Interesting site/write up about rv hauling

[haulin rv]

I found this over on the Cummins forum. I hope he doesn't mind the re-post. He did a nice write up and has some cool pictures to share check it out.

http://www.mark74.com/rvtransport.htm

[ColoradoRVHauler]

Nice article. Thanks for posting. The rest of his site is interesting too. It would be awesome to live in Moab.

Carey

[Roadmedic]

Interesting info.

I am glad to see he was able to get rid of some debt. However, he was probably lucky that there were no breakdowns during his period.

[ColoradoRVHauler]

lol I thought the same thing.

So far I have had some pretty big stuff. Ive gotten lucky and had enough saved each time. It sure sucks though. Saving for injectors now.

Carey

[Roadmedic]

lol I thought the same thing.

So far I have had some pretty big stuff. Ive gotten lucky and had enough saved each time. It sure sucks though. Saving for injectors now.

Carey


I got all 6 of mine for under 1900. Local mechanic changed for 400.00. Total just under 2300.

Time to head for Elkhart.

[ccoop769]

$400 is not a bad deal for labor at all for all 6 changed out. You should price shop better. I seen new and low mileage sets go for 80% cheap on other forums like cumminsforum, dodgetalk, dieselperformance and stuff. I can get me a brand new set of bosch injectors, not just the tips. never used for sometimes around 1300-1500 and 6.7 injectors are twice as much as 5.9s'. Sorry to be off topic but just letting you know you can do alot better on price if you hunt around a little bit. Also, injectors arent hard to change out, theres even diy stickies on the forums with detailed pics step by step. Injectors almost as easy as oil change. Thats if you didnt mind getting a little dirty with your hands. i know alot of drivers are just drivers, but i luv getting my hands dirty. especially with all the money you can save if your not out on the road, then typically you get raped. hehe. ive been price searching myself for a set of used injectors. I know my time is coming up, sooner or later. Better to be prepared then to get raped at last minute.

[ColoradoRVHauler]

I met a rv hauler the other day that bought a 2007 5.9 crashed hard in the front. He is parting it out. Has 4000 miles on it. He said he'd sell me the injectors for 1000. I dont know.. Wonder if a hard crash would hurt em? It broke the block behind the fan.

All that was savable was the head and turbo.

Still thinking about it.. Hate to waste a grand.

[h2oskibumz]

they can't be hurt in a crash. If they REALLY only had 4k on them, I say get them while you can.

[Brisco]

Interesting info.

I am glad to see he was able to get rid of some debt. However, he was probably lucky that there were no breakdowns during his period.

I agree, intersting read. Very simple and covers his experiences while was transporting RV's.

One thing I'd like to know is how much credit card debt did he pay off in 2 1/2 years time hauling RV's? I know it wasn't $25-$50,000 dollars worth. With Classic only paying .85-.90 cents or less a mile back in that time frame with no backhauls whatsoever, I'm taking a stab that it took him 2 1/2 years to pay off maybe $8,000. Not over $10,000, period. Hell, he could have paid those credit cards off a lot quicker and easier delivering pizza's part-time and keeping his full time job.

Not knacking his time on the road. He probably had experiences during his time on the road that he will never have again. Looking over his photo's, Classic stepped over the line placing that Triple axled 5th wheel Talon on the back of a SRW 2500. Those things have a dry weight of around 12-13K and are hell to control with a 3500 dually itself. I wouldn't have hooked up to that thing if I was in a SRW truck. 2500 or 3500.

Again, nice article, and paints somewhat of a picture of what RV transporting is all about, just not all of the "truths", period. Examples, No, not everyone will not pay off "high credit card" debt just by transporting RV's. No, it is not legal to sleep in your truck and just because he got away with all that time (or did he??) doesn't mean you will get away with it too. What were his maintenance costs that incurred with all those miles driven. If he wasn't paying off that, IMO, small amount of debt, would he have been able to save money whatsoever?? Just little stuff like that, know what I mean.

Haulin, post the link to the thread over at the Cummins forum about this. I'd like to see what all the yahoos (uninformed inbreds) are saying about his little article.

[Brisco]

they can't be hurt in a crash. If they REALLY only had 4k on them, I say get them while you can.

My thoughts too. Hell, even if 1 or 2 didn't survive the crash, you're still ahead of the game.

[haulin rv]

The time frame he did haul for Classic he was hauling out of Middlebury which was exclusive to Jayco, I was there at that time too and they were actually paying the most out of the big guys. We pretty much stayed comparable to JET without all the rules and crap those guys deal with. I know Classic no longer has an exclusive Jayco deal so they are back to somewhat lagging behind a bit in pay, but again they are the easiest company to work for.

[ColoradoRVHauler]

I just dont understand how guys cant make any money. I have paid over 12000 in lawyer fees for my son in just the last 6 months by hauling rvs for a living.

In my last 2 runs I put 3100 in my pocket. Thats 2 weeks work.... 3100 in the pocket. Yes I have to pay for my truck repairs out of that, but I just done a bunch of fixin and my truck is running good. I will make another 1500 this week.

Yes Brisco, I work 4 weeks and take home 6000. I have been making 27-3100 gross a week.

Whats so bad about that. There is no way in heck I could make this working as a company driver for a trucking company right now.

I cant really say why I make money at this and other guys dont. I do know I get up every morning and put my hours in. At the end of 7 days I have 1500 in my pocket. I do this 3-5 weeks straight. Go home and put 1000 bucks in the truck and pay the lawyer 2-3000.. been doing this for months.

Finally I about have her paid off. All I can say is my families constitutional rights were not honored. I am fighting for our rights and it looks like we are gonna win.

When it comes to principal in this would not enough are standing up for them. I dont care if all I have is my shirt on my back when Im done. I will put up a fight.

I aint saying no more bout that subject.. No, I didnt get a divorce.

I see that if you go and work at hauling rv';s you gonna make a darn good paycheck for a guy that does not have the money to go buy a bigger truck.. Im stuck being an employee if I aint doin this. Employees of any trucking company are just slaves to there truck. Done 20 years.

I love the heck out of this Brisco. I make actually great money at it compared to my past jobs.

Carey

[ccoop769]

I just dont understand how guys cant make any money. I have paid over 12000 in lawyer fees for my son in just the last 6 months by hauling rvs for a living.

In my last 2 runs I put 3100 in my pocket. Thats 2 weeks work.... 3100 in the pocket. Yes I have to pay for my truck repairs out of that, but I just done a bunch of fixin and my truck is running good. I will make another 1500 this week.

Yes Brisco, I work 4 weeks and take home 6000. I have been making 27-3100 gross a week.

Whats so bad about that. There is no way in heck I could make this working as a company driver for a trucking company right now.

I cant really say why I make money at this and other guys dont. I do know I get up every morning and put my hours in. At the end of 7 days I have 1500 in my pocket. I do this 3-5 weeks straight. Go home and put 1000 bucks in the truck and pay the lawyer 2-3000.. been doing this for months.

Finally I about have her paid off. All I can say is my families constitutional rights were not honored. I am fighting for our rights and it looks like we are gonna win.

When it comes to principal in this would not enough are standing up for them. I dont care if all I have is my shirt on my back when Im done. I will put up a fight.

I aint saying no more bout that subject.. No, I didnt get a divorce.

I see that if you go and work at hauling rv';s you gonna make a darn good paycheck for a guy that does not have the money to go buy a bigger truck.. Im stuck being an employee if I aint doin this. Employees of any trucking company are just slaves to there truck. Done 20 years.

I love the heck out of this Brisco. I make actually great money at it compared to my past jobs.

Carey

In order for you to gross $3000 in a week, dont you have to drive like 5500 miles in a week??? Thats alot of miles to drive in 1 week. Granted you guys have the easiest job in the world. Nobody's saying you cant make money in rv hauling. Its just a driving job that you really have to drive alot of miles to gross $3000 in a week. And to net 3000 in 2 weeks is not bad at all considering the economy. Granted your abusing your back driving 5500 miles each week, and thats alot of miles your putting on a truck. Not to mention your never home. Anybody can find a job that pays $800 -$1100. Crap, if I was a driver working for my wife, i would be making a constant 1100-1300 each week. and that would be only 3000 miles each week. But our jobs our rough, alot of bs along the way where rv haulers dont have that. Its a pick and choose game. Ive thought about it alot when I first started this business, about quitting auto hauling and doing rv hauling. Then my sense came back to me reading all of your guys stories and how much miles you drive. That is just insane. Not to mention to do that constantly. Kudos to you and all rv haulers for doing that. If anybody says rv haulers dont make money, dont listen to them. Everybody has different meanings of money, and all options have to be weighed out. For you your happy, thats what matters, for some other people, they would rather do different things. When im down in the dumps all stressed out, i think rv hauling, but then i think of the big pay cut and all the extra miles I have to drive. But I would be alot let stressed and dont have the extra bagge that I have to worry about now. Cheers

[mark1974]

I found this over on the Cummins forum. I hope he doesn't mind the re-post. He did a nice write up and has some cool pictures to share check it out.

http://www.mark74.com/rvtransport.htm

No problem on the link re-post, it's there to be seen. I registered here just to set some things straight. I paid off about 30k in debt during the 2.5 years I drove. At the time I was getting 1dpm+ depending on fuel prices. It went a few cents under 1 dollar a few times but the vast majority of the time it was over 1 dollar. No doubt you can't get rich moving RV's but it did what I needed it to do and that's all that counts and I still have a solid truck at the end with 404k miles on the clock now. Yes sleeping in my truck was risky I suppose but I never was bothered by anyone over it (truck stops only, no rest areas). Probably the vast majority of drivers do it but that's just a guess. Below is a list of things that helped make it possible for me to pay off the debt.

no house
no family
truck payments ended in early 2006
one main meal per day
minimal motels
a simple and reliable truck (12 valve Cummins mechanical fuel system)
doing 100% of repairs myself
no idling at night (except maybe 3 times)

If the pay was anything significantly under 1dpm I agree it would not be worth the effort. Even at 1dpm it would be difficult to do for an extended time if you planned on updating the truck periodically and still make money.

The Talon toy hauler pictured on the site was about 10k. The heaviest I ever took was a Designer at about 12k and I agree that's a bit big for a 2500 SRW. I took what I could get and still be legally under 26k GCWR since I don't have a CDL (most were not this big). I tried to take loads that took me near home as must as I could since I live so far away. There were also times I had to wait in line so I couldn't always be picky. I'm very thankful that I made it through without an accident or a major mechanical failure to leave me stranded far from home. I made plenty of repairs but I was able to make it home for most of them and the two I did on the road were also done by me and didn't require a tow.

[Roadmedic]

$400 is not a bad deal for labor at all for all 6 changed out. You should price shop better. I seen new and low mileage sets go for 80% cheap on other forums like cumminsforum, dodgetalk, dieselperformance and stuff. I can get me a brand new set of bosch injectors, not just the tips. never used for sometimes around 1300-1500 and 6.7 injectors are twice as much as 5.9s'. Sorry to be off topic but just letting you know you can do alot better on price if you hunt around a little bit. Also, injectors arent hard to change out, theres even diy stickies on the forums with detailed pics step by step. Injectors almost as easy as oil change. Thats if you didnt mind getting a little dirty with your hands. i know alot of drivers are just drivers, but i luv getting my hands dirty. especially with all the money you can save if your not out on the road, then typically you get raped. hehe. ive been price searching myself for a set of used injectors. I know my time is coming up, sooner or later. Better to be prepared then to get raped at last minute.

I did price shop. These were for brand new. Price was about 1800 plus tax.

The mechanic would have done for 300, but he had a problem with the last injector due to the way Dodge had installed the tranny when it failed.

I did not do the injectors because it was the first time I had seen them and I was going to be shuttling to St. Louis and back with the old injectors.

[haulin rv]

Welcome to the forum Mark, hope you hang out and enjoy it.

[Roadmedic]

I just dont understand how guys cant make any money. I have paid over 12000 in lawyer fees for my son in just the last 6 months by hauling rvs for a living.

In my last 2 runs I put 3100 in my pocket. Thats 2 weeks work.... 3100 in the pocket. Yes I have to pay for my truck repairs out of that, but I just done a bunch of fixin and my truck is running good. I will make another 1500 this week.

Yes Brisco, I work 4 weeks and take home 6000. I have been making 27-3100 gross a week.

Whats so bad about that. There is no way in heck I could make this working as a company driver for a trucking company right now.

I cant really say why I make money at this and other guys dont. I do know I get up every morning and put my hours in. At the end of 7 days I have 1500 in my pocket. I do this 3-5 weeks straight. Go home and put 1000 bucks in the truck and pay the lawyer 2-3000.. been doing this for months.

Finally I about have her paid off. All I can say is my families constitutional rights were not honored. I am fighting for our rights and it looks like we are gonna win.

When it comes to principal in this would not enough are standing up for them. I dont care if all I have is my shirt on my back when Im done. I will put up a fight.

I aint saying no more bout that subject.. No, I didnt get a divorce.

I see that if you go and work at hauling rv';s you gonna make a darn good paycheck for a guy that does not have the money to go buy a bigger truck.. Im stuck being an employee if I aint doin this. Employees of any trucking company are just slaves to there truck. Done 20 years.

I love the heck out of this Brisco. I make actually great money at it compared to my past jobs.

Carey

I make just about the same take home you do each week. In addtion, I have 10% taken out of for my maintenance fund. I try to do the maintenance as much as possible by myself. My truck is far from paid off.

When I work as a company driver, I am lucky to have 450 to 500 a week. This is after leaving on a Sunday and coming home Friday night. No one breathing down my neck.

I owned a 2000 Freightliner in 2000. The cost of maintaining it to what was made was tight. I will take the little truck anytime.

The DOT in some states is what is stupid.

[ColoradoRVHauler]

I live in Southern Colorado, which is sorta like Moab. Few good jobs, and cost of living is extreme. Your house prices in the east are 1/2 what ours are.

By the way, welcome Mark. Hope to see your posts here.

Anyway. trucking jobs dont pay very well. My best job I ever had was a local cement hauling job. My shift was 3am to 3pm. For that I made 230 bucks. 2 trips to denver up I25 each day. Seen about 800 car wrecks a year, and around 15 deaths just on my shift. I had extreme stress because I was in haevy traffic and still had to turn out 500 miles each day. So I would gross 1150 per week. That was a top paying job in Colorado. The stress equalled it. Anyway got laid off Dec 2007.... Whos using cement. Its still terrible. The company I was working for is all but out of biz..

My OTR trucking Jobs paid around 25% of gross. I would take home after taxes around 600-700 a week. My cement job I took home 750-800 a week. I can make that real easy here.

I have always drove 4000-4500 miles a week in trucking. I do the same here. Since I live in the west I had to drive more miles. Things are much further apart.

My rv trips are 2000-2400 miles, so I drive 4000-4800 miles per week hauling rvs. For that I net 1500 and pay no taxes.

Trucking jobs in the west pay less than they do in the east.

So....... Whats the difference.

When I trucked OTR I was home 1 day a week if I was lucky. All the companies stuck to the 1 day off for every 7 days on.

I am out this much right now because I am paying a bill off. Under normal circumstances I do one NW then one SW, then go home for 4-7 days.

So for me and where I live I am making double the pay for the same miles. When I go home, I spend 2-4 days puttering with the truck and take 2-3 totally off. I get the same actual time off as I did in trucking. Except Im not tired. In trucking Id get home sat morning after driving all night then would be back out on sunday aftnoon for a monday delivery.

My local job I was home 3pm to 3am. But I wasnt really home cause I had to be in bed by 8pm. It sucked. Tired all the time. Then on the weekends I was still tired.

Yes money is different for everyone. I never drive more than 5000 miles a week hauling rvs. I always drove 4000 miles a week trucking but was tired and stressed out.

For me, Im a lifer RV hauler till I dont know when..

Carey

[ccoop769]

Wow, you say your otr trucking jobs paid 25% and you made 600 per week driving avg 4500 miles in a week. Wonder how the company even stayed afloat unless they were paying you 25% of the net income they made which sounds more realistic from the numbers you gave. Gosh, you like driving 4500 miles per week, wish you could come drive for me. I pay u a less precentage and you would net more then driving your truck as a rv hauler. Wish more guys like you were around me. I have to hire sticky fingers to get the job done. Seems like everybody wants a paycheck, but dont wanna drive more then 300-400 miles a day. But i write down specificcally on the job posting must drive 600-700 miles per day. Granted not everyday can be like that in car hauling, but still. Rather have a theif working for me that can put in the miles and get the job done then a honest person only doing 300-400 miles a day. Now how sad is that..... In the end, if I can just find a driver to put 3000 miles a week I would be happy. To find a driver to do 4000 miles a week, I would be estatic.

[Roadmedic]

No problem on the link re-post, it's there to be seen. I registered here just to set some things straight. I paid off about 30k in debt during the 2.5 years I drove. At the time I was getting 1dpm+ depending on fuel prices. It went a few cents under 1 dollar a few times but the vast majority of the time it was over 1 dollar. No doubt you can't get rich moving RV's but it did what I needed it to do and that's all that counts and I still have a solid truck at the end with 404k miles on the clock now. Yes sleeping in my truck was risky I suppose but I never was bothered by anyone over it (truck stops only, no rest areas). Probably the vast majority of drivers do it but that's just a guess. Below is a list of things that helped make it possible for me to pay off the debt.

no house
no family
truck payments ended in early 2006
one main meal per day
minimal motels
a simple and reliable truck (12 valve Cummins mechanical fuel system)
doing 100% of repairs myself
no idling at night (except maybe 3 times)

If the pay was anything significantly under 1dpm I agree it would not be worth the effort. Even at 1dpm it would be difficult to do for an extended time if you planned on updating the truck periodically and still make money.

The Talon toy hauler pictured on the site was about 10k. The heaviest I ever took was a Designer at about 12k and I agree that's a bit big for a 2500 SRW. I took what I could get and still be legally under 26k GCWR since I don't have a CDL (most were not this big). I tried to take loads that took me near home as must as I could since I live so far away. There were also times I had to wait in line so I couldn't always be picky. I'm very thankful that I made it through without an accident or a major mechanical failure to leave me stranded far from home. I made plenty of repairs but I was able to make it home for most of them and the two I did on the road were also done by me and didn't require a tow.

I have a house paid for.
I have a wife, life sentence to pay for.

I have been doing the RV thing since October 2003.

I have lost one motor in the Ford 2002 and 1 tranny.

In my Dodge, I have only done 1 tranny. It has 436,000 on it. I run hard like ColoradoRvHauler does.

I leave the house, it is to work. I work to make the 1200 a week to the truck. As an accountant, in a prior life, paying no tax is no problem.

No stress compared to working for someone.

Welcome to the forum and hope to hear more of your stories. I have been to many of the towns you delivered to.

[mark1974]

Thanks for the welcome guys. It's interesting reading and brings back a lot of memories. I just posted a couple stories over on this thread: http://www.autoexpeditor.com/showthread.php?t=243&page=3

[Roadmedic]

That is the joy of this job. It is one of the reasons that for the most part, I run with someone in Canada.

I will have to post some of my stories. After all, 7 years, I should have some.:)

[ColoradoRVHauler]

Wow, you say your otr trucking jobs paid 25% and you made 600 per week driving avg 4500 miles in a week. Wonder how the company even stayed afloat unless they were paying you 25% of the net income they made which sounds more realistic from the numbers you gave. Gosh, you like driving 4500 miles per week, wish you could come drive for me. I pay u a less precentage and you would net more then driving your truck as a rv hauler. Wish more guys like you were around me. I have to hire sticky fingers to get the job done. Seems like everybody wants a paycheck, but dont wanna drive more then 300-400 miles a day. But i write down specificcally on the job posting must drive 600-700 miles per day. Granted not everyday can be like that in car hauling, but still. Rather have a theif working for me that can put in the miles and get the job done then a honest person only doing 300-400 miles a day. Now how sad is that..... In the end, if I can just find a driver to put 3000 miles a week I would be happy. To find a driver to do 4000 miles a week, I would be estatic.


Well 4500 includes avg 500 miles dead head for a week. So 4000 miles, and the truck avgd 1.00 per mile. So I made 1000 bucks at the most. Take out 250 for taxes and I got 750 left.

Average week would be 4000 miles, 500 dead head. 3500 gross so I made 875. That put right about 600 or so in my pocket.

Yes this was back in the 90's.

Still today aint much better. A truck makes avg 1.10 a mile not including surcharges. Drivers get no part of the surcharge. Only base pay to the truck.

I never have understood why people think one gets rich in trucking. You dont... You survive, thats it. beeen that way for decades.

I have been poor my whole life. If I am able to get a fat paycheck I will run till I see grandmas in the highway.

In the 90's I spent a year hauling meat.

Here was the run.. Every week. I had a 600 cat 18 speed 336 geared black and chrome w900 studio. 260 wheelbase, 120 lights on the truck, 200 on the trailer.

Leave my house 2 am monday, in dodge city by 9 am.. Out of there by noon.

Deliver at the port of Miami wed morn 5 am. Have hatians unload my meat on a boat. Move to the next boat, get loaded with veggies from south america. Leave the port of miami at 3 pm.

Deliver at king soopers, denver on fri at 8pm.

5000 miles in 5 days.

The truck would run 130mph. I would do all of that every week thru parts of Fla and tx. Would run will the bull haulers most every night.

Done this for a year. I was 26 yrs old. It injured me.. It was the most grueling run I have ever done. Made 1100 a week gross.

At one company I set the monthly record most every month. 22500 to 24000 paid miles each month.

I hauled onions from bakersfield to NYC and Boston. Would spend 4 mos a year doing this. Honey bees for 4 mos and steel for 4 mos. We also was part of the hard telephone line removal accross the west. It was a nuke proof line put in, in the 50's and 60's. Was shielded in lead. After fiber optics the epa wanted this out of the ground. We hauled the scrap cable to Cuba, Mo. I done northern Nevada and Northern Cali. We had about 50 trucks dedicated to this each summer. Would do overnights from Cali to Mo. Haul oak hardwood back to Cali. Would turn 1 and 1/2 trips a week. Stupid!

Hauling rvs is a piece of cake. I avg 750 or so miles everyday, sometimes more. When it snows and the wind is blowin I have never been more scared in my life. A pickup with an rv is the most scariest rig on the road in bad weather. So its no chocolate cake, but its still chocolate coated cake.

