Tips For Rv Transporting

[AMixon]

Ok guy's, I have read this entire fourm (slow night) and decided I wanna jump in on the transport biz seeing how construction seems slow for me now. I am in South Holland, IL and see the guys running from Indy to places unknown and I am just looking for a few scraps of knowledge from those that currently do this.



I have a 2004. 5 dually, I know I need a brake controller and most places need/require a fifth wheel and goose neck deal. I was looking at the Putman stuff but now I have found out about the B&W stuff...



I have towed cars and light trucks in the states (and while in Iraq!) but use my truck mostly for moving "future projects" (read as someone else's junk-no mine) with a 20 ft car trailer.





Any advice orguidence in this matter will be so helpful.



Thanks in advance!

 

[PWitteveen]

There is a trailer transport company north of Middlebury, IN. I don't remember their name, but I do know they prefer Reese products.

 

[Buffalo]

There are a number of trailer transport companies in the Indiana area. Horizon, Quality, Bennett, etc. Recently had a guy that has worked for Bennett say he really liked working with them.



A company called Dually Depot, in Elkhart, IN. 877-255-9151 sets trucks up for commercial towing & should be able to provide you with what you need & what the towing companies require. Check into their 115 gal. aux. fuel tank.



Check into the expense of working independently (incurance, licensing, etc. ) versus signing on with an established towing company.



Hope this helps.



Joe F. (Buffalo)

 

[KBalzuweit]

There are a number of trailer transport companies in the Indiana area. Horizon, Quality, Bennett, etc. Recently had a guy that has worked for Bennett say he really liked working with them.



A company called Dually Depot, in Elkhart, IN. 877-255-9151 sets trucks up for commercial towing & should be able to provide you with what you need & what the towing companies require. Check into their 115 gal. aux. fuel tank.



Check into the expense of working independently (incurance, licensing, etc. ) versus signing on with an established towing company.



Hope this helps.



Joe F. (Buffalo)

There are a TON of companies that will lease you on, thats because they make money and its really hard for you to survive doing this.



I WOULD NOT get into this, I have been in this for almost 3 years and with the current high fuel costs and the current rate of pay you will wear out your truck long before it pays for itself. Heck if I could get out of my truck I would be doing something else.



As far as Dually Depot, for 5er hitches its hars to beat the price the price, but there quality of work and there total lack of customer service hardley makes it worth it. Believe me get anything they say or promiss in writing otherwise you will be sorry. If you need an aux fuel tank go to Dans Hitches in Elkhart, they sell Transfer Flow and its worth the couple xtra $$. If you would like to talk to me more about the ins, outs, or would like to try this and get hooked up with one of the highest paying companies PM me. Karl

 

[CumminsPower98]

I pull for Classic and while I don't like the job it's paying better then I was doing at home so that's what I'm doing for a while. I'm trying to widdle some of my debt down and so far it's not too bad. I finally got the truck paid off so that will help a lot. I also don't have a family or anything so that also helps. I got the Dually Depot 115 gal. tank and I agree they are a bit sloppy there but it works. I was a bit ticked off at Dan's once when I needed the head cut off of a small bolt and they charged me the minimum of $10. If I had known, I could have bought a cheap hack saw for crying out loud but I'm sure they probably do good work. I have not had anything else done there to speak of so can't really speak from experience. If you get on with a good company the fuel prices shouldn't really affect you much as they should adjust the fuel rate as prices change. I personally use the B&W hitches and like them a lot and have had no problems.

 

[KBalzuweit]

I pull for Classic and while I don't like the job it's paying better then I was doing at home so that's what I'm doing for a while. I'm trying to widdle some of my debt down and so far it's not too bad. I finally got the truck paid off so that will help a lot. I also don't have a family or anything so that also helps. I got the Dually Depot 115 gal. tank and I agree they are a bit sloppy there but it works. I was a bit ticked off at Dan's once when I needed the head cut off of a small bolt and they charged me the minimum of $10. If I had known, I could have bought a cheap hack saw for crying out loud but I'm sure they probably do good work. I have not had anything else done there to speak of so can't really speak from experience. If you get on with a good company the fuel prices shouldn't really affect you much as they should adjust the fuel rate as prices change. I personally use the B&W hitches and like them a lot and have had no problems.

