Question for any RV transporters out there

[AHarris]

Pretty soon, I will need to move my 30 foot camper (in sig), from Shreveport, Louisiana up to my home in Winchester, Wisconsin... a 1,300 mile trip.

Using my truck, I'm looking at about $1,300 round trip to go get the camper when I factor in $4. 00/gallon diesel fuel, motel, food, etc... not to mention my time.

The Hideout is about 8,000lbs empty, and will be about 9,500 fully loaded for the trip up here.

Is it possible to get an RV transporter to bring it up here for less money? What do they normally charge?

 

[BrianJ]

Pretty soon, I will need to move my 30 foot camper (in sig), from Shreveport, Louisiana up to my home in Winchester, Wisconsin... a 1,300 mile trip.



Using my truck, I'm looking at about $1,300 round trip to go get the camper when I factor in $4. 00/gallon diesel fuel, motel, food, etc... not to mention my time.



The Hideout is about 8,000lbs empty, and will be about 9,500 fully loaded for the trip up here.



Is it possible to get an RV transporter to bring it up here for less money? What do they normally charge?

No offense meant here, but how would you expect them to do it for less than you could? They will have the same fuel, food, etc. expenses that you would, plus they would need to earn something for their time and truck depreciation as well.

 

[BILLUA]

Any reason you couldn't sleep in the trailer to save on hotel costs?

 

[AH64ID]

No offense meant here, but how would you expect them to do it for less than you could? They will have the same fuel, food, etc. expenses that you would, plus they would need to earn something for their time and truck depreciation as well.

My first guess would be one-way vs a round trip.

 

[BrianJ]

My first guess would be one-way vs a round trip.

If they have a back-haul great, it's still a two way trip. I also assume they don't work for free and expect to make something for their services over a couple days, which would most likely offset any gain realized by a one way or back-hauled trip.



That being said, I would do the same thing and explore my options.

 

[AH64ID]

If you book with a large shipping company they bill you for the one-way, and it's on them to find work for the driver when they get there. . at least that's how I understand it.

 

[AHarris]

No offense meant here, but how would you expect them to do it for less than you could? They will have the same fuel, food, etc. expenses that you would, plus they would need to earn something for their time and truck depreciation as well.

I was looking for the normal "cost per mile" rate and then do some cost comparisons. Can a guy get a "deal" if a transporter happens to be running "deadhead" back up North? What about an empty flatbed heading up North?

With that in mind, it could be possible that moving it 1,300 miles (or even considerably closer to... say, Chicago or even St Louis) could be cheaper than me driving 2,600 miles round trip to pick it up.

But I don't know, that's why I'm asking.

 

[mwilson]

Try the U-Ship thing on-line or whatever it is that they have on "Shipping Wars" so that the carriers bid on it... ... ... .



Mike.

 

[AHarris]

Any reason you couldn't sleep in the trailer to save on hotel costs?

On the way back, we will stay in the trailer. I'll take a nice $20 campsite any day over a crappy $100 hotel room.

Wife killed my idea of contracting this out, so it looks like I'll have to make the trip to Louisiana to pick it up in a few weeks.

 

[Tractorat]

Personally, I would consider this to be just a good excuse for a long road trip and call it a vacation.

 

[HBarlow]

AHarris,

Horizon Transport, one of the transport companies I worked for, is perhaps the most professional one of all. The owner/management insist on operating according to the law and demand high standards from drivers. They are fully insured.

You can get a quote by looking them up on their website and calling. My guess is they would charge you about $1. 50/loaded mile. They would assign it as a backhaul for a driver who pulled a new trailer out of Goshen, IN to LA, MS, or TX so the driver who hauls it will be happy to get a backhaul but you'll pay full rate as a customer. It's not a backhaul for you.

Personally, I would not do it for less than $1/mile traveled from my home to Shreveport to WI to my home again. It is just too costly to drive that many miles with fuel prices and lodging without making a few dollars.

As others have suggested and you have apparently decided, you'll be better off to do the job yourself. Enjoy the trip! That's the reason you bought a travel trailer isn't it?

 

[AHarris]

AHarris,

Horizon Transport, one of the transport companies I worked for, is perhaps the most professional one of all. The owner/management insist on operating according to the law and demand high standards from drivers. They are fully insured.

