Car Hauler
 

Hey, I have been looking into the car hauling business for sometime. Some of you have been very helpful so far and I need to get a few more opinions. I went to SC for thanksgiving and talked to a couple of old contacts in the auction business concerning car transport . While questioning a car dealer that I have known for years he told me about a fellow in pelion SC that I needed to talk to who hauled cars for a living.
I called the guy and low and behold it was another old friend that I had not seen or heard from in 15 years. He used to be a lineman for SCEandG power . He got tired of the bs working for them and got into the hauling business . I had no idea he was doing what I am interested in doing. Anyway he gave plenty of advise and is getting me some more contacts . I have talked to a couple of ins companies and gotten quotes
and found out that with a truck and no trailer I can go unlimited miles
( even as a new driver) . I have been looking at different trucks such as
4 car rollbacks and 5 car haulers . I found one truck that I am somewhat interested in . It is an old truck 1988 freightliner FL112. It has a headrack
with a carhaul bed that will haul 5 cars . ( very long wheelbase) . It has a cat 425 hp engine and 15 speed trans , both with less that 100000 miles
. The truck is supposedly very clean and everything works. The tires are 75% or better. The guy is asking 9500.00 which I believe is a good price if the truck is as he says it is. I saw one pic and for an old truck it looks good to me . I called the ins company and they said the age was no problem. The guy selling it said he bought it a couple of years age and decided to stick with his auto resto business rather than haul cars. One big problem is that he bought it at auction and has no title. Actually the auction company lost the title after he purchased it He said that he has gotten all the paperwork and a bond to get a title in GA ( truck is in Gainesville GA) . He said that he guarantees a title and will not sell it without getting it . I looked up the GA DMV and thay backed up what he said about a bond and soforth . Also an agent from the GA hwy dept needed to verify the truck by actually looking . The seller told me that the agent has been there and verified it already and he has those papers as well. The truck is on truck trader.com I have been a auto dealer before
and am familiar with some of this but still i would appreciate any and all input. P.S. I am thinking if all goes well I might offer him less , say 8000.00.

I believe at one time you could get a notarized bill of sale from the last two owners, Georgia would give you a title. If you have been a dealer you would probably know more about that end of things. The age would give me some concern. The engine and drive train is expensive to repair, especially an 18 speed transmission. From your description I assume that you are talking about a 5 pack. You can haul 3 cars on the top ramps and 2 behind the tractor. The PTO would be of some concern to me as would the general condition of the hydraulics. Those things are not too expensive by themselves, but you don't want to start out with something which will be breaking down on a regular basis. If you check it out and everything seems to work well and you can get a clean title, it would be a good inexpensive way to get started. If the truck only has 100,000 original miles then it should be in good shape. I would suspect that it has over a million miles rather than 100,000. You can get a good idea by simply looking at the general condition. With an older truck I would expect to spend some money on replacing hydraulic hoses and perhaps repacking cylinders unless someone else has done that for you. Not trying to throw a damper on your decision, but these are a few things you need to be aware when buying a car hauler. Good luck.

Actually it is the engine and trans that supposedly have 100000 .I suspect the truck has much more. I am also checking out several 4 car haulers
( rollback with headrack, 28 ft bed, wheel lift) , I like the simplicity of the set up on those and they would be more versatile. Check out my link ( if it works.



http://adcache.trucktraderonline.com/4/4/8/91007748.htm

It looks good in the picture. It would be difficult to make a decision without seeing and driving it.

Thanks for taking a look. I am thinking of driving down there in the next couple of days and see about it. One thing I forgot to mention is I believe the dot inspection is probably expired. The seller said he had ir parked for a while but drove it on occasion. He was unsure if it was up to date ( the truck was at a different location) He said I can drive it for thirty days
anyway but I believe this to be incorrect . If after seeing the truck I am still interested I will insist on getting it inspected before I drive it home. AS a matter of fact first thing tomorrow I will call him and see if it is expired ( make him go look ) and try to get him to have it inspected if possible before I go , this should tell a lot about what kind of guy he is and a bit more about the truck.