What yard do pull out of?? I pull out of Middlebury. I like the job, just not the money. Also be careful with your logs, Classic is now auditing 10% of all drivers logs every month. They are checking your toll receipts and the freight bill dates against your logs. They got me and from talking to others, they got a bunch of other guys. Karl

 

[ThrottleJockey]

Karl,



Quality tried to rake me over the coals with the log book and fuel reciept issue. Said I could'nt go to Forest, VA and on to Dublin, VA on 40 gallons of diesel fuel. I said sure you can! I wrote on my logs I satrted off with 160 gallons of homebrew bio diesel on board.



Audit over.

 

[CumminsPower98]

Yes, I'm out of the Middlebury yard. I have not had any log issues yet but I do run legal most of the time. Now and then I fudge a little or sometimes a lot if I'm headed home and will be there a while and on those occasions there are no tolls or freight bills to worry about. That's good to know what they are doing. I kinda figured they must be checking up on guys more now because I have seen a few in there talking with Jerry or the other gal about log problems.



How are things going there right now? I know last year it was real slow in May due to the factory changing over to the next year models. I have been home a few weeks getting the rafting company's vehicles and trailers ready for the season. I used to work there full time but worked myself out of a full time job. They have not kicked me out yet so I try to help them out at least once a year plus it gives me a place to keep my tools and work on my own truck. I will probably be back on the road in another week or two if things are moving ok.

 

[AMixon]

Nothing is ever easy OR as good as it seems, is it? I have been back from Iraq since Jan and just looking for something that will a bit more stable than construction. It seems I may have to bite the bullet and sign on with some OTR firm so I can bump up to an A on my CDL. Thanks for the tips and advice guys, keep it coming, it is helping me decide what to do for the next few years of my life!





Anthony

 

[PatrickCampbell]

Check out www.vehiclevalet.net. Never worked for them but they seem like good people from conversations. They haul cars 1 at a time enclosed. Pay is probably less per mile but you will be loaded more often. Also with them I think you will get either a trailer with living quarters or a small camper that'll eliminate hotel costs. Probably overall just less BS to deal with. .

 

[JHardwick]

How many miles can you legally run in a 5 day stretch? I can do 5,000 or more, but I'm not commercial

 

[CumminsPower98]

I personally run Sunday through Friday and take Saturday off (it's my Sabbath anyway) to get a restart of my 70 hours so this is 6 days rather then 5. It all depends on what a guy could get with 11 hour days depending on speed limits or the speed you run. So for me it ends up being about 3500-4000 probably if I run mostly full days like on a long single western tip. I generally run 65 loaded and 70 empty for mileage reasons. I sometimes run 70 loaded if conditions are right.

 

[ThrottleJockey]

DOT legal is 68 mph and an 11 hour driving day for whichever week one chooses to use, the 70 hour 8 day or the 60 hour 7 day week.

 

[PatrickCampbell]

68 mph? This is news to me. Could you show where this is stated?

 

[MRosinski]

Check out www.vehiclevalet.net. Never worked for them but they seem like good people from conversations. They haul cars 1 at a time enclosed. Pay is probably less per mile but you will be loaded more often. Also with them I think you will get either a trailer with living quarters or a small camper that'll eliminate hotel costs. Probably overall just less BS to deal with. .

They require you to have at least 24' trailer(enclosed). But pay good. They run at least 2200-3000 miles a week.

 

[ThrottleJockey]

Yeah, I'll try and find it in the FMCSM. That's the formula they use to calculate your mph and distance traveled. The various posted limits are for autos only. Commercial combinations are limited to 68 mph max.

 

[R C Cola]

Haul Cars

Just talked to Tim (owner) on the phone and he said you have to have your own trailer and the pay is 78/cents/mile to the truck with 2 cars loaded. This is still better than RV's since it pays both ways. Sounds like a nice guy but I will hold off. When I make a change I want to make a little more per mile. R C

 

[R C Cola]

valet.net

You're right of course, 24 ft would be one car and room to sleep perhaps. When we talked he said he preferred we have a two car trailer. Then I asked how much that would pay to the truck, hence the response of 78 cents. I said for 2 and he said prices were low right now. I will have to double check with him to be sure though. I can get a 1. 00/mile/car with open trailer on a good day.

R C

 

[PatrickCampbell]

78 cpm for 2 vehicles are you sure? 24 footer is a 1 car hauler not a chance 2. Maybe 1 car 1 motorcycle.



They charge $1/mile which would make 78 cpm 78% of gross or them taking 22%... .



I agree that you should be able to get that much or more on an open 2 car.

 

[PatrickCampbell]

The thing I like about it is the idea of having your own living quarters no hotels and not sleeping on the bench seat. And also that you are not going crazy loading the truck up past its limits.



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Bet that is pretty comfortable