I have chased the buck my whole life.... Im with medic. I get to do as I please. No efin warehouses, lumpers, lot lizards. guns pointed at me, etc etc.. No more having to go deep into ugly cities at 3am for a delivery. I could write stories all night about some of the crazy places I have barely gotten myself out of.

Boy rv haulin sounds even better now... I dont like being gone 5 weeks. So I just put into my head I get paid double what a poor trucker makes. This drives me. This has worked for 6 months. We about got our lil lady lawyer paid off.. 3000 more. The final court date is aug 9th.

Maybe I can get back to saving my 10% too here soon. Been trying to keep 1000 or so back for the truck. Have C cards.. Luckilly I havenet had to use em yet. I have just had enough cash to fix the truck everytime in the last 6 mos. I know I will get burned soon if this continues.

Prioritiy was getting her paid. will be 15000 or so is what it looks like when this is all done. Used parts have saved my butt...

Carey

[haulin rv]

What I miss is the simplicity. Call get trailer. Pick up trailer (get 50% advance). Deliver trailer (get paid). Pull signs run back. Do over. No brokers, no 30 day pay. Oh and the less work was a plus too.

Now cars do have a plus too, less miles more money, but also that brings more work and headache too. Ahh crap now I'm confused...:confused::p:D:confused:.

[ColoradoRVHauler]

Here is what Im hauling this week. I havent hauled one of these since about last december, so I figured Id give in.. Its about a long dude. Weighs prolly 14000 or so. Has a 18000 gvwr. Ive hauled several that had 21000 gvwr. Will have to put my truckin cap back on this week. Going to pasco, wa.

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj224/HitchHog/IMG_2299.jpg

[ColoradoRVHauler]

What I miss is the simplicity. Call get trailer. Pick up trailer (get 50% advance). Deliver trailer (get paid). Pull signs run back. Do over. No brokers, no 30 day pay. Oh and the less work was a plus too.

Now cars do have a plus too, less miles more money, but also that brings more work and headache too. Ahh crap now I'm confused...:confused::p:D:confused:.

lol.. Theres no winner haulin.. Its all work, just different ways to slice it.

[cosgo]

Damn... i thought ive had hard times... ill just shut up and haul my vans now... LOL

[h2oskibumz]

Cosgo: I saw your truck (FL and lowboy) last friday morning around 9:30 or 10 AM on 355... Army Trail plaza I think. I had been chasing you for miles and wasn't going to catch up... You had 2 black high top conversion vans on board. When you went in the toll plaza I ended up in front (I use Ipass).

I had a smashed Honda, a 68 Puma (Brazil) and an 87 or so Tbird that had been turned into kit car of a 1929 Mercedes...

[cosgo]

It was one of my drivers. snagged that load out of Elkhart. was a hell of a week. the previous 2 weeks were mediocre at best, that load that you saw on there finished a $5k run to new jersey and back in under 3 days. I wish every week was like that one. we took 3 sprinters to Jersey, dropped and reloaded 2 bigger sprinters (same dealership), dropped in elkhart and reloaded those 2 vans to elk grove villiage. all super easy and quick.

[h2oskibumz]

LOL, nice! We're going to have to start a "Member sightings" thread, complete with Paparazi style spy pics...

Sorry, I'm a goof this morning!

[cosgo]

im down for that... i think its fun to spot other guys. keeps the days going by quickly

[Brisco]

Cool..........

Mark showed up to "set some things straight".

Yeah..........OK. :p

Guess my assumptions made an assumption out of me, Huh?

Nah, really, I think it's pretty cool we have another "experienced" RV Hauler here to share his experiences.

One thing you'll learn to do here Mark is to ignore my cynical rants I go on at times, OK. Over time you might just come out and say "just shut up", of which I will deserve and ask for. :D

I have a huge LOVE for hauling RV's, and a huge HATE for hauling RV's. The Love feeling comes from Yes, it is probably the easiest "OTR" gig one could ever have in the trucking industry. The hatred comes from the poor $$$ per mile rate that is offered and what all is expected to run OTR "legally" for that rate.

Sure, you got Super Carey there (haha) that's making decent money, but like I've said many times on other boards we follow each other on, he's one of the exceptions. People that get into hauling RV's for the first time just cannot live the life Carey lives while on the road unless they have a similar background in the trucking industry as Carey has had.

