I've been trucking since Nov.79, the best rates that I have gotten have been doing hazmat tanker, and i've done flat,van,refer,hhg........
But that's just my experience.

 

Actually, there is one thing that has been overlooked... enclosed auto transport. We used to pull Lamborghinis and Lotuses all day long out of the San Diego port for over $1 per mile per car. You can fit eight Lotuses in a standard enclosed transport or six Lambos. The private stuff doesn’t always average that, but if you are careful and good at loading your trailer, you can easily average $4 - $5 a mile. Of course to pull a full load of Murcielagos you need $3,000,000 in cargo coverage, so you're looking at serious insurance money, and of course you're looking at $75k and up for a decent enclosed transport trailer, and of course you are going to be fixing the occasional car that you ding (even the best transporters ding a car every once in awhile), but the money is well worth it.

 

In 79' I was technically in high school, in 89' I was an o/o, since then the best paying loads I've found pulling lowboy, flat, step, reefer, van were the ones I made a decent profit on whether it be leased o/o or indie. I will say the least profitable were reefer and van, reefer because of time spent and cost, van because it's damn neer impossible to compete with the low rent mentality that is pervasive in that segment of the industry.

The most fun I had and the most stressful was when I was an indie pulling a step, I made great money but had to stay on the phone (pre cell/internet) and do a lot of schmoozing to get great rates.

I had customers buying me lunch and screaming for service when I was on top of my game but found I was losing my identity and my family in the race for personal glory. I secretly thank my wife for pointing this out to me.

 

you mean like this one.........they are dropping off Bentleys now in SD.

 

Don't talk to me about Bentleys. We had a BAD experience involving two Arnages and a GT convertible. I will have to say that of all the high priced cars I've hauled, if I were to own one it would be a Bentley GT or the '97 McLaren F1 (both would be nice to have).

 

I just came back from NYC with my wife and while walking in a Times Square last night i saw a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren....

If i ever win lottery i will buy this car.

 

We delivered a McLaren F1 to a guy just south of Wilsonville, OR. He met us in a parking lot and asked me to follow him twelve miles to his house. I was a little hesitant about driving his 1.7 million dollar car on the road but decided to. He hauled ass and let me have one helluva ride. That 12 mile drive was one of the highlights of my driving career. When we got up to his placed he had me back it into a steel building that must’ve had 40 – 50 exotics in it. It was definitely a ride to remember.

I would even settle for a Benz S 65 AMG or even a 63 AMG. We delivered a few of those for place in Dallas… VERY nice cars.

 

Man you guys have it going on. You get payed to haul these things us regular folks only dream about.

I am looking into S500 right now but 2004 model...I wish my pay scale was up a bit more but that's the way it is. For me, Mercedes is the car that is above the rest by a HUGE margin. I have always loved them but was never able to buy one, without taking credit that is, which i never did.

 

We HAD it going on. We gave up enclosed auto, at least for now. We got tired of dealing with some of the more irrational and demanding customers. That and it is a skinny man's game, and when my thyroid went hyper and they had to kill it, I soon after gained a ton (well, almost a ton) of weight and it made getting into and out of a lot of the cars (in the trailer) pretty hard. The Vipers, Lambo Murcielagos and Diablos, Lotuses and DeLoreans were hard enough without the weight gain. After the weight gain they were a real challenge to get into and out of.

We may give it another try in a couple of years if I'm able to drop the weight or maybe buy a soft sided transport trailer. Problem with having a soft side is that some companies like Pasha (who runs many of the automotive ports) will not allow you to use them for Lamborghinis because of their value, but then they don't care about you using them for cheaper cars like Lotuses.

We'll see. It was never a dull moment, that's for sure, and I kinda miss the excitement.