kids are all gone from home and my wife has her activities she is involved with so it works out well. It is a 7 day a week 24 hr a day on call job. If you don't like to drive, it's not for you. I put over 8,000 miles on my truck last month, and that's pulling, loading and unloading a heavy G/N trailer. It is hot dirty work, but you can make a good living at if you get in with the right people.

Just got back from Florida. Good to trailer and then stay around for fishing. Told you it was a good job.


WILLOW<RICKLES<EB,


GM DID send me a $3,000 discount coupon to buy another truck. I still have it but chose to bail out from the fuel system problems. Many speak of hauling things and making money. My conversations seem to indicate that boats, animals, cars and equipment haulers do make reasonable money. I know no details. Those transporting trailers make 'squat'. That I know.


Hauling one to Travis Air Force Base near San Francisco. Leaving the 9th for a 14th delivery there. It flies to Guam without me. I 'fly' back to Pa. Too lazy and old to start a business on my own. Time to quit, live on my retirement and just fish.


There is a lot of work available hauling trailers. This company would keep me on the road 24/7 if I let them.

What company do you work for and would you recommend them for someone else?





Thanks,





Tony

Tony B,


I work for Mobile Concepts by Scotty, located near Mt. Pleasant, Pa. They make Fire, Police and military instruction trailers and portable command posts. All are different with features and sizes varied. Towing one to Travis Air Force Base near San Francisco. It's being flown to Guam. Leaving this Wednesday for a Monday delivery.


Later this summer I'm moving full-time to Florida and will be quitting. The manager is quite fair and accommodating. The owner is, well, aloof and firm in her operation. I rarely have contact with her but she does sign the checks. PM me if you want contact information for them. You would have to live in the area and I do not recommend it as a full-time job. There is down time based on the production schedule. If you wanted to you could literally live on the road. Then you might sit doing nothing for a week or more.

Sounds like "BIG TRUCKENhttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Clown.gif"

EB290, are you required to be on call all the time? Most of the hotshot work down here seem to be pretty agreeable to the days you want to work. I am getting a lot of mixed information, but most are driving completely different rigs. Plant to test the water in this business as early as Spring of '05. I talk to every hotshot driver I can get my hands on. I plan to start off with just a small flatbed.


Interested in truck information that anyone wants to pass on. Upfront cost, reliability, cost I am too ignorant to know about, etcc...





thanks


braz

braz


No, I'm not required to be on call all the time, I just usually am. If you lease on with someone your are considered an owner/operator, you are self-employed. You pay your own taxes, SS, ect. I can take off anytime I want, as a matter of fact, I'm taking off tomorrow.


A flatbed is the way to go, that is where I started, then moved to the minifloat. (big gooseneck) If you are in the Freeport area, you should be able to stay busy. One word of caution, be sure you understand your lease before you sign it, know exactly what will be taken out of your pay. Find out what happens if you turn a job down, what will that do to you on the board.


As far as equiptment goes, I run a Dodge. It is my second one and I have had 0 engine problems. My last one went 416,000 miles before I sold it, it was an auto and when the transmission went out, I put in a DTT transmission and ran it untill I sold it,almost 300,000 miles on that transmission. My present truck (16 months old) rolled over 135,000 miles today on the way back from Corpus Christi. I have had basically no problems with it. You can see what my truck is on my posts.


I got your e-mail so if you have any other questions you can e-mail me. By the way, I work out of Victoria so we aren't that far apart.

Thanks again EB. The remark about studying the lease is a good one.
Landline ran an article on that aimed at big trucks, but I thought
it applied to me. So I tore it out and filed it.

Sounds like you ended up with the right truck for your business.
Will get in touch. Would like to meet with you in the future.
Being a shift worker (for now), my hours are pretty erratic, and I take
a lot of call outs.

braz

I wore out two trucks hauling boats here in Michigan for a local marina,I made out pretty good did it for 4 years to boat shows,hauling out of the Four Winns plant in Cadillac,but I didn't use a trailer,I hauled them one at a time and most were little run abouts or pontoons so not to much stress on my trucks,they he got wise when I got the Dually Dodge,gave me all the big boats,then it wasnt so fun anymore and it cut my profits pretty good,then 9/11 hit and everything stopped,no one was buying a life jacket let alone a boat,but it was fun while it lasted,and was able to pay off most of my bills.