[JackHammer]

I got a few questions for ya.

1. How are you paid ? cents per car ? percentage ? regular per mile rates ?

2. Where did you get trained to load and unload cars ?

3. How long did you drive regular freight before being hired with a car hauling company.


Car hauling is what I really want to be doing and I am looking for all the information on the biz of car-hauling that I can get, please comment on anything everything about the subject Thank you!!

[GMAN]

Most car-haulers seem to be paid about 25%. Or at least they were when I was pulling a car-hauler. You will need some driving experience before the better ones will hire you. Some require as much as 3 years experience. I don't know of many car-haulers who will hire a new driver without any driving experience. There are few who used to train drivers to haul vehicles. Boydstun, who is one of the major car-hauler manufacturer's used to have a training school at their corporate offices. Allied Systems is still probably the largest, had a training school at one time. I don't believe that they still have one. I believe Waggoneer's still has a training school in Oklahoma City. It can be a challenge to find a company who will hire you starting out. One reason is the chance for damage. Even experienced car-haulers can have damage. The risk escalates exponentially for someone with no experience. There is much more to hauling vehicles than driving a truck. You get quite a workout. I don't mean to discourage you. There are a few who frequent this board who are currently hauling cars. They may be able to provide you with more current information. I ran under my own authority when I hauled cars.

[JackHammer]

Thx Gman, for the reply.

I fully relize that I have a good 2 years before being marketable to a carhauling outfit. I have been behind the weel only a little over 90 day's now, my wife on the other hand is close to a year now. Every day get's us a little closer to our goal. In a way the time we need to wait is a good thing as there is plenty of time to gather information to make wise choices.

We are liveing out of our company truck and saveing money for our future rig. We are both looking forward to the day we can move out of our broom closet and into a much more comfortable rig setup the way we want it.

Again Thx for any/all reply's.

[GMAN]

I am glad to see that you are planning for your future. Too many drivers jump into truck ownership before they have enough experience or money to get a good start. Good luck in your quest.

[Scoe]

I am the dispatcher/driver manager for a car hauling outfit and all of my drivers or owner/operators. 90% of our runs are home daily and we haul for GM and they pay "zone" rate which is how we pay our o/o drivers. Basically, they make as little as $32 per passenger car and as little as $40.90 per pick up truck all the way up to $160 per passenger car and $194 per pick up truck. Most of my drivers run about 100 to 150 miles per day and gross around $800 to $1000 per day.

Allowing for operating expenses they are still making some serious cash.

[Jackrabbit379]

Originally Posted by Scoe

Most of my drivers run about 100 to 150 miles per day and gross around $800 to $1000 per day.

:shock: Holy Cow

[Scoe]

Originally Posted by Jackrabbit379

:shock: Holy Cow

I know, that's what I said when I first started dispatching them. The thing is though that as O/O that is only a gross figure and car hauling rigs are very expensive to operate and maintain. They are constantly having welding done to the trailer frame work and if they have an "oops" with one of the vehicles or miss some damage on the initial pre-loading inspection, then they get a nice fat charge back all the way up to $5000 under the terms of their lease agreement.

Then there is always my dispatch fee. :wink: :shock:

[GMAN]

Scoe, I thought you worked for a van carrier. Do you mind telling which company you dispatch for? Since you are so close, you may know whether Boydstun still has their training program.

When you look at car hauling rates, it is easy to forget about the cost to purchase and maintain the truck. New car haulers can run as high as $250,000. :shock: Truck payments can easily run from $3,500-5,000 per month. That is a lot of money. All of your ramps run off of hydraulics. Blow a hose and you cannot load or unload your cars. I used to keep spare fittings and hydraulic fluid to make repairs on-sight. There is nothing worse than blowing a hose when you are picking up at an auction or delivering to a dealer on the weekend or night. Extreme cold climate can also affect your ability to use your ramps. My last car hauler weighed 42M pounds empty. Put a load of cars and add several inches of snow and you have a good load. :wink:

By the way, JackHammer, the 25% I mentioned was driver pay, not owner operator. Some of the car hauler companies pay owner operator's as much as 85% of the line haul rate.

[Scoe]

Originally Posted by GMAN

Scoe, I thought you worked for a van carrier. Do you mind telling which company you dispatch for? Since you are so close, you may know whether Boydstun still has their training program.

When you look at car hauling rates, it is easy to forget about the cost to purchase and maintain the truck. New car haulers can run as high as $250,000. :shock: Truck payments can easily run from $3,500-5,000 per month. That is a lot of money. All of your ramps run off of hydraulics. Blow a hose and you cannot load or unload your cars. I used to keep spare fittings and hydraulic fluid to make repairs on-sight. There is nothing worse than blowing a hose when you are picking up at an auction or delivering to a dealer on the weekend or night. Extreme cold climate can also affect your ability to use your ramps. My last car hauler weighed 42M pounds empty. Put a load of cars and add several inches of snow and you have a good load. :wink:

By the way, JackHammer, the 25% I mentioned was driver pay, not owner operator. Some of the car hauler companies pay owner operator's as much as 85% of the line haul rate.

I dispatch for CJ&M Transport here in Portland, they are at the Union Pacific rail head about a 1/4 mile from Boydstun. I still drive but that's only part-time on weekends for a Freightliner testing fleet.

I don't know if Boydstun has their training program, but I do know that my company has a training program in place and will hire someone without car hauling experience if they meet all the other qualifications. Not the least of which is owning your own car hauler or be willing to lease one.

The money is very lucrative but the work is hard and can be very tedious and is NOT for those who are not detail oriented. We have some 6 car haulers and some 9 car haulers and the one's who make the most are the 6 car haulers as they stay local and have less operating costs. They do have to load/unload 20 to 24 vehicles a day.

[GMAN]

Scoe, so your company only recruits owner operators? I think that might be a better way to go in this business for a carrier.

I would think you could do much better with the smaller trailers so that you could more quickly load. I believe Fleetcar even got into some of the smaller trailers for some short runs. I have seen a couple of them in Ohio and around DC. I had 10 car rigs. You really don't want to use those for short runs. It takes too long to load. I used to run into a guy who also had a 10 car, but his was a quick loader. We sometimes picked up at the same time at the port in Baltimore. He could be in and out well before me. One reason is that he would usually only put 2 chains on his cars. He was only gong to Philadelphia, but it really made me nervous. I would always put 4 chains on mine.

A friend of mine runs the Western states, mostly Southern California and Nevada. He runs a couple of hot shots and a 9 car quick loader style trailer. He is looking for a 7 car quick loader. He seems to do well with them. He has tried to get me back into car hauling for years. In fact, it seems that he has attempted to get me back into it about ever since I got rid of my trucks. :lol: