Just heard on sirius that 12-20 inches of snow is called for in Montana. Im in missoula. Looks like I might miss out..

Anyway thought Id check back here for a sec.

I carry a 3500 generator in winter and stay toasty warm. I could never heat a big rv. Especially when its -10.

Some of the companies put seals on the doors. So we cant even get in em. This makes us not responsible for the interior as long as the seal is intact. But it also means we cant sleep in em. But to be honest Im comfortable in my truck and prefer sleeping in my truck.

There is times if its real hot or real cold I just let the truck run all night. My sleep is most important so if I gotta run the truck, oh well. Thats another reason I stay north. I can heat the truck with a genny, but cant cool it. If I put an ac on top, then the cops would know Im sleeping in it,and reward me with about a 300 dollar ticket.

Many of the guys have custom built a bed into our trucks. Its not dot legal so we carry a tent, or use a story and that works cause they cant write a ticket on assumptions. If they do catch us we get a ticket though, so we just sleep on private property. Yea that sucks and is the worst part of the job. A few guys extend the frame and put a real sleeper on. The majority of us just do what I done and play games with dot.

Thats quite a rig you have there. And yep, never hurts to ask.

To bad you dont have just the cab. You could put one on the chassis and pull one on the ground. You could make like 2.00 per mile and then haul 1 car back and get like 35 cents a miles for that.

We also hire dodge 4500/5500 with low deck trailers. They haul up to 4 small ones. We also have semis and they haul 2 large or 3 small ones. They haul cars and frieght back to the chicago area for backhauls.

If I lived around Indy, thats what Id do. But for now just my dually will keep me afloat. Maybe after this economy recovers I will get a bigger rig. Rvs are fun to haul because there is no stress from the shipper or reciever. We get there when we get there and even though they want em yesterday, the dealers are pretty respectful that sometimes we have to stop sooner than a heavier semi because of wind and snow.

Anyway, looks like rain mostly here. That will be alright I guess. We are due for summer anytime now.

Carey

 

And Mr. sask is right. There are companies that will take advantage of ya. If a guy wants to do this succesfully for a living, one has to search out the cream at the top. There are companies that will take you under there wing and treat you with professionaism and respect. And with the pay to go along with it.

But just like anything else, it takes about a year to learn the biz and find the company that fits ya. This is really no different than leasing a semi to a trucking company. Just a smaller scale in about every way.

In the end its all about presistance and attitude. If you got both, you will succeed, just like with every other thing in life. I dont care what kind of truckin you do. Its not an easy life and you count your profits in pennies, not dollars. If you save enough pennies, you got dollars. Another good sayin is its not how much you make, its how much you keep.

Yes having to be in this frame of mind gets old, but thats truckin. No matter what you haul, one has to concentrate on the pennies to be successful.

Carey

 

First company I worked for was REALLY busy and then things got slower and slower and the reassurances that it would be busy again is what kept me on.
After I lost the engine in the 04...not rebuildable as I would have done that...block fractured etc etc just 11K miles out of warranty too. I traded off and bought a new rig again with assurances from the company of good times coming. After two more months I moved to another company that had rave reviews and a great group of people. They too got hit during the recession and the dispatch had too many green horns trying to get loads and they were not working out. Its kind of hard to pull a 17K pound 5th wheel with a broken axle.
After arriving at the load and seeing that what I was quoted on the load sheet...34ft 2 slide and seeing a 39ft 4 slide unit and then seeing the snapped off wheel...I got discouraged. . That was after I was assured that this kind of mistake will not happen again...strike 3, I'm out.

If it works for you...great. I am one of many that did not have the 'real good' experiences and being a pro driver did not help me one bit. In fact I think it may have hindered my success because my choices not to risk getting caught with some of what they tried to hand me for loads is partly why I was not getting ahead. At least I can sleep at night knowing I made the right decision for me. It does however, give a guy a bad taste in his mouth and I have to remind myself that not all RV transport companies' are alike. Colo~Dirtbikers has pointed that out.

Scotty
p.s. I loved the bad weather and the challenges of the elements too.