DRIVE AWAY Companies???

Mamo Transportation

 

Oh somebody must of worked for one of the airlines or has a family member who does...

 

Quality Drive-Away in Goshen, IN...the are a bunch of RV one up that way as well.

 

I did it for a few years in the 90's. If you fly free you can make good $$. I found RV's don't pay as well as utility trucks. Lots of crooks in the biz. Watch your back.

 

I moved class 8 trucks for a year. Pretty disappointing, overall. Lucky to clear $100/day, even with free flying.

My "last straw" was when I went out to a little town in IL from the east coast to pick up a truck. When I got to the truck, I found that the "Check Engine" light was on, and the shop that had just done the modifications wouldn't do anything about it. After consultation with my dispatcher and the truck's owner, it was decided that I would take it to the nearest dealer for maintenance. After dropping it off there, I was advised that it would be several days before it was ready so I might as well go on home.

My trip out there, moving the truck, and getting back home, took a day and a half. The drive-away company paid me nothing except the previously agreed upon expenses of getting out there. Not a dime for the day and a half that I put into the project.

Apparently, developing a good working relationship with your dispatcher isn't worth squat when there's money on the line.

My advice: get every detail of the movement in writing, and don't sign for the truck until you've inspected it and are absolutely certain it is completely road-worthy. There is some real crap out there, waiting to be moved to the ports for overseas delivery.

 

If possible,

hook up with an experienced driver for a week or so.

This business is more complicated than people know.

I had a small ram pickup and did very well,

but it took a while to learn the ropes.

 

I've looked at it several times over the years, most recently with Truckmovers last summer. I've never been able to see where there is any profit for the driver, especially for the risk involved since the driver must pay for fuel without knowing what mileage the truck will get. I never even got to factor in the hassle of getting from here to there, and even if it was free I still wouldn't do it since there just wasn't enough money to be made. I guess there must be some drivers who make money, but how they got there - I'm sure they paid their dues, but where and to whom - I do not know.

 

It's been a pretty good year for me with TruckMovers. But, it could have been a whole lot better in many areas. Breakdown pay is inconsistent, and the new trucks do have breakdowns. I feel I get shorted often here. If they ask for a favor, watch out. I always get the short end of the bargain. Travel time is time lost. They seldom give you the closest flights, often you have to wait for a shuttle 2 to 3 hours before you can take the 3 hour ride from Charlotte to Dublin. They save money by flying you there instead of Roanoke and don't give a flip that it cost you money and is unproductive.
Many weekend loads leave you sitting in a hotel for a day because the trips had too many days for the amount of miles.
They dispatch Dodge Center loads mainly on the weekend, and then so does ColdIron, Auto Truck and the other companies. The end result is everybody shows up there on Monday and there is only one hoist and 2 slow folks to check in your trucks. Many get left hanging until Tuesday. This is also costly to the non union driver.
I've delivered to San Antonio thinking I'd take a short bus trip to Laredo to get my next load and just keep running. But where do they send you from here? Macungie, PA.. another day wasted.