Anyone Hauling Cars?

[Oasis-3]

Go to auctions

Dan

I am lucky I have 4 auto auctions with in 50 miles of my house. I just go to an auction and hang out in the transporter area. Then the dealers come to this area and look for a transporter. If they only have 3 or 4 cars most big hallers 9 or 10 car trucks will pass on them and they move down the line. Some times a big haller will take the load then ask you for help If a dealer gets 14 cars the big truck will take 10 and they will ask you to help them out and take the last 4.



After some time you will end up with your own dealers that give you work every week.



If you use a broker they will take 10 to 20 % off the top



Good Luck

Cliff

 

[PatrickCampbell]

Do you hit up the big Manheim one?



If you are a transporter, can you just show up, or do you need a dealer invite, etc. ?



I haven't hit up any auctions yet although I am not for hire yet. Seems like in NJ alone there is a general consignment dealer only auction almost every day of the week.



How is pricing determined normally?

 

[Oasis-3]

Manheim

I live about 10 miles from Manheim and most times I keep my truck and trailer at Manheim. Manheim Auto Auction runs about 90 auctions in the US.

A dealer only auction is a auction that dealers only can buy cars but anyone can transport.



Manheim requires it's transporters to have a $1,000,000 garage keepers insurance policy in order to drive any car on the property.



Pricing thats a good one I try to get $1. 25 per mile per car and more if it's not a full load sometimes it's less.

The best thing to do is to ask other hallers at the auction you go to.



Good Luck

Cliff

 

[PatrickCampbell]

What is Garage keeper's ? Sound's expensive. Does that cover the vehicle when you are driving it from the lot onto the trailer?



At what point would cargo coverage cover you ?

 

[Oasis-3]

Garage Keepers is a liabality policy that will cover any damage YOU do to other cars as you drive YOUR car out of the auction.

My cargo Ins. kicks in when the car is loaded on the trailer.

Beleave it or not I have seen about 6 wrecks at Manheim this year. When a young guy get's in a Vipper and hits the go peddle he can bounce off of 4 cars before he can let off the go peddle and hit the brake.

Some truckers bypass this Ins. by hiring a "car puller" at $5. 00 per car they will pull your cars out and bring them to your truck for you.



Cliff

 

[JArbini]

do any of you guy out there have 1-2 car enclosed trailers & haul antique/collector cars? i've been thinking about possibly getting into this but can find out very little info. i have a couple friends who do it on the side so they're not running all the insurance, icc, dot stuff they should & there's no consistent pricing. any help would be great.

 

[DBabbitt]

JArbini, I have a 24' single car enclosed trailer that I purchased about a year ago when I moved from Atlanta, GA to Denver, CO. I have 3 classic cars that I had to transport to Denver and each time I was able to fill the trailer with a car going from the Colorado area back to the south east just by word of mouth in my car club and car buddies. I charged anywhere from 75 cents to 1. 00 per mile. This paid paid for my trip, round way and then some. So I have also considered doing something like a 48' enclosed trailer and carrying classic or special interest cars around but it seems like the work could be more consistent with a 3 car open trailer since you're not limiting yourself to clients who require enclosed transport. I haven't totally ruled it out yet though. Sure would be nice to buzz right by the scales on the interstate!



Dan.

 

[SHobbs]

If it were me I would in no way use a gooseneck. To me a fifth wheel type hitch is way more stable. I knew a guy that hauled cars with a dually that got away from the gooseneck style, he said the dang thing was to unstable and was going to a fifth style hitch. Crosswinds and tractor trailers passing him were dangerous according to him. Just my . 02. The Gorilla trailer sounds like a good alternative.

 

[NIsaacs]

I agree with SHobbs, the gooseneck type trailers are two high profile if you need the bed length to go over the hitch. Try to use 5th wheel and flat bed or no bed on your truck. This way you can drop the trailer bed height two maybe three feet.



