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Bigmon
Joined: 13 Jan 2006
Posts: 693
Location: S. Cal.
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| Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2006 5:16 pm Post subject: |
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It'd hot as hell down here. What sucks about loading cars from auctions is:
Finding the car, jumping it if it won't start, the windows are normally up so it's real hot and dicking around with security. A lot of cars and parts get stolen.
However, the pay is good.
It'd be nice if the cars were lined up next to your truck and ready to go.
I'm not sure if any companies will do that for you. |
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knightwolf71477
Joined: 19 Feb 2006
Posts: 160
Location: Spring, TX
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| Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2006 5:48 pm Post subject: Car hauling |
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| It is really hot down here in HOuston, TX, but if you make sure you carry water and Gatorade. You will sweat alot if you drink enough of it but there can be no such thing as too much water when you get hot. I found the best thing to do down here is go find your top row of cars and load them and then go get the bottom row, during that time you should cold down enough to finish loading. Also what I do is wear a tank top or sleeveless shirt under my Dickie's shirt and seem to me to help keep me cool when the breeze is blowing. |
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GMAN
Joined: 13 Feb 2005
Posts: 9693
Location: Tennessee
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| Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 7:37 am Post subject: |
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[quote="Bigmon"]It'd hot as hell down here. What sucks about loading cars from auctions is:
Finding the car, jumping it if it won't start, the windows are normally up so it's real hot and dicking around with security. A lot of cars and parts get stolen.
However, the pay is good.
It'd be nice if the cars were lined up next to your truck and ready to go.
I'm not sure if any companies will do that for you.[/quote]
There are people who work at some auctions who do nothing but find your cars and bring them to you. I don't remember anyone in Houston who did that when I hauled cars. When the weather is hot, I always tried to load as early in the morning as possible to avoid some of the heat. |
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knightwolf71477
Joined: 19 Feb 2006
Posts: 160
Location: Spring, TX
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| Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 8:27 am Post subject: |
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GMAN they have customer service at the Houston auctions, but at the Dallas A/A they have car pullers that charge like $3-4/car. Now working for the company I work for I get paid 9.50/car, so I can pay them and still put money in my pocket.
What I do when there are car puller at the auction is I go with them for the first couple cars and get them pulled so I can started working on the top deck while they get the bottom deck pulled for me. Also it gives me the chance to make sure that they are inspecting the car correctly before they bring them out. Once the car get outside the gate the auction is no longer responilbe for the damages on the cars. |
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GMAN
Joined: 13 Feb 2005
Posts: 9693
Location: Tennessee
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| Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 8:48 am Post subject: |
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| That is a good idea, Knightwolf. That is one reason I used to prefer pulling my cars in daylight hours. It is usually easier to inspect them. It would probably be worth it to have them pull the cars for you, even if you paid them the entire fee, just for the time savings. I remember one time picking up at an auction South of Minneapolis. There was a lot of snow on the ground and the temperature was about 40 below with the wind whipping around. Man was it cold. It seemed that none of my cars were where they were supposed to be and you couldn't read most of the numbers on the parking spots due to the snow. They had some pullers working that lot. They were familiar with the lot and knew where most of the cars should be located. I didn't have them pull my cars, but they were helpful in finding them. 8) |
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knightwolf71477
Joined: 19 Feb 2006
Posts: 160
Location: Spring, TX
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| Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 9:04 am Post subject: |
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I usually get them to pull my cars because at the auctions down here if you don't get the cars the day of the sale, the auctions moves the cars to the back lots. It can get to being a real pain in the backside trying to find cars that are not where they are suppose to be.
Then the other problem I have at the auctions is that it seems to me that some of the drivers that go to the auctions just jump in the first car that they find to go and find their cars and then just leave the car where ever they feel like it. That just burns me up, we are all there trying to find cars why make it hard on another driver to find his. The way I do it is I get the car puller or customer service to find my first car and then I go around and find the rest of mine with a car that I am going to be hauling anyway. |
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Aviator
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 129
Location: Great Falls, MT.
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| Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 2:11 pm Post subject: |
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How Long does/can it take to load your rig? It sounds to me that if you have to find them all plus load them, it could take several hours. And that's not counting any dead batteries, or other vehicle problems huh? :?
Unloading must be a little easier right? |
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knightwolf71477
Joined: 19 Feb 2006
Posts: 160
Location: Spring, TX
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| Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 2:18 pm Post subject: |
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| On the average if you are getting a full truckload at the auctions, then it can take about 3-4 hours. That is if you don't have any real problem children as I like to call them. As in you go around for 45 minutes looking for one car, but you will learn little tricks and secrets as time goes by. I can usually have my cars found and on the truck in about 2.5. |
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Aviator
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 129
Location: Great Falls, MT.
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| Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 2:24 pm Post subject: |
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[quote="knightwolf71477"]On the average if you are getting a full truckload at the auctions, then it can take about 3-4 hours. That is if you don't have any real problem children as I like to call them. As in you go around for 45 minutes looking for one car, but you will learn little tricks and secrets as time goes by. I can usually have my cars found and on the truck in about 2.5.[/quote]
Wow, I see my first solo months to be crazy. I wonder if guys cheat on the logbooks for loading time? Like putting down 3 hours to load, when it really took six. And how long have you been car hauling? What's your recommendations for a long career in it? It sounds overwhelming right now though. The main thing is I never want to get in a hurry and overlook a chain or something. |
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GMAN
Joined: 13 Feb 2005
Posts: 9693
Location: Tennessee
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| Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 4:02 pm Post subject: |
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[quote="knightwolf71477"]I usually get them to pull my cars because at the auctions down here if you don't get the cars the day of the sale, the auctions moves the cars to the back lots. It can get to being a real pain in the backside trying to find cars that are not where they are suppose to be.
Then the other problem I have at the auctions is that it seems to me that some of the drivers that go to the auctions just jump in the first car that they find to go and find their cars and then just leave the car where ever they feel like it. That just burns me up, we are all there trying to find cars why make it hard on another driver to find his. The way I do it is I get the car puller or customer service to find my first car and then I go around and find the rest of mine with a car that I am going to be hauling anyway.[/quote]
That reminds me of an auction where I picked up. I don't recall exactly where it was, but it was a large auction. I found all my vehicles but two. I finally found one and after a lot of looking found it hidden beside a truck way in back. Apparently, both vehicles were used by others to find their cars. You can waste a lot of time looking for these cars. I love it when they are where they are supposed to be. :D |
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Aviator
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 129
Location: Great Falls, MT.
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| Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 5:01 pm Post subject: |
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| Wow, i didn't realize it would be such a hassle to find cars. So, you find your first car, then you drive around to find all the rest? Is that just to make sure you got all of your cars? Do you get guys to drive them up to the truck for you, or do you do that? |
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Aviator
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 129
Location: Great Falls, MT.
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| Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 5:11 pm Post subject: |
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Are Auto Haulers at risk more from robbers and such?
And is there a name for auto haulers, slang I guess? :lol: |
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knightwolf71477
Joined: 19 Feb 2006
Posts: 160
Location: Spring, TX
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| Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 6:02 pm Post subject: |
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Yea I use my first car to find my others, so I know where they are and then I will use customer service to take me back to my other cars. I will use the car pullers if I am feeling lazy or if I am in a hurry. The car pullers tend to know how the auctions move the cars around, and some of them also write down a list of cars and where they are.
Now I can not say that we are at anymore risk than other drivers to robbers. Now what I do to help prevent people from stealing my cars or anything out of them I tend to lock them up and take the keys in the truck with me.
Now the slang for us car haulers rolling down the road is portable parking lots. |
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Aviator
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 129
Location: Great Falls, MT.
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| Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 10:05 pm Post subject: |
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All right, thanks knightwolf.
So, car pullers are like lumpers? |
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Bigmon
Joined: 13 Jan 2006
Posts: 693
Location: S. Cal.
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| Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2006 11:31 am Post subject: |
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I've never seen car pullers in S. Cal. Maybe that's why the auctions in S. Cal never win service awards.
Don't forget about when a car goes to arbitration and has to be sent out of the auction to a 3rd party and the auction still shows the car on the lot. |
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