Towing R V's for Pay $ $

[R C Cola]

Been towing hot shot for a year and would like to switch to a good company. Are there any members out there that are happy with their companies ? Do they keep you loaded ? Do you make enough money and how? I have read the negative and have spoke with some drivers who are happy after years of delivery. There are bound to be some happy drivers out there, please chime in and be specific as to what works and why.

I would really prefer to start out with a good company and stay with them.

Thanks... . R C

 

[NIsaacs]

R C,



I can't help you first hand, however I have done a lot of research on the subject. I even had one of my hotshot drivers go to Elkhart, Indiana to check first hand, at that time (1995) the rate was too low. Most of the drivers were retired or semi retired and didn't need a full time job. I feel this kept the rate on the low side. Today the rates are a lot higher so I think it might be do'able. Do a search on RV Transport, you will find several. I have not taken the plunge yet, it will take a lot of dedication, lots of miles and living away from home. One big upside to RV transport, is no expense on trailer ownership, no time spent loading or unloading, and no tarped loads. I think most RV deliverys will require you to wash the unit on delivery. They also have a minimum of a five year old truck.



"NICK"

 

[bmoeller]

Send a PM to OTRPU. Pulls t/t and 5th wheels for a living. IIRC, he pulls for Bennett.

 

[OCarney]

RCCola,

I just shot you a PM. I contract to Horizon Transport. Contact me if you want to.

 

[KBalzuweit]

I contract to Classic. I have hauled for them a year and a half. Pretty happy, be glad to answer any questions. Karl

 

[hagar]

Pay sucks in the west, they consider almost anything out here a backhaul, I did it for 13 months and put 150,000 miles on my 03 dually, finally decided it wasn't worth it, all I was doing was wearing it out and getting no sleep trying to pay fuel bills

 

[jnelson]

I really dont see how anyone can make any serious money at . 99 per mile. After you pay for your fuel, insurance, meals, hotels, wear and tear, and misc. expenses, that doesnt leave you with much money.



They should be at least getting a FSC (fuel service charge).



1500 miles run @ . 99 per mile = $1485

Avg 10 mpg would be 140 gallons @ 2. 11 avg. = $295. 40

Personal - motel/food/misc (2 meals, 2hotels) = $160



Your now down to . 69 per mile. Now you have to take your living expenses out of that and put the rest in a truck reserve. If you dont get a back haul now your at . 341/2 cents per mile.



Maybe it'll work? I just dont see it.

 

[KBalzuweit]

The way to make money is to not have a NEW $40000 truck. A couple or so years old and run it til its dead. I have made a good living doing this, you just have to be smart with the way you spend your $$. Also everthing is a tax writeoff, truck, fuel, maint, accessories, hitches, plus there is the $40 a day perdiem that is a writeoff. There are guys out here making a living at less than . 90 a mile. Now thats tuff. I run a ton of miles and still and home atleast once a week. Last month I ran 8471 paid miles. Now some of that was for FEMA trailers, so log books were exempt. I average between 1800 and 2100 miles a week. So if you can run and run hard you can make a good living. Heck I grabbed a trailer going to Florida the 17th and am still down here enjoying warmer weather, and my travel expenses are paid in my cost of delivering the unit. Its not for everyone, but I like it and my family gets all kinds of chances to travel and see the country with me. Karl

 

[R C Cola]

Towing for Dollars

Karl... . This is what I need, cold hard workable facts. If you don't want to go public with names etc. please feel free to pm me. What co. , do you pull for?

How do they treat you. Are you satisfied with the way they pay and how soon you get it. I see you have an older truck like I do and that eliminates some of the companies that won't hire me. You and I know that properly maintained these trucks will go well over a million miles. My goal is about $ 2000/week to the truck as a base. Since last Feb. when I started, I have taken off 9 weeks total and still put on a full 100,000+ up to now at about 10k/mo. How do you get your money? Mine is Comdata card, I love it 48 hrs after paper trippaks and I have it. From the 99 cents or so do they take any deductions out and how much does all that cost you.

With regular freight that I haul it may pay $1. 40/mile less 25% to company -. 35/mile = $1. 05 less - . 03/mile insurance = $1. 02 per loaded mile. Then with 2-3 days off sitting waiting for a load (expense w/no income) and the return paying less. Then on top of that I have a trailer to keep up and lower fuel miliage due to trailer weight both directions. You see the problem. Thanks for your help. R C

 

[GAmes]

If you want to average $2000/wk gross, forget transporting. Every delivery is not 1500 or 2000 miles and you will not have a trailer behind you every day. Every company pays a different rate, some have fuel surcharges, some pay permit fees to traverse AZ, UT, NM, and ID and some don't. Sometimes backhaul pay (if you are willing to take the load) is as low as 40 cents a mile. If you don't take a backhaul, pay is zero.