The engine would be worth what he is asking if he had it rebuilt. I will be anxious to hear how you like it.

Gman , I talked to the seller again today and he went to the dmv and confirmed that I can get a title while I am there. He also said that the engine was a factory rebuild . The trans was also rebuilt as he said and he's suppose to have papers on it. He assured me the truck drives down the road good. I also got a price on a 1993 c6500 4 car hauler with 278000 miles . It has a summit brand bed with a wheel lift. The price was 16,500.00 . I believe that the frtliner is a better deal . Not that you can tell everything by pics but the c6500 didnt look near as good as the frtliner. Now for a couple of questions. I was told that if the truck has no trucking company on it or mc # I can drive by the scales. I was also told that if I put a sign on the truck that says "not for hire" I can drive by them as well. I was under the impression that all commercial vehicles
must stop at the scales. Lastly I am not sure about the weight of the truck but I looked up a company that makes 5 car hauler beds and they listed the weight at between 11 and 12 thousand pounds. I suppose the truck itself without the bed would be around 18 thousand ( just guessing)
so with the cat ( 425 hp) and 15 sp trans what sort of milage can I expect? I generally run under the speed limit and expect to run even slower in the truck.

I suggest you don't pass up the scale regardless of what you do or don't have on the side of the truck. They will want to weigh you regardless. Agriculture products are looked at somewhat differently in some states, but you are rather conspicuous with a car hauler. If you are talking about taking the truck home, then you can get a temporary tag, which this dealer can supply. Put it in the passenger side windshield so that it can be seen. It should be good for 30 days. You also don't want to start hauling freight without your name and information on the truck.

As far as the CAT engines are concerned. I own two trucks with CAT engines. I would expect from 5-7 mpg on average. I seem to have a quarterly average of a little over 6 mpg. If your engine is a 3406 B then I would not expect more than 4.5-5 mpg. The "B" is a mechanical engine and a real work horse, but loves fuel. The 3406E has a computer and will get the higher mileage.

Hey Gman, I went and saw the truck ( long day , 920 mile round trip) . It looked pretty much like you would expect a 20 yr old truck to look. The body is is good, hood has had somework , needs some cosmetics. The door seals and window seals are worn . Just ordinary stuff . The air cond
compressor is new and not working( low on freon perhaps) . The engine
ran good, no blowby . Not sure about what oil pressire is suppose to be on it but when it was first cranked , the pressure ran up to between 40 and 50 pretty quick . After running about an hour it held steady at around 25 when indling but maintained 40 to 50 at road speed. Before we even started it I looked for any leaks and saw none , after we ran it for about an hour I saw a small anount of oil near the rear of engine. The engine
according to the stamp on it a 3406C . I know you mentioned a B or E
, It was a reman engine , the trans was also gone thru . It shifted
better than the freightliner I had trained on. The thing is powerful.
THe bed set up is real neat and very simple as far as car haulers go.
the rear of the bed has like a 4 post lift that you can tilt towards the rear
and use as a ramp to load cars on the top. Only 4 hyd cylinders in all.
One leaks . It is ran off a pto , the pump seemed to work but
there is a filter way down low on the truck that was hit a bit and the seal is leaking, also the fluid looker real frothy , probably needs to be drained and change filter and so forth. The bottom part of the bed is 26 ft with two ft extentions . Seems a bit short but you can get two cars on it. the top is a total of 40 ft ( with the lift raised) . I can see it hauling 5 cars
but probably smaller cars or a mix of med and small and large.
The truck drove down the road really well, when I first got in it I was concerned about the view, windshield seems smaller that what I trained in but after driving it , I was satisified. The air brakes were leaking near the rear , they held fine while driving but if you stopped and pumped a few pumps the warning buzzer came on. I believe the compressor is fine
I heard air hissin near the rear ( rear is air ride and the bags were flat as well) . The brakes held well in park when I got there but we parked on a small incline and they did not hold very well. Well to sum it up I told the guy I would think about it. My concerns are mostly the reliability of the truck , and the fuel milage. I was figuring on the way down if it does only get 4.5 to 5 mpgs I would be about as well off with a 4 car hauler med duty that get 8 or so mpg. This guy is hurting for money and I believe I can offer him 6500 to 7500 and get it. I am giving it the weekend to think about it. The bed setup is the best part of the truck
, With a little bit newer truck it would be great.

