[Darin Younce]

Anyone here know much about Central Dispatch as far as getting car hauling loads? Would this be a good place to start with a smaller set up such as 3 to 5 car hauler ? I have two years experience hauling cars for myself when I owned two used car dealerships with no mishaps whatso ever. I have my Class A CDL and enough funds to buy a nice setup , either a ton truck with a three car hauler , or a bigger setup such as a tractor and 5 car hauler. I really dont want to jump out there and buy a
10 -11 car hauler , I think that would be a mistake right out of the gate.
Also there are three pretty big auctions near me, and could hit those
weekly .I would like to clear anywhere from 600.00 per wk up . Is this feasible? Thanks for all replies. Darin

[GMAN]

A friend of mine pulls hotshots and uses Central Dispatch. He seems to do pretty well with them. You will need your authority before they will allow you to subscribe. According to my friend, it is difficult to make a living pulling 3 cars. You would want to have at least a 4-5 car trailer.

[Darin Younce]

Thanks, I will continue to look into this . Darin

[Darin Younce]

Gman , If you dont mind me asking,what kind of set up does your friend have for his hot shot? In your opinion what will I need to clear 600.00
to 700.00 per week ? I live fairly cheap, my home is paid for, so are my cars,and I have no credit cards or other bills except for the usual, electric, water, food and things of that nature. Thanks for your help ,Darin

[GMAN]

One trailer is a wedge. He can haul 4 smaller vehicles or 3 large. He recently sold one trailer that could only haul 3 cars. There are several companies who manufacture smaller car trailers. He has a 8/9 car high mount trailer that he pulls with his Peterbilt. He has a couple of Dodge duallys that he pulls the smaller trailers. Wally Mo makes several different styles of car trailers. I believe they have trailers which can haul from 3-5 or 7 trailers. There are flat bed and step deck trailers that you can pull with a dually. A flat would give you added flexibility to haul something other than cars. You should be able to buy a wedge for less than $10,000. I would find a 53'. My friend started with a 48' trailer. The extra few feet can make a big difference. If you go with a wedge, you can get those that will haul trailers. You may have seen those that have a trailer hitch ball in the middle of the trailer with a chain. You hook the trailer to the ball and pull it onto the trailer. If I were going to haul cars I would get a trailer that I could also pull small cargo trailers. I would either find a 51' with extenders or a 53' wedge. Keep in mind that you will be limited to hauling cars or trailers on this type of trailer. I would also add a large fuel tank to the dually. You could sometimes save money by buying more fuel when you find a good price. Another thing to consider is getting a sleeper for the dually. There is a company in Indiana who makes them for pickups. I know of one guy who told me that they have been using sleepers taken off of big trucks and modifying them to fit. You will need to stretch the frame on a dually to accomodate a sleeper. If you stay in motels you will eat up a lot of profit. Most who pull hot shots just stay in a motel rather than buying a sleeper.

A hot shot will usually do better with shorter runs. I haven't checked the current price for auto transport, but we used to charge by the mile per car when I pulled them. I am sure they still do that. If you only need $600/week then you may want to consider going to work for someone who pulls hot shots. You should be able to earn that much or more working for someone else. It is a little difficult to tell you what you need to clear $600-700/week without knowing all of your expenses. You need to see whether you can obtain insurance if you plan on running your own authority. Unless you lease to a carrier you will need motor carrier authority. The authority cost $300, but insurance is usually rather expensive, especially without experience. Hauling cars is more expensive due to the higher risk for claims. Some insurers won't cover autohaulers. If you want to check on the insurance I could more easily tell you what your other expenses will run. Without cargo and liability insurance you cannot obtain your authority. A basic rule of thumb that I have found to be true in mosts businesses is that your fixed or operating costs will run about 1/3, labor 1/3 and profit 1/3. These may vary somewhat, but I have found them to be pretty accurate. So if you want to make $600/week you should expect to gross at least $1,800/week. While this will not be completely accurate, it is a good basis for projections and planning.

[Darin Younce]

Gman , I really appreciate you taking the time you did on your last post.
I spent two years in the auto business and hauled a couple hundred cars thru South carolina ( I went to Rawls auto auction in leesville SC weekly) up into the mountains of NC where I lived at the time. I pulled a 32 ft goosneck that was capable of hauling two cars, or one pickup and one car but not quite long enough to haul two full sized extended cab pickups. Several of the other dealers had the wedge , usually the three car wedge 48 ft, but as you said that limited them to mostly cars, with mine I could and did on occasion haul tractors , and even a 2.5 ton dump truck. I pulled this with a 2000 ford super duty3/4 ton with no problems. I do want to get more than two cars so I am thinking a 53 wedge as you said
pulled by a dually . I still have access to the auction and could save thousands on a truck and trailer ( they run wedges thru the auction quite
frequently). Funny thing I actually bought a very nice freightliner with the headrack from Jimmy Rawls , owner of Rawls auction . I could have bought the trailer also but had no need fo it. The truck had a hendrickson
(spel) suspension which the loggers in the mountains love and I sold it
one day after I got it home. I drove it over 200 miles ( with no CDL) and
can't tell you how many times I had to stop and start over because I had no clue how to shift the ten speed at that time. Now, for another question ,
( and I promise if I ever meet you I will buy you a steak dinner) If I go with a one ton and a wedge ( 53ft) do I still have to get my own authority?
If so where do I start ?

