cLAYH

Saw an add in the local paper looking for RV haulers with 1ton duallys. Just wondering how different it is in Canada. Whats the pay like?

The company was called Starfleet Trucking.

GMScott

Up to last year I was hauling alot of campers to Canada from USA manufacturers. Had to deal with a lot of B.S. at Customs, both going in & coming back into the USA. The Brokers were also part of the same B.S. So you should calculate in alot of wasted time. As a U.S. citizen had to pay the $5.00 user fee each time I re-entered the U.S. Had a few independents working for me at the time but after awhile they wouldn't take the work if it meant crossing the border anymore. No extra compensation for time lost @ Customs. Don't know if any of the changes concerning passports have helped any. Our drivers had to keep a copy of their birth certificate in the truck for proof of citizenship. The manufacturers used the PARS system (Pre-Arrival Review System) which was supposed to streamline the process - ha ha. I wound up having to apply for my own PARS barcodes - $250.00 US.
Have heard of Starfleet. Don't have any personal experience with them, but most of the RV transport companies have quite a bit of turnover. I have noticed more Canadian carriers picking up U.S made units at the factories where I pickup now.
Good luck. Make sure you get everything, upfront, in writing with your contract.

Scotty

After a couple of years doing this, I urge you to get ALL the details in writing when it comes to a Canadian hauling for a US based company. You may find out a few things in Canada that may not apply to a US company...until they cross that border. Become well informed.
I was held up once at the border entering Canada simply because of paperwork not being in place. Took less then an hour and done/cleared. All the other loads [average of four per month] no problem and less then five minutes at the border. The shipper/factory/driver and dealer all need to have their pupe in a group because the slightest mistake can be costly.
I had one return unit that almost cost me 10,000.00 USD...paperwork was messed up on the US system. Luckily the guy at the booth was aware of this issue.
As for the user fee...its now 10.50...USD everytime or you can buy a transponder for $200.00 usd. Theres some kind of agricultural fee in there now.



Scotty

RickG

Since ClayH is in Canada asking about Canadian hauling he may not be considering border crossings . I cross the border weekly and see many RV haulers crossing from the U.S. and things seem to go rather smoothly for them at the border . I have noticed nearly all of them are set up to pull more than one trailer . They are either pulling a 48' - 53' trailer carrying 2 RV's or they have a flatbed with a hydraulic fifth wheel at the rear .

OutlawStorm

I am from Canada and up to 3 months ago have hauled many trailers from Indiana back to Alberta Canada,, all used PARS and was like 2-5 mins to cross boder coming back into canada. And its not just Americans that pay that money to cross,into the USA,, Canadians have to pay if there trip is business. If its just for a vacation there is no cost.

As for pay,, its not great anymore.. fuel prices are high right now,, heck in my home town its about $5.40 a gallon or 1.12 a litre, but our gallon is bigger than the USA one,, so it takes about 5 american gallons to equal 4 canadian gallons. From Stars ads,, it looks like about 1.10 a loaded mile, and you cant make a go of that if you have payments and all. last trailer i hauled paid 1.46 a loaded mile and that is still not enough

cLAYH

Thanks for the responses. Yes I am from Canada but I imagine most of the hauls will be bringing stuff up from the States. Hauling accross Canada would be sweet though. Just lookin for something different. Already have a sweet grass cutting contract that I do in my spare time. If I found something to give me another $40,000 I could quit me job and still be ahead of where I am now. Not that I'm bad off(HD mech) just getting bored is all. Only been doing it for 10 years and I'm already tired of it. <sigh>

OutlawStorm

CLay figure it out yourself here.,,,, ok being you are from alberta, most loads will be from Indiana and back to Alberta. The average load is 1742 miles. , now times that by $1.46 you get $2543.32 for hauling that 1 trailer. Takes you prob 5-6 days so you will make 4 trips a month when they are busy. Now most places charge you for plates or at least 1/2 of them so thats around $1,200.00 a year. Also they charge $650.00 a month for insurance every month. Plus most have a an Administrate charge of $100.00 a month. Now figure on what your truck will get for mileage, Say 20 empty and about 12 loaded. I would say about $1100.00 min a week on fuel. Now if you have a truck payment, of say $1,000.00 a month. Then add up other expenses like repairs on truck, tires, the odd hotel room, food while on the road etc. Not to mention when busy you will easily put on 250,000 kms a year and in a couple of years truck wont be worth much anymore, and then after 4 or 5 years over a 1,000,000 kms and then a new truck again! Plus you wont see your family much,, maybe 1 or 2 days a week at the most. It sounds good on paper, but its not all gravy. I did it cause i was on long term disability and couldnt do much else, so I also had other money coming in besides the trailer hauling money!

haulin-rv

I haul and we pay nothing for plates, liab and cargo ins, no admin fee. Now with that being said since you are from Canada you need to hook up with a Canadian company, they pay more. In the past it really did not matter, but with our dollar not being worth much these days you are better off. Best thing you can do is web search and just ask anyone hauling you see. The best info on a company is usually found from another hauler in a truck stop. Example a 1742 mile trip to Canada would net me about $1250 after paying for fuel.

cLAYH

1742miles round trip or one way?

haulin-rv

1742 one way. Myself I pretty much run the midwest down here, that allows me to be home most nights. If I were not 156 miles from the terminal I would not likely be doing this. Sometimes I see guys who have to wait weeks to find a load to get them close to home.

RickG

Right now exchange rates are pretty even with the U.S. dollar frequently worth more . http://www.bankofcanada.ca/en/rates/exchange.html . When the Canadian dollar was at its highest I read of Canadian carriers wanting to cut their contractors' rates .
Now for those that think $1200 net after fuel is good money for a 1700 mile haul each way , think harder . That's over 3,000 miles round trip requiring logging in a log book . That's almost a full week's work . Then you have the expenses of truck payment , insurance , repairs and service (quite frequent when running 3,000 + miles a week ) and more before you get your actual net income .