I would expect to have a few things to repair with an older truck. Air leaks are usually easy to fix. If you are mechanically inclined and like to work on trucks this could work for you. The nice thing about it is that you could likely drive it for a year or two and sell it for what you paid for it. Fuel is a major concern these days. You can check the mpg by connecting to the cpu.

I have always done my own repairs, engine rebuild, manual trans rebuilds soforth so I feel confident I can fix the problems on the truck.
I am getting some figures together and want some advice on what to expect as far as dead head miles and perhaps what I will average
as far as full loads and less than full loads. Would 25% deadhead miles
and 80% loaded miles be too high , too low?

BTW, I must say you have been a pleasure to chat with. I have been on various forums and you are by far the most knowledgable person I have ever dealt with on any subject. I swear you ought to write a book and have it published , no kidding. Every newbie on this site as well as other
sites would benefit greatly as would some experienced drivers I suspect.
TRUCKING 101 BY GMAN !

Re: Car Hauler
 

you need to read this thread ASAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!
http://www.classadrivers.com/phpBB2/...ic.php?t=30432

Gcal , Thanks , I did read that a few days ago. Lots of good info . I want to let you know that I have been thinking about doing this for 5 to 6 years. The reason I went to CDL training was for this purpose. I admit didnt realize how much was involved. I have learned a lot on this site ,
actually more knowledge here than at school . Don't get me wrong but
at school they teach you nothing about the everyday life of trucking, they just get you prepared to pass the test, that is it. I have some experience in hauling . I owned a John Deere 450 at one time and pulled it with a
2.5 ton dump truck towing a 24 ft lowboy. Surely nothing like a class 8
but I did this in the mountains of NC on some very challenging roads. I also was a car dealer for two years and transported a couple of hundred
cars on with a gooseneck up thru SC into the NC mountains without one single incident . Again nothing like the big rigs but nonetheless it was experience in auto transportation . I feel I am up to the challenge but
I cant lie , I am somewhat cautious . When I first learned to fly in a J-3 cub years ago my dad taught me . I was always somewhat nervous . I did take some lessons later from an instructor and he said it was good to always be a bit nervous, he felt that kept me more focused. I am researching this whole carhaul business as much as possible to see if I can even make a living. I believe it is possible to make a good living
but I dont expect to set the world on fire at first . I have been looking at different trucks, trailers and so-forth. I have learned from the ins company that if I use a truck that has no trailer I can go unlimited. As you know most newbies are restricted and I do want the option to go where I can . This may change If I get hooked up with perhaps an auction company or dealers or whatever that are within 300 miles . Then I can look into getting a 7,8,9,10 car hauler. Of coarse this is all speculation but I am hoping to succeed . This is why Iam interested in the 5 car hauler you have probably read about in this thread. I need not
go out and spend 50 to 100 grand on a truck and then it not work out.
I would prefer it be a newer truck but this one may work . I have been looking at the 4 car haulers , which are usually med duty trucks , such as
rollbacks with a headrack . They may be a better option being that this truck probably is lousey on fuel. Anyway I am still researching and checking out leads and have found a few that look promising .

Being able to do some of your own repairs is critical on an older truck, especially a car hauler. It seems that hoses or cylinders are often in need of repair, and at the most inopportune times.

