No tech here. B-Day wishes and hauling dreams.

<font color="green"> So today is my birthday. I’m a hundred and forty-six years old. I feel a hundred and ninety-six.

I’ve come to a conclusion. I’ve got to do something different. It’s time to start a new venture. I’ve talked with BenD and mentioned a possible encroachment to his part time parts hauling sideline. I’ve also talked with a few others here asking opinions and I’ve gotten nothing but ayes from the crowd. Now I just need to figure out how to get a small business loan without a credit history. HAHAHAHAHA!! Maybe a wealthy (young) widow will be my sugar momma and buy a new truck for me to keep me hers and hers only. Yeah, that‘ll happen.

Anyone here know where I should start on this? I’ve got the Small Business Administration website bookmarked and am reading through but to get specific info I’m gonna have to email a bunch of seperate people apparently. OH NO! Effort to be put forth on my part! Maybe I should just crawl back into my corner and drink another beer. Damn! I need smokes too. Anyone got any camel red lights? Red lights? Howzat work? Are they reds or lights? Are they a signal for ******s? Smoke a red light and they’ll know you’re lookin for fun?

I know that people need stuff hauled, towed and dragged all over the country so I’m gonna try to find a good used pickup and trailer and start putting word out that I haul ***, cars, parts, etc. Well no, not ***. I’d need a livestock trailer for that. Unless she’s cute. ***, cash or gr***. No one rides for free. Right? So I understand that Chevy half tons tow well. With the 4.8L or the 5.3L? Fords need to wind up with the 4.6L to tow. I found a Heavy Duty half ton with a 5.4L and 8800lb tow rating and 3000lb payload but it’s in south Texas and it’s 15 grand. Dodge? Which haul or tow well? I wish I could get a newer turbo diesel with a 6 speed. Too damned expensive for a decent mileage Ram 2500 diesel. And really I just need to be able to tow a 20ft trailer with a decent size car on it and not have to pull over after going uphill to let thirty pissed off drivers p***. Is that too much to ask? Am I nothing more than a dreamer with dreams too big to dream them without needing a second dream to finish the dream? Or will a regular pickup with a small V8 and towing package do the job just fine? I remember my fathers ‘86 F150 (302 powered, two wheel drive with a towing package) pulled my Olds 1300 miles home in ‘92. It pulled a 25ft fifth wheel travel trailer for my grand parents ‘til ‘90 when dad bought it from them. Maybe I’ve just answered my own question.

Any suggestions/opinions/ideas are welcome. I’m prolly gonna do it either way, just need input. I’ve never been in business for myself.

Thanks big,
Jesse
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Good luck, hope it works out... BTTT for you

 

<font color="green">Neppy,

If you plan on hauling much, cross country, you may want to start looking at 3/4 ton Diesels at least.

I've got a 1/2 ton Chevy I have had for ten years. It has the 5.7l (350) as all vehicles should.


It eats me alive on gas and I would rather poke my eyes with burning hangers than tow across country with it.

As for which make vehicle to use, you should know better than to start that ******* match here.

My suggestion.

Find somebody who is doing what you want to do.

Maybe even get a job with them and get a feel for it, see what they use and be DAMN sure this is what you want to do for a living.

Work there for a while and get a feel for how the rest of the business works, pay attention to distances and what the company is charging, keep track of what your expenses are. This will give you more info you will need when you strike out on your own.

If you are already driving all over the country in someone elses vehicle you will have better opportunity to find the deal that's right for you on your own vehicle.

Just suggestions, my family had their own business years ago and it ****ED BALLS.

I rather prefer working for "theman" and having awesome benefits.

That and not being able to cash my checks so that the employees checks don't bounce was getting kinda old.

Did this help any?

Probably not, but my skyrocketing post count just went up and you got a bump to the top.

RASHY
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If you are serious about towing for a living, then you are on the right track with SBA.
Instead of visiting their website, find an office and make an appointment to visit with one of the representatives, there.
There may be an office in the local university or college.

You will be guided into filling out a business plan(very necessary for obtaining a loan).
You will be helped into making decisions you should think about that you may have not.

You will be guided on getting your venture financed.
Usually, you will first try conventional financing, then maybe SbA backed conventional loans. If all above fails, you may then qualify for an SBA loan.

With towing, there is a responcibility to know the trailering regulations in each state you will tow in and through.
There is the financial burden of insurance.

You can not have too large of tow vehicle. Do not skinp on size and power.
Do get a 3/4 ton or larger with diesel engine.
The diesel tows better and gasoline costs are high
.The newer diesles behave like a gas engine, moving out rather smartly.
You need a two car trailer or better with a good winch to make the hauling pay and still be compe***ive.