You can get a quote by looking them up on their website and calling. My guess is they would charge you about $1. 50/loaded mile. They would assign it as a backhaul for a driver who pulled a new trailer out of Goshen, IN to LA, MS, or TX so the driver who hauls it will be happy to get a backhaul but you'll pay full rate as a customer. It's not a backhaul for you.

Personally, I would not do it for less than $1/mile traveled from my home to Shreveport to WI to my home again. It is just too costly to drive that many miles with fuel prices and lodging without making a few dollars.

As others have suggested and you have apparently decided, you'll be better off to do the job yourself. Enjoy the trip! That's the reason you bought a travel trailer isn't it?

Thanks, Harvey. Was hoping you would chime in since you're one of the TDR members who come to mind who have experience in RV transport. Looking forward to the road trip, and a few days' break from teenagers. Oo.

Curious, though: is hotshotting RVs still a good way to make a few extra bucks? Or do you have to have CDL, insurance and all that other crap?

Any money in it? It sounds like fun... .

Would a SRW 2500 like my sig truck be up to the task?

 

[HBarlow]

To me it was a lot of fun, I thoroughly enjoyed it. And you, like I, could afford to work as a transporter because you don't need the income. I paid all my considerable truck and operating expenses out of existing income and all my transport checks went directly home to my wife who used every check to pay off our rental property mortgages. Horizon will pay a 50% advance up front and settlement in full immediately after each haul is completed. I never drew a penny of advance money.

I've posted details about my experience here in TDR a couple of times but here is a basic summary.

I worked hard, very hard. Essentially, I took only the mandatory driver log reset days off and sometimes I went off log book and hauled while reporting rest days on my log book.

I ran almost exactly 400k, in two years and nine months from late January '05 through October '07. I think I grossed about $225k and earned a net income of about $40k/year. The truth is there is not much money in it when you consider that 400k miles on a new truck essentially requires a replacement.

You could sign on with Horizon Transport and do one or two hauls a month just for fun and make a few dollars for your troubles. If I lived closer to the RV center of America, northeastern IN, I would still be transporting for Horizon doing just one or two each month. It would be easy for you to do because WI is not far away. Wakarusa, IN where Horizon is located is about 1400 miles from me so I would have to dead head up there then dead head home from each haul.

I don't know what Horizon is paying drivers right now but assume it is approximately $1. 25/loaded mile. A 1000 mile haul will pay $1250 and will require a day and a half each way. I used to know the numbers exactly in my head but you can figure your own expenses. You would typically drive 2000 miles and be paid for only 1000 - the loaded miles not considering distance from home to Wakarusa and return. Backhauls are rare but do occur. They are assigned, like in the military, needs of the company first, driver proximity is considered, and some favoritism to the guys who work the hardest is factored in. Horizon's computer ranks drivers according to productivity and safety. I was always ranked in the highest category and near the top of that category. It means slightly higher per mile pay rates and higher priority in assignments.

Horizon requires all drivers to have a laptop and allows their drivers to self-dispatch. This means you could sit at home looking at available hauls each day and when you see one you like, to a scenic part of the country, a place you want to see or have friends to visit, or even a haul up into WI, MI, or ND, you could dispatch yourself, jump in your truck, and drive down to Wakarusa or Goshen and hook up. Edit: Since nobama and his party destroyed our economy while Canada's is booming, particularly in AB in the oil patch, lots of hauls go to Canada. Drivers with a passport are preferred.

I'm not sure how far you live from IN or how long it would take to drive down to hook up but you could probably manage it. There are certain time limits which I don't remember.

NO, you do not have to have a CDL A and do not have to have commercial liability. A clean driving record and at least a 3/4 ton truck, duallies strongly preferred unless they have changed that along with a commercial inspection sticker on your truck, fire extinguisher, mudflaps or rear skirt, fifthwheel hitch, gooseneck plate, and ordinary hitch receiver and hitch head are essential. Driver physical is provided at your expense (cheap) and random urinalysis tests performed.

Horizon has an excellent website and you can learn much of this online and apply if interested. If Horizon hires you they will call you and invite you to come to Wakarusa in time for a three day indoctrination class where they will teach you DOT regulations, driver log keeping, and other things you need to know. Horizon provides operating authority signified by magnetic signs, commercial liability of at least $1M, and cargo insurance. Drivers are required to put up a $1500 damage deposit but it can be paid in installments deducted from completed haul checks.