There are several segments within the car hauling business. POV's (personal vehicles), auctions and/or dealers and new vehicles. Deadheading will vary from one segment to another, but hauling cars usually means a much higher percentage of deadheading than other types of freight. The problem with hauling cars is that is pretty much all you can haul with this type of equipment. With flats or vans, your options are much more varied. I would expect about 25-30% deadhead. The nice thing is that rates are usually higher than other types of freight, so deadheading is easier to absorb.


It is always good to talk with new people with so much enthusiasm. I just try to pass along a little of what I have picked up over the years. Maybe I will do that book one of these days. Thanks for your encouragement.

To lower deadhead couldn't you put some LTL flatbed freight on there?

Sometimes you can, but not always. I found it was usually somewhat difficult to find something on such short notice going where I needed to go. :?

Gman,the Ltl idea was a question I had thought about. You know I have mentioned the 4 car hauler . Most that I have seen have 28 ft beds . I thought that in a pinch a fellow would have the option to haul different things . Actually the freightliner could haul different things but loading
would be difficult in most cases .Here is a link to a 4 car hauler as I have mentioned
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=170174964081

I am surprised scoe didn't chime in on this thread. HE works for CJ&M here in the pdx. I did there training program fpr 2 weeks if I remember right and learned alot but the guys running....never mind.
Get ahold of scoe from here and I am sure he has answers for you that most don't about the car hauling biz.

I thought about one of those 4 car rollbacks. You can also buy a trailer to pull a couple more cars later or a dolly for a single vehicle. If you want to do LTL, then I would suggest you take a look at POV's (personal vehicles). You could also do lease cars. Those will often pay more than dealer deliveries and are COD or prepaid in some instances. I think with that type of setup you would probably do better regionally than trying to run 48 states. You could even do salvage cars much easier with the rollback. I think it depends on what market you want to pursue.

Actually most of the 4 car haulers I have seen are 28 ft rollback beds with a one car headrack and a stinger , SO you actually have three on the truck and one one the stinger. I have been thinking , why not have
this setup but instead of just a single car headrack , have another lift
above the bed itself that would be almost like the Freightliner .Iow
two on the 28 ft bed, two above it on a rack and lift. That is pretty much what the freightliner was except it was not a rollback. I have the ability to build this . It would handle 4 cars on the truck and still room for one on the stinger.One thing , it would have to move with the rollback . A double stack rollback! another thing that I would need to know how this would effect the weight on the rear axle. Would a single axle rollback handle this? I suppose most cars will weigh around 4000 lbs . So 5 would be 20000 lbs
and most 28 ft rollbacks are 33000 total . The trailer behind this would be excellent if it werent for the 300 mile limit on my ins for towing a trailer. I would love to be within 300 and hope to find work in that range but I figure I have a better chance at least at first going out a bit further. Any Just sittin here brainstormin. D

I think the weight of the 4th car would throw you over your gross without adding another axle.

That is what I suspected although I have seen tandem axel rollbacks .
Anyway I am still interested in the frtlnr but gotta admit the 4 car rollback is not a bad idea. I am fixin to head to SC any minute and work for my Dad for a week , meantime I will prowl around the sandlapper state for anything interesting . Who knows, I may drive something back or perhaps make a deal with My freightliner friend and drive that sucker home this weekend. 8)

Keep us posted, Darin.

Hey Gman and others , I have been away a while but have been looking just the same for a truck . I found one in Gettysburg Pa and plan on going there the first of this week . 1996 Int 4900 , 28 ft rollback with headrack, wheelift . price is 15,500.00. This is not bad from what I have been seeing. I also got good news from the ins company . Seems they found a cheaper rate on my cargo ins. Last quote I believe was around 3800.00, New quote is 1700.00 . I could not believe this and asked if she was sure and she said she was. She said I checked out good as far as driving record and credit. I told her I was not going to finance this ins and she said they check credit to see what sort of character I have. This means that my total for all ins I need to operate will be around 4300.00 . Also I may have a good lead on some loads . I called Copar ( Ins salvage sales) late friday and was told that they do hire independents . Their requirements are fairly simple, need truck, ins and authority.I can call back monday and get more info such as their rates. They have locations in Lex KY and Nashville or Lebanon Tn which are fairly close to me.

