$450,000 revenue; $250,000 profit- conservatively
 

So I'm at the TA waiting on repairs to my trailer lights, there's another driver there too. We start talking, I learn he's an O/O who got his CDL years ago about the same time as me. He says all he's done is pull cars. He runs from the Northeast to California and back. He works with ebay a lot, he uses Central Dispatch, he grabs up 10 cars and away he goes.

He says he's on pace to do $450k this year, he says his net profit before taxes should easily be a quarter million! He's been doing this for years, he says he bought a $250,000 tractor and trailer his first year and paid it off in about 10 months! He also says he doesn't consider that a whole lot, he says O/Os with Reliable can gross $600,000.

IS THIS FOR REAL!?!?!?!?! :eek: The situation I'm in right now, I'm probably not doing as well as some company drivers. I got my CDL 13 years ago. Have I really been missing out on riches like that? Have you? TIA

I'll just go ahead and call BS on that one right away. I know guys who used to pull for Reliable, who were there for many, many years. They are not doing those kind of numbers.

That's cool with me calling BS, I was just talking to the guy, I don't know why he went into the numbers like he did. The reason I bring it up, I always want to be open to those unpleasant truths that tell me I need to change, that I'm screwing up and that I'd better get with it. Sometimes it is BS, sometimes there really is nothing wrong with me (sometimes :p), but I don't like to dismiss unpleasantness out of hand if there really is a correction I need to make.

A quarter million...that's a lot of tacos!

Some people feel they need to embellish their numbers to make themselves appear better than they really are. They'll use gross figures and call them net, they'll multiply their real numbers times 2 (or 3, in the case of that Reliable guy), or they'll simply make up fake numbers entirely. It's usually done to boost their ego, and is really no different than the "US Marshalls" stories.

I'd demand he produce a 1099 from last year.

"he says O/Os with Reliable can gross $600,000."


My friend Eddie who I have known for 30 years is with Reliable, NO WHERE near that, more like very very low 200's, and he runs his a$$ off for that, home like 8 or 9 times a year.

Did Mr car hauler tell you how much his insurance is? and how much he pays out in damage claims?

And how competitive its become since everyone and his brother has a car hauler?

When I hauled cars I knew people who grossed anywhere between $150,000-350,000. At that time most seemed to fall around $180,000-225,000 leasing to a carrier. You could do as well or better running your own authority. I don't believe that he paid off a $250,000 truck and trailer in 10 months unless he had a very big down payment. Not even counting interest he would have paid out at least $25,000/month. Most car haulers who had payments seemed to fall between $3,500-5,000 at that time and some struggled to make those payments. I have some serious reservations about his story.

No Way !!!!! I looked at maybe selling my Heavy Hauler and going to Reliable, as they have a terminal in Fl. and I was getting tired of breaking down my trailer then putting it back together. I talked to a lot of "Reliable" drivers and then cutting their numbers by 50% ( a good average) figured "Why bother ?". They were making far far less than me with a lot more hassles !!
Get a deck trailer with lots of axles, then you can make $$$s in this industry.

Hey, I appreciate the responses you guys, that sets my mind at ease. I don't know why he'd sit there and tell me all that. The guy was from San Francisco...maybe he liked what he saw, I don't know? :eek:

Whatever, I'm still trying to do well with the $7800 in tanker modifications I just got. I hear there's more money out there and I'm trying to find it.

If you put the investment in something stick with it !!!! Jump around and you will loose it. Might be tight for a while but will pay off in the end.

I would say he's full of BS.My friend is pulling cars with his own authority and off central dispatch.Last run that he did he barely got out from the east coast cause he didn't have any cars to pull.The average price for a car was around $600 so times 8 go figure.You don't count your extra miles,time for loading/unloading.Usually he does about one run(back and forth)and a half a month and barely making his payments.His revenue is around 250k but with all the expenses,claims he barely makes it.The car business was great ,but since everyone got in it then prices went down and the business got tougher and tougher.Also,with the current economy don't expect to be any greater.