[GMAN]

You will still need to get your authority if you plan on hauling cars, even with a hotshot. You need to start by finding an insurance company who will underwrite you. Once you get your insurance lined up you can apply for authority on line. I would not start paying premiums until you get your authority. I believe they will grant authority and give you a couple of weeks or so to get your insurance in place. If you don't get it in place then your authority is suspended.

You can apply on line, if you wish. Just go the fmcsa website. www.fmcsa.gov ( I think that is correct). All you need to do is follow the directions. If you don't want to do it yourself, there are a number of services who will do it for you. OOIDA is one who will do it for you. There are others. Personally, I prefer doing these type of things myself rather than paying a service. Some just don't to have to deal with all the paperwork.

[Orange Andy]

Gman is right on the $ as usual. In fact, for the record, I visit a lot of message boards each week, and would be hard pressed to find a better poster or contributor anywhere. He is knowledgable, experienced, patient, polite, and thorough. He helps anyone, and everyone, and has done so for a LONG time. And all this from a humble Owner/Operator. Without too much butt-smooching, I feel we are fortunate to have him here helping us. My tip-o-the hat to Mr. G! And you also have a free steak waiting for you at Tahoe Joes in Fresno, for all you do!

I can add a bit of recent info on your wanting to get into hotshotting cars. After scouring for insurance, I found it easier to get started by sliding under the 10000 GVWR barrier that most underwriters seem to use as a metric between hi and lo risk in car hauling. My quotes were all in the 8000 to 11000 range with a 44' wedge and diesel dually. And most of those quotes were with a 500 mile restriction of my yard! But with a 9200 gvwr Chevy I was able to secure a good 750k liability policy and a 50K cargo for $4031/annual premium and is good in all states and Canada. FMCSA WILL issue you a MC number, but DOT will not nor would CALIF issue my # until I provided proof of coverage. Your state may differ.

Going this route, I cannot haul over 10,000 on the trailer, so instead am focused on quads, snowmobiles, rv's ,trailers, boats, a car and motorcycles with some freight like machinery as well. But if your plan is to do cars only, you will probably need more cargo policy than I carry. They are expensive now, claims are high, and you dare not be naked $1.00 hauling them. I carry $500 deductible. (and that is per-unit).

Right after you register and pay the $300 to FMCSA for your application with the DOT, you should receive your Motor Carrier # right away, and may receive a phone call. It will be from a company offering to file your BOC-3 form for you. Do it. Pay them the $30.00 online so you are covered in all states and DC for process service. That is a must, and it will be filed within minutes for you. No headache there.

My insurance was underwritten by United Financial Casualty Co. out of Cleveland Ohio. And the bound risk was offered by Progressive Ins. Co.

You mentioned Mr. Rawls. That name has been around auto auctions for decades. Ask him if he knew Harold Henry. Harold is gone now, but he started the Los Angeles Auto Auction in the 40's. I started buying cars there in 1982, and quit in 2004. There is BIG demand for getting those cars to dealers lots in good time, and reliably. Find a good volume dealer that is out of the usual busy traffic corridors, and service that account well. I guarantee you can make solid money!

BOL in the new venture.

[Orange Andy]

Forgot to include this link. This is a nice setup for a 4-car hauler made by Wally-Mo.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1990-...QQcmdZViewItem

[coastie]

Originally Posted by Darin Younce

Gman , I really appreciate you taking the time you did on your last post.
I spent two years in the auto business and hauled a couple hundred cars thru South carolina ( I went to Rawls auto auction in leesville SC weekly) up into the mountains of NC where I lived at the time. I pulled a 32 ft goosneck that was capable of hauling two cars, or one pickup and one car but not quite long enough to haul two full sized extended cab pickups. Several of the other dealers had the wedge , usually the three car wedge 48 ft, but as you said that limited them to mostly cars, with mine I could and did on occasion haul tractors , and even a 2.5 ton dump truck. I pulled this with a 2000 ford super duty3/4 ton with no problems. I do want to get more than two cars so I am thinking a 53 wedge as you said
pulled by a dually . I still have access to the auction and could save thousands on a truck and trailer ( they run wedges thru the auction quite
frequently). Funny thing I actually bought a very nice freightliner with the headrack from Jimmy Rawls , owner of Rawls auction . I could have bought the trailer also but had no need fo it. The truck had a hendrickson
(spel) suspension which the loggers in the mountains love and I sold it
one day after I got it home. I drove it over 200 miles ( with no CDL) and
can't tell you how many times I had to stop and start over because I had no clue how to shift the ten speed at that time. Now, for another question ,
( and I promise if I ever meet you I will buy you a steak dinner) If I go with a one ton and a wedge ( 53ft) do I still have to get my own authority?
If so where do I start ?

If your hauling Hotshot have your name on you door or on your dually you are required to have a CDL also.

Talked to this O/O from Texas. He told me about a friend of his who all he did was helping a friend. He worked as a carpenter, had his business name on the truck. His friend needed help with getting some items so he went and got them on his Dually and gooseneck trailer. He passed an open scales so they came out and pulled him over. Fined in the high figures.....