This may seem like a dumb question, but what do people expect to pay to get their car hauled from L.A. to the east coast? I posted up hauling service ad here and evidently I am unable to compete. The only way I could haul any cheaper is if I stole my fuel, didn't make any more truck payments and didn't have any value for my time. I really would like your input. Thanks Ken
I feel for you man. I considered doing this for a while before leaving driving for good. There are a lot of competitors that are quoting fantasy rates that ruin it for the rest. Some guys jump in that are not business men, quote rates that have no basis in reality of a profit, then are surprised to find out that they are bankrupt. Meanwhile you can't catch a load for a reasonable margin. Thats just my 2 cents but do you think that is what is going on?
I think you have too many variables here to get an accurate answer. Like closed vs open hauler. Door to door pick-up and delivery? Major cities only or anywhere out in the country? Obviously there are some economics of scale-hauling more than one vehicle would cut the cost down because, if nothing else, you are dividing up the tolls and insurance costs for the same amount of driving time. Are you licensed and bonded or just helping out? It's about 2450 miles from LA to NYC. So at the government milage fee of 50 cents per mile (there's no "cents" sign on a computer keyboard!!) they'd pay you $1225 just to drive your car across the country. How much were you asking?
I use an open 20ft.trailer that has an 8500LB. winch my rates are door to door and I will help get the car where you want it at your location. I don't charge any more if it doesn't run or have flat tires. I am trying to do this to help fund my hot rod. I hear stories of people getting had by brokers taking months to deliver,but with me I am a one man show if I say it'll be there at a certain time I'll be there. and my rates are $1.50 per loaded mile and most times I'll do better than that.
<!-- / message --><!-- sig --> My math shows without a discount.. $3675. That ain't gonna fly on an open trailer in this economy. Even at 2500, you still would have little interest. The one car trailer won't work on coast to coast...it's impossible. I'd be looking for a niche market. Maybe stay closer to home, very short distance, but offer a super short waiting time, to get the guy who wants his car in one or two days max?? That guy would pay a premium.
I agree it would be hard to be competitive with a single car trailer, when it was a cross country haul. It would have to be done by someone that could make a few other hauls in that same trip to the spread out some of the cost. I would not worry about it, it is just not you niche. I would focus more on your local market.
Point of reference for you oldskool. This spring I paid $1200 to have a specialty vehicle enclosed transported 1500 miles (with $30K insurance). This was a multi car enclosed hauler. Tough to compete with scale.
I recently had a project car shipped from Florida to Oregon door to door. The guy in Florida gave me a couple websites that did shipping. I chose one and it was $1095. What I didn't know was this outfit is just a broker. A 70 foot open transporter picked up the car within a week of scheduling and it was at my home the next week. A young married couple manned the rig and helped my unload the car. I now know I really lucked out.
Yea, I didn't have any luck with the whole broker thing. That's not a knock on brokers....I actually had a very nice guy to deal with. It's just that it was weeks into the whole process and I still didn't have any firm date on when I'd get my car. Ended up using Reliable. That having been said, ditto on what people have already written. Using the carrier I used, they had a large (double decker, 'bout 10 cars maybe?) enclosed carrier. Hard to compete with that. Also, it's hard for a little guy to make a name for himself nationwide (maybe not impossible, but difficult). However more locally based, you get your name out as the go-to guy that can be counted on to safely transport and with quick turn around times, and then you got something. Also, on the short-haul routes your per mile rates aren't going to be as uncompetitive. Someone will pay an extra $50 on a short haul if they know the guy is reliable and can get it done tomorrow, but you extent that mileage differential cross-country, and then customers are going to look elsewhere. Anyway, good luck man!!
I used National Trucking to get my 29 ford coupe to me in Detroit from Los Angeles, Cali for 985.00 Took a little over a week for it to show up. Hope this helps.
Multi-car (2 or more) trailer, ask people to wait till you line up a similar return trip so you get paid for nearly every mile. That's how some haulers make it charging about $1600 per car coast to coast. BTW, tolls on E. Coast can be several hundred dollars total for a hauler.
Think about this How many miles of roads are there in the U.S.? Currently, there are 4.04 million miles of road in the United States, according to the Federal Highway Administration, including Alaska and Hawaii, but not Puerto Rico. The core of the nation's highway system is the 46,751 miles of Interstate Highways, which comprise just over one percent of highway mileage but carry one-quarter of all highway traffic. The Interstates plus another 116,948 miles of major roads comprise the National Highway System, which carries most of the highway freight and traffic in the U.S. Of the remaining 3.9 million miles of road, about 2.6 million miles are paved, which includes most roads in urban areas. However, 1.3 million miles or more than one-third of all road miles in the U.S. are still unpaved gravel or dirt roads. These are largely local roads or minor collectors in rural areas of the country. Transport is all about unloaded miles ...... Keeping unloaded miles to a minimum is the key to hauling Jim
$1.50 a loaded mile is a lot. The only way I see anyone paying that is to load/haul something that doesn't run/have wheels. Cars that can drive onto a hauler, or be rolled onto one with a wrecker, are the easiest hauls, but most carriers don't want to mess with stuff that can't be loaded easily, like cars with stuck wheels or cars that are taken apart. I got a hauling gig for a guy where I had to pull a truck out of the woods and onto my trailer with a winch, no wheels turning and no tires holding air. That was a job that no big hauler company would take. Those are the kind of jobs you should be looking for, you'll get more business from the people who can't get hauled by the big guys. But even with those jobs, I think $1 a loaded mile is more reasonable. Just make sure you have something coming and going, so you're never empty for very long.
Last year I Paid 800.00 to haul a full size station wagon from Long Island New York to LA California. I think it was an 8-9 car hauler. I flew out and picked it up 4 days later. A professional company with insurance. I could of got it a little cheaper if I waited for them to have an opening on the truck and just fill in the load.
OK Hold Down ALT and type in 0162 and let go, then the cents sign appears. Too damn much work-sign of the times-or, more accurately, the absence of a sign of the times. Now back to our topic---
Actually, it is kind of a sign of the times...¢¢¢ DON'T count for much any more. Don't know of anything you can buy for 1¢, or even 5¢, or even 25¢ any more. Interestingly, play around with your keyboard a little. As said above, hold down the "ALT" key while typing-in 155 to get the "¢" sign. Then try holding-down the "ALT" key and typing in all sorts of three number combinations. ╗, °, ╒, §, [, ♂, ◙,○,¥...all kinds of weird stuff on there. DD