It sounds like things are coming together for you, Darin. Let us know if you buy the rollback in Gettysburg.

Hey, Thanks, I will sure will . :D

With a 4900 3 car + 1 on the wheel lift you'll be overweight everytime on the rear axle(if it's not a tandem). Not to mention you want to "build" a lift for a 5th car?? What if the lift breaks the car fall off and kills someone, yes you will be 100% liabile once the insurance company finds out that the truck was modified. That setup is good for hauling copart around town because of weight issues and lenth of bed. You can sandwich 2 wrecks on the bed but it would be hard to get 2 good cars to fit. Decide what you what to do and buy the equipment for that job.

FYI-The GVWR of that truck prob 10/23 doesnt mean you can put 23K lbs. worth of cars on the rear axle. Empty, the rear axle is carring the weight of the truck itself (i.e bed & wheel lift). So you only might be able to load 10-12K lbs of cars on the rear axle. :!:

If Gman wrote a book, I'd buy it. I'd prolly skip over his chapter on GPS, but I'd still buy it :lol: :lol:

Thanks Toxicwaste. If you go back a read where I mentioned my idea about an extra lift you will notice that I questioned the single axel setup and in a later post I mentioned that it would probably need a tandem. As I said in my post, this was only an idea . As far as
a 28ft rollback with a headrack and a wheelift I don't understand why this would be over weight "every time "being that I see them quite often going down the road . Sure it is quite possible to get an overloaded truck in any circumstance but it is still built for four cars . I can see if there are cars that were heavier than normal I would have to limit what I can haul , this also would apply for larger cars. I do understand what the GVWR
of a truck actually means . Simply put , if the truck weighs 13000 full of fuel , and every thing else such as tools , chains and me, I can only haul 20000 if it is a 33000 truck . And having said that I also know that that I still cannot exceed the front or rear axel weight limits . I realize that there are limitations with a 28 ft bed and would prefer a 30 ft ( have seen a couple) as far as getting two cars on it . I may end up hauling a lot of three carloads unless like you stated they are salvage and can be squeezed on the bed. Anyway I gladly accept all advise :)

Take a look at the link I posted. The Truck's axle weight limits really dont mean much to the eyes of the law. Even though the rear axle gwr is 23K, federal laws DO NOT ALLOW this weight. The maximum legal weight allowed by law on interstate loads for a single axle is 20K. Tandem axle max by law is 34K even though most tandem axle setups (class 8 ) are rated gwr @ 40K. With the 4900 @13K empty I would say thet the rear axle is carrying about 8K and the front 5K. So you can only load 12K on the rear axle to be legal. This setup you are going to want to put cars on the head rack and bed (low and short) and load high profile vehicles (blazer or tahoes) on the wheel lift because they are long. The downside to this the heviest vehicles are on the wheel lift transmitting every pound directly to the rear axle. Around town is fine from copart to body shops and sort. But Interstate you may run into a problem if you get scaled...

Hey, I found another truck. 1999 Chev 7500 , 3126 Cat, 9 spd direct drive
loaded , 233000 miles .It has all alum bed and a tag axle :) I talked to owner , he has been in business for30 years. Has med problem and selling out. Said he has had as many 10 trucks at a time in his business. The man seemed honest and surely knew a lot about car hauling.
More later .....................