Me, personally, I cannot sleep in a truck, period. I will not do business at Truck Stops unless I'm loaded with a trailer and needing fuel or have to use my Comdata Card when not loaded. I will never ever sit my ash on a truck stop/rest area toilet seat, nor will I ever ever use a truck stop shower. I do not mind sitting behind the wheel of a truck for 11 straight hours, but when that time is up, I want to be away from that truck in a comfortable setting to get the "True" rest that is needed to sit behind the wheel for another 11 hours the next day. I just cannot live the lifestyle of a "Truck Driver", it's not in me.

Could I have made better money when I was running RV's if I didn't keep "regular" hours and ran my ash into the ground doing the "Truckers" life? (IE- run 11 hours starting at 6AM-off road at 5PM-take my 10 hour break-back on road at 3AM-run full 11 getting off road at 2PM-take my 10 hour break-back on road at 12AM midnight-run full 11 getting off road at 11AM- so on so on so on) Sure.

Could I have made better money when I was running RV's if I didn't stay at a Super 8 or Motel 6 every night at a cost of anywhere between $30-$40-$50? (Instead of being cramped up sleeping in the back of a 6ftX3ft area in a pick-up truck-no CLEAN toilet or shower nearby-no luxuries-people walking less that 2 feet from where your pillow is-trying to change into comfortable sleeping wear-having to walk into a public arena for that first morning pee and cup of coffee-so on so on so on) Sure.

Those are just 2 examples..............many more come to mind though. (Eating at Truck Stops - we're not even going there)

Nah, I've admitted it before, I'm a "Wuss" when it comes to life on the road. But, I learned that I'm not alone out there. A lot of people would make a career out of Hauling RV's if the pay justified the way of life one is expected to live while on the road. I mean, all they (the RV transport co's) ask (require) one to have to haul RV's is either a 2500 or 3500 "PICKUP" truck and some common sense. These RV Transport companies know full well one cannot live comfortably to be able to continue to drive "safely" (get proper rest) while LIVING in a pickup truck. They also know it is very ILLEGAL to be in that truck during your 10 hour MANDATED rest break. But yet they don't offer enough pay to both cover all expenses required to deliver those trailers AND to accomodate proper lodging while you are on your 10 break.

I ran for 3 different companies while I was out there. The first one was a big mistake. (RAD) Not going to say anything about that POS company. Second one was Hoosier. Great Company. Drove for Ms Sammi during the Katrina fiasco. You may have seen my truck. It was the Silver 2004 Dodge Dually with the Black and Chrome Capri Camper on it pulling the FEMA trailers down 65 towards the Gulf Coast. Great Gig that was. Would leave Bristol 5-6AM, deliver trailer to either the Purvis FEMA yard or to this Poplarville Dealership down 55 around 7-8PM. Climb into camper, watch TV, stretch out and relax, sleep til 5AM or so, get up, use shower trailer there at the Purvis yard or in the dealerships double-wide they had on their lot(the dealer even let me hook up my shore power to their electrical outlets) and then take off back to Bristol. Same routine there at Hoosier. Hook up to trailer, park right outside building, use their electrical outlets, get up 5AM or so, use their shower in the basement, (my toilet in my camper-haha), take off south again. I was averaging a trailer delivery every other day. Made decent money, but then again, NO DOT regs when it came to logging or anything. Government said "Get 'Em there", so we did.

Then I ran into a bunch of FEMA drivers themselves (the guys in the FEMA Ford F350's all the RV Haulers hated) and worked my way into driving one of those trucks for a few months there in Selma, Alabama. When that ended I went to drive for Quality. Another Great Company. But, 4-5 months into that diesel started hitting $3.50 plus a gallon, and when it started costing me $60 instead of $45, then $85 instead of $60, then $110 instead of $85 to fill my fuel tank and my mileage pay only went from $1.05-$1.10 to $1.15-$1.18 a mile, I knew it was time to park my truck. Not only did I park that $45K 2007 Dodge Dually that I paid $33,9K for 6 months earlier, I also sold it about a month later for over $38K.

Haven't looked back yet, but I do miss it at times.

So, I guess what I'm trying to get at for others who are lurking here and are thinking about giving RV hauling a try, there's really 2 sides to the "Is there money to be made" question. People can boast about $1500 a week take home pay, but they need to outline exactly what they did that week to make that money. How may hours did they put in? How many miles did they actually drive? (Loaded & Unloaded-TOTAL) Where did they take their 10 hour break and how was their sleeping arrangements? Did they go 2-3-4 days without showering? (Many Do) It's a rough life if you plan on "LIVING" in your truck the whole time you're out.

