CAR HAULERS

[Steviegoblue]

I see, I just wonder if it will qualify as a sleeper berth with DOT

I'm new to it so I guess I really don't know that answer. I did read on a forum that was dated back in 2012 that sleeping in your pickup didn't qualify as being in sleeper. I have talked to so many guys who do it that I assumed the rule had changed. I suppose I'll have to do more digging on that. Nobody needs DOT violations right? Haha..

 

[crich]

Dispatch Support Critical to new drivers
9/21/2015

0 Comments

We were dropping a load of cars at the Port of Delaware on a recent Monday and noticed a new Kaufman 3-car wedge trailer with a very nice Ford F-350 parked in the transport lot. We waved said hello and noticed the driver was browsing loads on Central Dispatch.

One of the advantages Matchpoint Auto Transport offers its drivers is the ability to drop cars at our storage facility 9 miles from the port of Wilmington. The port's receiving yard operates Monday through Friday 8am - 4pm so dropping cars in the evening or weekend is not possible. This particular Monday was pretty busy as we delivered 8 units to the port receiving yard and 1 to a New Castle, DE Central American shipping drop.

On the second trip, a little over an hour later, we returned to the port receiving yard with 3 more cars and noticed the new Kaufman trailer and F350 was still parked with the driver still searching loads. By now this driver had been sitting in the transport lot a little over 2 hours searching for loads.

The observation reinforces the value of the dispatch services we provide our drivers. An experienced 3 car wedge truck and driver should be grossing an average of $60-dollars per hour with a net operating margin of at least 45%. Over an average work week of at least 60 combined hours on the drive-line and duty-line, a truck should then gross an average of $3,600 per week, with a net operating margin of $1,620. To achieve this level of profitability running a 3-car wedge combination under 26,000 GVWR, the driver can’t afford to spend several hours sitting and browsing the web. Each hour wasted looking for loads costs the truck $27-dollars an hour of net operating income, or extends the work week by the same amount of time. Either way significant efficiencies are lost.

Obtaining loads and efficient route planning is an ongoing challenge even the most experienced drivers face. For new Carriers, the challenge is significantly greater because there is so much to learn and many brokers won’t send loads to new companies. Matchpoint Auto transport over the past 4 years has directly carried or dispatched to drivers over 5,000 loads, it’s this experience that can help a new carrier short cut the learning curve and keep the wheels of the truck turning instead of the pages on their lap top.

 

[crich]

also according to this same site in june 2013 the rules changed that you no longer have to have a dot sleeper.just that your break must be taken in a non-moving vehicle. don't know if thats true or not

 

[Steviegoblue]

also according to this same site in june 2013 the rules changed that you no longer have to have a dot sleeper.just that your break must be taken in a non-moving vehicle. don't know if thats true or not

Holy ! Great stuff crich! Thx much.

 

[crich]

now if you want to run team in a hotshot truck and actualy want to be able to log sleeper berth there are options for you
without severe modifications to the the truck. for $2100 you can get a woodhouse conversion to make your quad cab into a dot approved sleeper.

www.woodhouse.com

 

[crich]

when I run I stay in motels but I tend to do 2 or 3 loads at a time and try to book 5k before I even hit the road. I don't use a dispatch service. I do know that after you been active for 6 months or so things will get a little easier if you go the freight route vs car hauling. also on the truck I don't know that I would go with a brand new truck when my flatbed is running I tend to put on 2500 miles per week deadhead included so that warranty that you get wont last 6 months anyway.if your just starting don't overspend the $25k truck will get the same rates that the $50k truck will. now trailers is a different story if you get into the freight side a lot of shippers don't want to load trailers over 10 years old so I went with new on the trailer side. spent 23k on my air ride trailer but with a 10 year service life that's really cheap.the truck I got for 12k. cant go into CA but I am not missing much there.