Pilot Car operations

[tbc27143]

I have thought about going into the pilot car ops, oversize load escort, or whatever they may be called.

What info can you guys shed on this subject? Does it pay decent? How much work is there?

[haulin rv]

Maybe Coop could help, he may need one for his next boat move.. JK

But really since we are primarily a car hauling group with some hot shot and rv haulers there isn't much pilot car need or know how here.

[littlejoe]

I have thought about going into the pilot car ops, oversize load escort, or whatever they may be called.

What info can you guys shed on this subject? Does it pay decent? How much work is there?


3 words of advice: DONT DO IT!!!

I thought I could make money by doing this full time and damn near ended up BANKRUPT!!!!!

besides if you dont mind waiting 30-45 days to get paid thass ok!!!!

just my knowledge shared

Joe

[Tosch88]

I ran my own Pilot cars with my trucks for several years. We ran mostly the eastern half of the U.S. so that is all I can comment on. The pay is anywhere from $1.25 cpm to $1.75 cpm depending on the job. There are 3 states that I'm aware of that require you to be certified. NY is just a written test taken at specified DMV offices. NY certification will also work for the FL piloting. FL has you go to a class & then test (they have been trying to change the certification process in FL so you would have to take the classes there to be certified in Fl). Utah is a state specific, meaning you must get certified there also (I never did but looked into it for a job). If you set your pilot vehicle up to NY & FL standards you will be good in the rest of the states. Certain states require you to have liability for piloting (which is a good idea anyway). A good CB, Height Pole, Weighted Flag, Safety Helmet, Safety Vest with certification patches, Class 2 42" 4 mirror light bar, stop/slow sign, safety triangles, fire ext. etc. Can you stay busy? If you get in with the right Trucking Company, its no different then any business when it comes to customers. Seems like TX would be a decent place with all the oil stuff down there. Lots of windmill projects going that demands escorts too. We specialized in OS pools, which used to be a great market until the economy crapped out but they still sell them. I would set-up a dodge sprinter with the diesel in it if I were doing it. 30 plus mpg, build a nice little camper inside with insulation, gen., rooftop a/c & heat. Of course that's if you doing it for long hauls. I don't know it all about the escorts but seems that you could make a decent buck if you were a driver but plan on dead heading a good bit.

[Brisco]

Didn't we talk about Pilot Cars on another board within the last year or 2?? (which board though - can't remember!!)

How about a company offering OD Permit filing Services along with their Pilot Car Services?? Independent Truckers could call one company that will file all their permits for their OD/OS loads and then that same company would also lead them down the road with their Pilot Cars. Would that be allowed?

I like the "Van" idea. Not to crazy about the Sprinter idea though. 30 MPG is stretching it a little, maybe 22 MPG. But, that savings in fuel is taken away by the HIGH as hell maintenance costs they require. Maybe a good Ford Extended E250 with the 5.4 Triton. Many Expeditors are getting 500K miles easily with low maintenance costs. Set that thing up with 2 bunks for the drivers. Low overhead there for lodging and such.

Getting the itch to get back on the road there tbc???

[Tosch88]

My good friend runs a fleet of Sprinters & has had good luck with them. His fleet avg is 23 mpg city\hwy mix. I would expect hwy mileage to be in the 26 to 27 range driving the speed limits. Keep in mind piloting the big loads your travel speeds are much slower. My 3 pilot vehicles normally avg. 2 to 3 mpg better piloting than hwy mileage. This is just my exp. with over 200k of escort miles. I would spec the van to my needs.

[tbc27143]

Perhaps I am getting the itch but right now just looking for info. Not sure what I am going to do.

[haulin rv]

My bad, didn't think anyone here ventured in that world.

My thought would be for regional use a diesel VW, and maybe even the same for a "thrifty" guy running more since no logs or rules really apply and a pretty decent size bed could be put in lets say a Jetta wagon. And at what 50 mpg....

[bayou hotshot]

I use them all the time and thay ant sheap sometimes thay make as much as i do of the load. A local load is $250 and thats for 3 hours over that is a $100 a hour. I did a 17ft wide load to north west houston 140 mile run had to have 2 of them it took to 4pm cant move untill 9am so for two of them 9am to 4pm the check i cut them was $1,300 i did the load for $1,200 so thay get me almost every time i use them.
In LA you have to use LTI thay charge me $150 a hour
I B/S with them all the time most i talk to thay went to school for it. Next time i have to get one im going to call ACME thay told me $175 for a local the other day so next time im going to try them

[tbc27143]

I think some trucking co.'s require logs on the pilot cars too, maybe wrong, but could swear someone in a permit office told me that.

The competition you would have getting into the pilot car thing is all the retiring over size o/o's & co. drivers alike who have been doing it for years already.

Your best bet or anyone's in that regard would be to find a company that is hiring pilot car drivers, that way you know the deal & are not out any investment capital. Saw an ad for one down south somewhere paying $40k a year with benefits & drive their vehicle/use their equipment.

I would like to find someone to hire on with so I don't have the layout for setting up the vehicle and insurance, etc..