My days went like this (I'll make this short). Say I'm up in Elkhart, OK. Load trailer in the afternoon at dispatch yard. Go stay at the Super 8 for the night. (You have to BS with Auggie while you're there) Had a decent meal at the Chinese place in back. Planned out next days route. Relax, watch TV, run the AC/Heat, slept in a real bed. Set alarm for 5AM, got up, used clean toilet, took shower in clean bathroom, made my own coffee there in my own room. Was outside around 5:45 getting truck warmed up and doing pre-trip. On road no later than 6-6:15AM. Ran my full 11. Pop-Tarts/Banana/Granola Bars/Apple Juice (free at most Super 8's) for breakfast while driving - made quick sandwich for lunch at rest area somewhere down the road. Back off road no later than 5-6PM. Same routine as above. Some nights I had a good 12-13 hour break, which IMO, is much better than just taking 10 hours off. 4-5 hours of "Relaxing" and then a good 8 hour sleep time is much better than parking truck and jumping into the back seat (illegally) of a pickup truck to get rest as required by DOT regs.

With my routine I was bringing in maybe $500-$600-$700 a week. Could it have been in the $1000 range if I wasn't averaging $280-$320 a week in lodging expenses? Maybe. But that was my choice for my comfort, security, and well being. But one also has to take into consideration the toll on the truck too. You will sacrifice a truck doing this whether you plan on living in your truck to try to make $1000 a week, or if you "Hotel" it every night. That is one aspect that will not change. If you plan on running RV's full time or for a living, your truck will have over 100K miles easily within the first year and will possibly have Zero value to it within the second year, unless you find that "right" buyer that is looking for a 2 year old 200K++ mile truck for 1/3 of the price of a new truck.

Will I ever get back into Hauling RVs?? Singles - No Way In Hell. Running 2 at time with a Haul & Tow? Yes, someday. Just not now. Life is going in another direction. Will talk about it later.

Again, Welcome Mark. Post more stories about your experiences on the road, OK.

[haulin rv]

Sounds like you needed a ToterHome to be comfortable:p

[Brisco]

Sounds like you needed a ToterHome to be comfortable:p

Yes!! Now if I could get $2.50+ a mile hauling RV's, I'd go get me a Toterhome tomorrow and be back in Indiana by Monday. But, we both know that's not going to happen................:D

(Me getting a Toterhome - possibly easily done. Having a transport company offer $2.50 a mile, well, Obawa actually admitting/confessing he does have socialist/communist agenda for Americas future would probably come to light first)

I asked for the link over at the cumminsforum where you found mark's story at. You never supplied it. I had to go find it myself.

http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/towing-hauling/245686-rv-hauling-commercially.html

This is why I quit posting on "Truck Enthusiast" boards a long time ago. (Plus, I got tired of continously getting banned for speaking the truth while trying to teach the uninformed inbreds the ins and outs of trucking with their "diesel" pickup trucks:D)

Question from one member:

??? is if you run from IN to CA on a log book, can you run back empty as off duty
how does this work as far as driveing empty back ???

Answer from another member:

no trailer, no need for log book

Yeah, now I know why you didn't provide the link. You didn't want me over there stirring up trouble. (HaHa) Not too worry, I quit that board a long long long time ago. Aint worth it, know what I mean.................

[haulin rv]

I met a guy doing singles at the Marathon in LaPort he had a Pony Xpress 5500 Chevy toterhome he was running with his wife. He said he got 9 loaded and maybe 11 if he was lucky unloaded. That coupled with the payment on a 115k truck he had to be FLAT broke and eating beans and rice to survive.

[ColoradoRVHauler]

Yea but he sure looked good.. Thats priceless to many guys.

Carey

[Roadmedic]

Here is what Im hauling this week. I havent hauled one of these since about last december, so I figured Id give in.. Its about a long dude. Weighs prolly 14000 or so. Has a 18000 gvwr. Ive hauled several that had 21000 gvwr. Will have to put my truckin cap back on this week. Going to pasco, wa.

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj224/HitchHog/IMG_2299.jpg


You are making me feel bad with this one.

I had a biggie to take to Saskatoon Monday. It turned out to need a 2 inch ball, 23 feet long and 4600 lbs.

[ColoradoRVHauler]

lol.. I get those too. Just every now and then I gotta do a big one to keep my trucking skills sharp.

Anyway that baby is history. Delivered it today.

Already got one going to Portland, Or. again. 4th trip in a row to the NW. Love it.

Carey

[haulin rv]

If you get another one of those you could always take the short route via my driveway...

[ColoradoRVHauler]

lol Man no kiddin. Wouldnt it be cool to have the bucks to have one of those dudes. They are sweet rigs thats for sure!

Carey