Then, you can expect to be on the road for more than a week, sometimes, more than a month.
You need to haul both ways to even think about an income above costs. And, keep a current ATLAS with you.

A portion of your fees should be earmarked for repairs, another portion for growing your buisness
.
I absolutely like trailering across country.
It is nerve recking at times. You have to remember the additional length of your rig and allow for that when engaging in any traffic move.
Pulling in for fuel can be a test if not using a truck stop.

Good luck.

 

I thought about what you're doing, and came up with a few ideas of my own a while back.

For me, the only truck to use would be a good, used 1988-93 Chevy/GMC pickup (half ton for me, since I wasn't gonna tow anything heavy!) equipped with the 5.0 (305) or 5.7 (350) engine and overdrive auto ******. Those trucks are dead nuts reliable, easy to fix when something DOES go wrong, and cheap to buy and keep. Decent fuel mileage, too. Another bonus, and it's a good one...is that these trucks are comfy. The half tons ride like a dream...and you WANT a comfortable rig for this type of venture!

I'd carry a few strategic spare parts in the truck, as well as a basic tool kit and a good spare tire or two at all times. In addition, I'd have become a Tripple-A member and paid for the best roadside ***istance plan I could afford. Even though I hate 'em...a cell phone and extra battery would ride in the glovebox if I were to do this!

Now comes the hard part. Unless you're doing this strictly for fun to amuse your wealthy self, you're going to have to figure out a way to make the operation PROFITABLE! You want to give your customers, especially HAMB buddies a good deal, but unless you're just hauling an engine across town, it'd be pretty hard to MAKE anything...much less clear any sort of PROFIT.

When you figure in your vehicle costs, fuel, upkeep, insurance, plates and whatever your time and effort are worth, you'll start to realize just how UNPROFITABLE such a business can be! (And I haven't even talked about the additional expenses involved with a trailer yet! That would require more out-of-pocket money, and a whole lot more insurance...if you're hauling someone's car and it gets wrecked...who pays???).

What I would do, is start out on a semi local level. Try keeping yourself to within, say...200 miles of your home base and see how it works out. Such trips can easily be handled in a single day without requiring the ADDITIONAL cost of hotels and on-the-road meals ***ociated with cross country treks! See how you like it, and if you can actually make money doing it. Start small, work UP to where you want to be, if it looks like it will be a good deal for you.

(When it comes to hauling a car across several states...you will find yourself hard pressed to compete with national shippers. The only saving grace might be that many folks would rather deal with an independant such as yourself, but it will still be hard to clear any profit doing it, and still keep your prices reasonable.)

Good luck, and Happy Birthday!

(Don't mean to discourage you, just summarizing why I'm NOT doing the same thing myself as we speak!)

 

<font color="green"> So...basically if I don't eat or sleep and find a one ton for around 500 bucks, then manage to get insurance cheaper than I pay for my car I should be OK? </font>
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Well, I love to drive so that won't be a big deal. I can judge distance and times well enough. Usually. Might need to work on it a bit. I just need to find a bank or credit union willing to loan me 20 grand or so to get started. (where's that little rolleyes smiley?) </font>
<font color="red">
Really, how much could it cost? I can find a hundred thousand mile one ton as cheap as most 3/4 tons. And a few extra miles won't hurt a diesel, I suppose, as long as the truck itself is intact. I don't need any fancy equipment. A big trailer with brakes, a CB (anyone got a good used one?), and a good thermos full of coffee. Well, maybe a notepad to keep track of everything. You know, to write off all the fuel and such as business expenses. Come to think of it, I already have the thermos. Hell, I'm a third of the way there. </font>

<font color="purple"> I'll keep looking into this and see what happens. You never know, right? </font>

 

Listen to me here, I've done this type of stuff too much.

A diesel may cost more up front, but it will pay for itself with fuel cost savings in very very short order. I currently have 2 ***mins Dodge trucks, both with 6 speeds.

Carrying any loaded trailer up to 12k pounds, I have never found a hill or condition where it wouldn't maintain the speed limit with ease. I've bullied up mountains with the turbo singing at the same speed as the rest of the people on the road. One of my trucks (the 2002) has 505 ft/lb and the other (the 2003) 555 ft/lbs torque stock. No g***er engine will pull like they do.

I average about 16 miles per gallon pulling 12k pound trailer. That's right at 20k total gross for the truck and trailer combo. Worst ever mileage I've ever experienced is 14 pulling hard uphill fully loaded.

They have yet to build an automatic trans that will truly stand up to a hard worked diesel engine in these trucks for a long period of time. If you're going to be serious about working it, the standard transmission is the only viable option.

 

Listen to HillBilly Hotrodder about Diesel. Really. Get a manual trans too.