Horizon will not knowingly dispatch you a load that when GVWR of the trailer added to GVWR of your truck exceeds 26k lbs. if you are not a CDL A driver. Your GVWR will be in their computer. Never a forced dispatch. You pick and choose or decline.

There are other companies that operate in a similar manner. JET is the transportation arm of Jayco. They are a good company to work for and pay better than any other but their logs/safety manager is a dumb trucker who loves power and is an axxhole with capital letters. He prefers dumb, obedient, and subservant drivers. I was cocky, confident, and didn't hide my contempt for him from day one of indoctrination so we didn't get along. If I had been calm and obedient it would have been okay. I wasn't.

 

[AHarris]

Thanks A million Harvey! I think I might check this out for some extra income. Being in the Northernmost part of WI (5 miles from the UP of Michigan)' I can make Goshen in about 7-8 hours. I will get on the horizon website and check it out. I've got a spotless driving record and my truck's paid for with only 40K on the clock.

 

[WyoJim]

AHarris,



Horizon Transport, one of the transport companies I worked for, is perhaps the most professional one of all. The owner/management insist on operating according to the law and demand high standards from drivers. They are fully insured.



You can get a quote by looking them up on their website and calling. My guess is they would charge you about $1. 50/loaded mile. They would assign it as a backhaul for a driver who pulled a new trailer out of Goshen, IN to LA, MS, or TX so the driver who hauls it will be happy to get a backhaul but you'll pay full rate as a customer. It's not a backhaul for you.



Personally, I would not do it for less than $1/mile traveled from my home to Shreveport to WI to my home again. It is just too costly to drive that many miles with fuel prices and lodging without making a few dollars.



As others have suggested and you have apparently decided, you'll be better off to do the job yourself. Enjoy the trip! That's the reason you bought a travel trailer isn't it?

What an informative post... . Thanks for posting it Harvey.

 

[HBarlow]

My pleasure. If it helps anyone who is interested or simply curious its even better.

 

[Barry]

If you decide not to do the trip, let me know, I have a couple of ideas. Also, Okie-Go, a TDR member who has his own operating authority is based in Houston. You can trust him with your life, your wife and your wallet.

 

[RVTRKN]

There is a dark side, when diesel was $5. 25 a gal. , I hauled my first and last RV transport. 500 plus miles, ONE WAY, only to get orders to return for another RV to be delivered to the same dealer. Of coarse you don't get paid for dead heading, I refused the load, it ended up costing me more money than earned and wear and tear. Not to mention the RV had a brake issue and cost me a weekend stay in Saltlake due to late delivery. There are other issues that left a bad taste in my mouth but they are personel issues I won't go into.

 

[jgillott]

A little off topic, but do companies like Horizon allow you to just work seasonally and or carry passangers while transporting? I've often considered picking up some extra work during the summer months while I'm not at my regular job and the wife and I love to travel. Most years, we could run much of June, July and August.

 

[mrtrombley]

If Horizon puts you on, you have to run a minimum of 1 load a month. Unless they have changed, that is all you need to stay active. They do say that your truck needs to 5 years old or less, you may be able to get around that if they let you bring your truck in for inspection. Once on, it can continue to run past the 5 years old mark.

Right now Horizon is offering a sign on bonus, but you have to run pretty high mileage to get it! Go to Horizon Transport click on DRIVERS then BECOME A DRIVER. Copy shown below:

$2,000 Tow-Away Sign On Bonus!

Horizon Transport is offering a $2000 Sign-On bonus for Tow-Away drivers who complete orientation between the dates of January 10, 2012 and April 30, 2012, who meet the following conditions:

- The applicant has not worked for Horizon Transport, or had an active driver file at Horizon Transport, within the prior 12 months.
- 33,000 safety miles are completed prior to the applicant's six month anniversary date.
- The Horizon Transport 2012 Sign-On Bonus is earned at the time the 33,000th safe delivery mile is completed, if 6 months have not elapsed since the applicant's orientation completion date*.

The bonus is offered as an all-or-nothing incentive. It is either earned or not earned by the applicant's sixth month after leasing-on. If safety miles less than 33,000 are achieved, the bonus is not paid pro-rata. It is simply forgone. Once 33,000 safety miles are achieved, the bonus will be paid within one week.