My father has turned his personal horse farm into a horse retirement place as a start for his retirement. My end of this is i am in charge of moving customers horses for them. I would like to make a side business out of it since i have 2 diesels that would normally not tow much and need to be worked a lil. My question is, What do i charge for moving the horses around? Do i charge per horse? By mile? by trip? im not sure what to do with that end of it. thanx

steve

 

go figure what your mileage is when loaded. i.e. 10 mpg, cost per mile is $5.00/gal divided by 10 miles, .50c a mile fuel only. add in the cost of your insurance per mile, add in the usual maint cost per mile, say .50c and figure you're running empty one way (profit margin). If you go by the mile, figure about $2.50-3.00/mile and make sure you have a liabilty release as well as good insurance. Add in your time as a driver, say hourly at $10-12. and you have it.

 

Definitely make sure your insurance it up to par for doing this and be aware of where the liability lies. Nothing will eat up the money like having to pay off in case of an accident, especially if there is injury to the animals you're hauling.

 

Unless you are planning to haul fulltime the costs are to high for part time hauling.

 

i dont get less then 2.75 loaded mile but i dont haul live animals on the hot shots lots of trouble

 

You can go here http://www.uship.com/find , click the livestock bids an see what the haulers are asking and what people are willing to pay . Just because you are connected to your father's business doesn't mean people will choose you to transport . They'll check around and use a hauler by experience or price .