I hauled three single axle, extra wide, extra tall horse trailers and towed one behind a gooseneck flatbed from Madil,OK to Snowflake, AZ. Even with the tires off the trailer sitting on the deck above the hitch, the wind resistance was horrible. Lousy fuel mileage and even going down the big hill into Albuquerque on I-40, I needed some power, nevermind the exhaust brake :{





"NICK"

 

[PatrickCampbell]

I decided to take the bed off my truck and get a 5th wheel hitch. I think will be safer. Trying to decide between a Reese 24K or Pullrite 25. 5K. I think ~6K hitch weight should be enough although the low profile trailers probably have more hitch weight than a wedge since it goes right of the axle. My trailer weight will be no more than 19,000 lbs.



I'm also considering the new Take 3 trailers with the 2 "super single" axles and electric/hydraulic brakes. It is not cheap but I think that the difference between 2 and 3 axles will pay for itself and the added safety of electric/hydraulic brakes is a plus too.



What sort of insurance would you carry if you damage someones vehicle prior to loading it onto the trailer or even in the process of loading it onto the trailer? Is that the same as garage keeper's ?

 

[GBechtold]

I haul out of Manhiem also the company I work for pays $10,000 Insurance a year per truck and they have 7 trucks. If you can't find any customers at manhiem you might be able to get on their waiting list for hauling lease returns which when I haulled out Manheim back in 1995 they were paying $75 a car from Phila. to manhiem you pretty much tell them how many cars you can haul in a week.

 

[Oasis-3]

Ins.

MY Garage Keepers Ins. will NOT cover the car I am driving only the damage I do to other cars. MY cargo Ins. covers the car I am driving to load or unload. I also have a $1000. 00 deductable per car not per load so if I would roll a load it would cost me $4000. 00 for the load + $1000. 00 for the truck and $1000. 00 for the trailer.

Then when I try to renew my Ins. it would be about $30000. 00 per year.



Some times I think what the heak am I doing in this Bizz. :-laf



Cliff

 

[GBechtold]

I found it's less hassle and stress to work for someone else you don't have to worry about lining up loads or truck maintaince or paying the bills

 

[GShail]

Been thinking real hard about expanding my operation to where I could have a few guys lease on under my MC authority. I have no problem coming up with loads and believe with my contacts I could do so in many different areas of the United States. Thing is . . . figuring out who can do drive well in various situations & do quality, reliable work can be a problem. Need some people who can be relied on and who won't wreck. Granted even the best of drivers can have accidents . . . but risk would be fairly minmal for the truly capable CAN DO types. I need to get more serious about expanding. I think there is a fairly large pool of the type of people I am looking for right here on the TDR. Anyone interested?

 

[MMeier]

Me, me ,me!! Buddy of mine just got his DOT and MC authority last Tuesday. That night he headed to the L. A. harbor area to pick up 2 20' containers under a broker deal. Well, upon delivery the man here asked how he would like to run for him, (no broker). Well, you guessed the rest, he went back down friday, i went with him today, and he'll be going down again late tonight. 4 loads in one week. Going to price a 40' plus5' pop up and call his insurance person tomorrow. I already have my DOT # , so it can't be too much more to get the MC# , correct? $600+ for 12-14 hour day aint too shabby. He even had a car to take to L. A. Friday that did him good also!! GS, what you paying?

 

[BlueDiamond]

Choose Me. Choose Me. If you can use someone in Ky with class A and six years OTR accident and ticket free I would definitely be interested. Had a guy come pick up a 55 Chevy a buddy of mine sold on Ebay. He was taking it from here in Ky to west coast and he said he was thinking about leasing on a couple of trucks in about a month. That was a couple months ago and haven't heard back from him yet. He was pulling enclosed trailer with a Dodge,of course. Had one to drop in Colorado then on to west coast with the 55. He said in a bad week he would make $3500. If you are interested GShail let me know.

 

[Disel Dave]

who wants there own Turn Key Auto Transport Corperation I have one you can get into cheep with all the numbers you need and a freightliner centery and a orange blossom 6-7 car trailer.

Dave

 

[Disel Dave]

Any one? This is sreious turn key auto transport co you will have all you need to run. for a lot less then you think.

PM me Dave

 

[MMeier]

George, where'd you go ?

 

[PatrickCampbell]

Last I heard he was headed to SoCal to make some dough