Start hanging out at the turbodieselregister.com dieseltruckresource.com and any other Diesel truck places you can find. They use the word "hotshot" to describe small time tow guys.

Don't want to start a relegious war, but the ***mins straight six is a *great* motor for towing, and has been on the market for *years*. Good mileage, reliable and a torque monster. The Dogde truck it's installed in isn't bad - mine has 180,000 on it, and other than ****py brakes, it a dream. And it's also easy to hotrod (or BOMB, as the Diesel geeks say).

Tackett

 

i can help ya out on the CB....

 

If it helps any, check with some of the antique tractor boards. They haul them things all over the country.

We had three guys in a Extended cab Chevy with a Deisel engine and one of the longer trailers come to our house, drop off a 1940something Farmall. They had three tractors on it at the time he dropped ours off. They picked up two more (well, one and a half more) from my dad and was off again. If I remmber correctly, they said they were from Pennsilvania (However the hell you spell it), said they went to Florida to pick up two of the ones they had, got the one for my dad in Tennesse, and were taking the two they got from him to Arizona. They unloaded the one at our house and loaded up the other two (one of which was only the back half, they split in two at the rear of the engine and the front wheels are part of the front of the frame) and less than two hours in 100plus Oklahoma heat.

They looked tired when they arrived and even worse when they left. But it was pretty neat watching them. Looked like a Nascar Pit-stop. We asked if they needed any help, and had us do a few things, but it was obivious they didnt really need our help at all. They worked real well together.

 

<font color="green"> Crimenitaly! I knew they pulled but that's nuts. I checked on one of those diesel boards and found a post about a guy who pulled his mobile home 20 some miles with a one ton.

All the help is very...uh...helpful.

Really though, thanks big!

Jesse
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to be honest , hauling is gonna run a buck 10 or so a mile,everyone can say hey i will run to kansas ro 50 bucks and drop off a subframe, well how far does that get you
end up doing
charity work,it costs so much to go from here to there, be honest with the job you are describing,look at a trailer building place or some one that does local hauling now, and aproach them ,to get your hands on some expeince ,we all want torun off and drive around the country ,but it aint gonna happen wishing about itc. CONTRACT HAULING. Work with a trucking company to pickup and deliver small loads from their warehouse. Some companies only have large trucks, and is quite expensive (sometimes even illegal) to use them (and their divers) to make individual city house deliveries of small items.

d. SPECIAL PURPOSE HAULING. By adding or modifying truck's racks, you can transport animals, loose grain, or other special purpose cargo. You might even list with veterinarians in the area to transport animals to and from the "Doc." Perhaps something as simple as waterproof cover and locking cage would enable you to do some really high priced hauling.

e. RETAINER HAULING. Make regular deliveries for a particular merchant -- delivering merchandise, expediting parts, picking up incoming freight. Charge by the month, plus per trip over the agreed limit. Your contract may or may not allow you to do other jobs in between.

The primary objective in light hauling is to find the person or business that needs ***istance, and then provide it. A starting place is to make sure the stores in the area of your service, as well as individuals ( if you are available to both).

When working with businesses, you can either work for the store or ask them to refer you to customers who need your service. Most will prefer the latter, because they are not liable when the deal is between you and the customer.

You will need insurance for this, so be sure and check around for the best deal; check with a least one agent that specializes in commercial insurance.

It is not easy for stores to provide delivery service; there's a lot more to it than just buying a truck. Unless they have just the right amount of business, they can be in financial trouble -- if there's not enough, the driver and truck are wasted; if there is too much, they get behind and risk alienating their customers.

Many small stores will be happy to refer your service to customers who need deliveries -- it keeps the customer happy and them "off the hook." So, call on local stores and explain your capabilities. They will tell you of their needs, and you can let them know about how much you will charge their customers for that service. They need an idea of your rates so they can advise their customers.

When you are just starting, don't be alarmed if merchants are slow to react. They will probably call the first time just to see how you perform -- how fats you react, how you treat the merchandise, and whether or not the customer was happy with your service and rates

go down t othe local auto dealers and see about hauling t oother dealers i did pretty goofd for a few years hauling new cars and trades betwwen dealers, parts , i know sounds like a parts runner ,but getting out in the mix you will soon start getting contacts , let some one else do your front work for you and use that for your own hauling , i still haul cars a dealer sells to out of state buyers , we tell em up front the cost and has worked out really well,you are on the right track ,sounds like you got the need real bad for this to happen so just hit the stores, business, dealers, enid must have a trailer building or other manufac places, that need a distributor delivery guy




check out this site and talk to a few people that have been doing this for a time,see what the ytell you ,it can be done

http://www.ytmag.com/cgi-bin/haulquery.pl