Hey Gman, ToxicWaste . I bought the 99 7500 . It is sitting in my driveway righ now . It drove terrific and I got better than 10 mpg hauling my car back from Indiana ( about 270 miles) probably closer to 11 .
It has a hendrickson ( tag)? axle which will take care of the heavier loads . It also has an exaust brake which I know is not as good as an engine brake but none the less it works fine. Also it has a century aluminum bed and headrack ( I know I will have to be careful not to gouge with salvage cars) Everything works great. It has all new tires and brand new batteries which were installed this morning before I left. Finally , I talked to Copart ( before I bought this truck) in Nashville and at first the Man said he has a guy from my area
already but to keep in touch. Right before I hung up I quickly said "thanks , I just needed to know what your requirements are because
I am fixing to go look at a 4 car rollback" As soon as I said this He replied
" Oh a 4 car rollback, If you get a 4 car call me right away , I have loads for you if you don't mind running.

glad to see you've jumped in!

I hauled cars for several years. Started with an 02 F-350 and a 51 foot Take 3 wedge trailer. Put 665000 miles on the ford, and it still runs strong. Been through 5 transmissions, though. Then graduated to a Volvo tractor and a Sun Valley 6/8 car easy loader. Made damn good money.

POV's can be a pain in the butt. Watch out for those damn corvettes, document the damage that is always already under the front end.

I hated Copart. They are a pain in the butt when you're hauling stuff in and out for ins. co's and individual buyers. I hear they are pretty good if you are hauling FOR them though.

Best of luck. If ever I can help, e=mail me at [email protected]

Thanks a ton Bandit. I will be emailing you when I get my thoughts together. What sorta pain was Copart? I will be calling them tomorrow and getting info . Did you make decent money with them ? ( crap just dropped mashed taters on my key board now I cant use one of the etters
, you can guess which etter ) :lol:

They are just a pain when you are hauling someone else's stuff in and out. Not very helpful with the loaders. I always hated hauling those wrecks anyway. Don't know about their rates, as I never hauled FOR copart. They just arent very friendly to the outsiders, citing liabilities and such.

Car rates are pretty good or were when I got out of it 2 years ago. I usually tried to get 85 cents per mile per car, more for the wrecked ones as they were typically very difficult to unload at the customer's places. Most didn't have forklifts.

Copart in LA, CA is HORRIBLE!!! 3 to 7 hours in and out for 1 car all 6 times I went there!

Congratulations on the purchase, Darin. It sounds as though you may have found your first customer.

Thanks to you both . Bandit , I was quoted a rate of 170.00 per car for a mininum of two cars for my area . I live about 130 miles from Nashville and assume they have an area perhaps of 200 miles or so but not sure. This quote was before I mentioned the 4 car . I called back today and spoke to ED , the man I spoke to about the 4 car earlier . I told him I had bought a 4 car rollback and he said great , and said being this was friday
before Christmas and very hectic , he wanted me to call him Wednesday at 10:00 and we would go from there. Sounds pretty promising .
Gman , thanks for your support. I am now really starting to believe this will happen . I gotta admit this is a bit overwhelming but I enjoy the challenge.

This is an update and a call for help . I talked to the Manager of the Copart in Nashville and was assured plenty of work once I get my authority and fill out thier packet. I applied online for my Dot and authority and got approved so I have both Dot and MC #,s , still I must file my ins and BOC-3. Now When I disconnected from the net ( dialup) I had already gotten 5 calls from various processing agents . Two more called back so I spoke to one.
He said he could handle everything for a fee of $992.25 . This includes all filings that he said I need , I told him I would look into it and let him know. The way I understood this before was that I needed a process agent to get my authority but they were primarly needed in the event of a legal need in any given state , I did not know they also did filings as he said . He said , he would take care of my ( UCR@ $150.00, Authority watch ( expedite) @$60.00, Designation of processing agent@ $40.00
International registration plan new account @ $500.00, IFTA@ $120.00,
Kentucky KYU# @ $75.00 and finally a transaction fee of $47.25. Perhaps I am wrong, but can't I take care of most of these things with the exception of the BOC-3 ? PS , was a bit suprised about the International registration , had not heard of this one as of yet . Thanks for all help Darin