Well I have been busy . I got called Monday at 11:30 Am by Copart asking if I was ready to start . I said give me 20 minutes to pack and do a
pretrip and I will be on my way. They faxed 6 cars for my first day. I didn't get all 6 but got the ones that were in storage. The others were
at residents and have no outstanding fee so they said get them pretty much anytime within reason . My first stop was a tow company, I had to wait for awhile then had to push the cars (2)about half a block but they helped. I got the next car at a ford dealership and towed it on the wheellift. I made it to copart about 7 pm mainly due to the wait at the tow company. I met another hauler there who insisted on showing me how to do everything. Don't get me wrong I was glad for the help but he kept me tied up for about an hour. I had one to pick up at Copart and deliver this am in Bowling green . I delivered it this morn and then picked up three more . One car held me up a bit . I called to get directions and was told I must be there by 2:30 , I said fine , no problem although the
pickup order said they accepted pickups from 8:30 till 4:30 . Also they said that I would have to wait till 10:45 to get it because the man that ran this place was out. I waited and then called , this time I was told to wait till 11:30 . So I waited but got there at 11:15 .There was a guy there from Adessa auction in Knoxville Tn . He too was waiting and told me this was normal for this place. Finally I got loaded at 12:00 then went to two more places and got cars. I made it to Copart at 3:30 . I unloaded and got loads for tomorrow . Two cars are 30 miles from my house,and 5 more in bowling Green . It has been hectic but I am really glad to be working . I got a good dose of winter driving while coming home tonight. We got a small snow ,sleet storm and the roads were covered so I had to take it easy getting home. I need to work smarter. I spent way too much time arranging the cars and securing them . Securing them I know is vital . I need to purchase some ratchet type straps . This would sure make it easier I believe. The chains with the j hooks and T hooks are sometimes a pain . I have seen some straps on ebay that are made for rollbacks , I think I will check that out. Then again I can go to lowes and get 2" ratchet straps for a good price.

 

Good for you Darin...do you have an idea what each car paid you??

 

Well it is like this, I was first told 77.00 from Bowling Green. After I got hooked up ED said I would get better , and mentioned that I was going to get one of the top rates he had ever seen while there . Also I am suppose to get a fuel surcharge. It has been so hectic that I have not had a chance to talk to them about this . I will get more info today.

 

A lot of enclosed car haulers use E-track and use the over-the-wheel straps (the straps have rubber cleats on them that have ridges to dig into the tire tread to help keep them from slipping off). It's not as secure as hard ties, but it's easier on the car.

Is this your first time hauling cars?

 

Darin I have been checking in looking for an update from you, glad to see that they have got you going and seems like they have plenty of work for you. After reading your posts I got curious and looked up Copart and found that there are several locations here in Southern CA. Please update regularly this may be something I want try, dump trucks are stone dead right now and the future looks slow, time for a change. Good luck and hang in there!

 

Yup, same here Darin, GOOD FOR YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

We made 2 runs from Illinois to Denver this week....Paid $2.77 a mile out with surcharge and hauled back 3 cars from Copart for local rebuilders and we charged them $325 a car to bring them back to Iowa. Had to deadhead Iowa to Illinois.

We are setup to do it again next week and see what happens. Fuel is $3.80 in Nebraska which hurts.

I'm helping a friend who dove in over his head right out of school last year. Bought a truck and trailer and got his authority and started losing money.

I helping him for FREE and he buys the meals LOL and I get some driving experience.

The truck grossed about $6300 this week and he was playing with the calculator when I left tonight.

 

If you don't mind me asking what kind of a car hauler are you useing ??? Is it a class 8 truck n trailer or some-thing smaller ???

 

We are using a 48' flatbed trailer. It's a big truck but there are some guys from here running the same thing with a "Hot Shot"

 

Is that long enough or are you stacking cars? How are you getting the cars on the trailer? (ramp, forklift,etc.)