If you don't cheat on you logbook you can only be on duty 8. 75 hrs each day (70 devided by 8). Subtract pretrip inspections and time in the ports of entry and/or weigh stations and you are down to about 8 hrs driving. Average 60 mph (some states like CA are 52) and your best day is 480 miles, say 500 to keep it simple. At least 30% of your mileage will be MT. That means that you have to be pulling a paying trailer at least 2450 miles a week that pays a 82 cents a mile. Ain't gonna happen. :{



Don't get me wrong, I like being a transporter, but it isn't my primary source of income. I'm one of those retirees that will accept 66 or 75 cents a mile, and 40 cents to backhaul a boat or horse trailer. I stay busy and the pay adds to my beer drinking/fishing fund :-laf . I'm pretty sure that you will need a newer truck to be hired by any of the major companies .

 

[KYLE4]

Yah I looked into horizon I didnt see it as a way to make a good living I have friends who have 50' trailers and pull three cars at a time and they make decent a good living pulling short hauls you might want to look into that buy the trailer and git er done

 

[KBalzuweit]

RC. .

I pull for Classic Transport. We have been as high as 1. 08 w/ fuel surcharge and are now at a 1. 00. I ran 8471 paid miles last month. This month will be about 4600, but I have been on vacation since the 16th. They are pretty nice to work for, I have been with them since Aug of 03. They have two divisions, one for the part time guys and a division that is dedicated to hauling Jayco (pays more), I haul for Jayco. As far as the earlier post 14 hours on duty w/ a max of 11 driving a day. So I get 11 of driving every day!! Plus when you max out and hit 70 you just take 34 hours of and get a rest of time, a fresh 70!! You can legally get 2000 paid miles a week, I have the logs and the settlement sheets to show. 17 months and no violations, never been parked by dot nothing. I guess you just need to know the dot rules. Karl

 

[GAmes]

RC. .

I guess you just need to know the dot rules. Karl

I know the rules, and if R. C. has been hotshotting, he does too. Up to 14 hours of duty a day, 11 of which can be driving. To drive 11 hours you should be logging at least 12 duty hours. 12 into 70 is a little more than 5. 8 days of driving, then you have to shut down. IF you shut down for 34 hours you can start the clock again. It still averages 8. 75 duty hours a day.



I'm sure you have logs for 2000 paid miles a week, so do I, and there have been weeks that I have earned over $2000, but that isn't the norm. He wants to average $2000 a week, every week. If you do that (not counting FEMA trailers w/o a log book) then more power to you, you are doing better than anyone else I have met.

 

[KBalzuweit]

Well then you you should be happy with all the $$$ should be making like me!! Oo.

 

[jnelson]

Also everthing is a tax writeoff, truck, fuel, maint, accessories, hitches, plus there is the $40 a day perdiem that is a writeoff.

I can't believe your not doing mileage on your taxes. I took off more than $38,950 just on mileage alone. Then you still get your perdiem, supplies, maintenance, advertising, interest on bussiness loan if any, hotels, meals away from home within 100 miles (50%), customer entertainment (50%), pager, cell phone, home office deductions etc...



You just dont get truck depreciation, fuel, oil, tires, insurance or liscence or permits.



My wife has done our taxes both ways. Mileage has created our biggest deductions.



But what do I know, I haul this cheap $3. 00/ mile oilfeild junk.

 

[R C Cola]

Pulling for Pay

Hey Guys, Any little detail that works in the real world will be a help. My rig is a SRW so for stability sake I will not do the cars for now even though I know the money will get better later if I do. I feel I am working my rig too hard and not steady enough. Bad combination. Obviously running w/o a trailer when empty will be easier on my rig and more economical for fuel and tires. Running loaded I will still be about 6000 pounds lighter, again saving fuel and easier on the truck. My last trip out for 7 weeks paid $ 1. 08 per loaded mile to the truck less fuel differance and trailer maint. I figure that at about 5 to 6 more cents deducted leaving about $ 1. 02 and missing at least 7 days of travel for that period waiting for a load. As in most business making a profit depends on a lot of little things being right. I do not have time to make all the mistakes myself and benefit from all input from those of you with experience. Thanks again... . R C

 

[KBalzuweit]

Hope you do not get caught with the mileage, it states if you are for hire which we are you can NOT take the mileage off. I wish we could with about a 175000 miles in 03 I would have done REALLY well on my taxes.

 

[Partyat33]

Is there any way for a guy with a day job to do this for extra cash. I have been told you can pick up any time but that Saturday delivery is almost non existant. Any thoughts ?

 

[R C Cola]

Part time

Party... . I have done some of this. Most of the pick-ups are 9-5 on m-f and can deliver on sat. to auto body or used car dealer. Probably not your best option. You might try a small add in a cheap paper for a month. I will move your car, truck, tractor, or ? ? ? on the weekend. I have a retired friend who does this and gets all the part time he wants. R C

 

[R C Cola]

Taxes

Karl or jnelson... How can I verify the ability to deduct miliage in our situation since it would make a tremendous differance in the tax structure. I have been able to deduct business miliage before (diff type of bus. ) R C