where do I look?

mouse

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
My husband and I are extremely interested in getting into expedited freight. He has his heart set on a 1 ton dually and flatbed (for automotive) or enclosed trailer. For the last three years we have been company drivers (class A), doing a lot of time in California, and would like to stay out of there (surprise, suprise). We've been talking to some people on the road, and they seem to do well, and be very happy doing it. Can anyone recommend a good company, or even a website where we can get more info on the side of automotive transport? He will be driving on his own, but I may tag along at times. Later, when we have more experience in time sensitive freight, we may purchase a van for local work for me. We live in central VA and are not willing to relocate from here. Necessary home time is only once or twice a week. Any ideas, information, or leads of any sort will be greatly appreciated.
 

RichM

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
I don!t want to give you bad news but based on what your post said I don!t think expediting is for you.The type of equipment used is generally a 6 wheeler staight truck,not a dually setup.
To earn decent revenue you will need to operate as as a team not as a single driver ,and if you want to be home 1-2 times a week,
that requirement will definitely hurt your bottom line.Major players in the expediting field are, FEDEX CC in Akron Ohio,TRI STATE in Perrysburg OHIO,PANTHER in Medina Ohio,CONWAY in Rockford IL and LANDSTAR EXPRESS AMERICA in Jacksonville FL.
There are also a host of smaller companies many of which advertise on this site.. Good luck.
 

mouse

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
Maybe expedited isn't the right place to be looking. I have talked to multiple drivers using heavy duty dually pick-ups and flatbed or rollback style trailers. Mostly travelling in TN on I-40. They stated they were home two to three times a week. They hauled conversion vans, delivery vans, handicapped accessible vans, and the like. They brought in anywhere from 1.14 to 1.54 a mile. As I mentioned above, I'm not sure that this type of transport would be considered expedited, but I've done some digging on the web and can't seem to find any info about it. I could only find one company in TX...the statement they had on their site was "specializing in flatbed auto transport". After several combinations on search engines, they are the only ones that come up. Sorry, if I'm in the wrong place...but I can't seem to find anything else that comes close. Has anyone else ever heard about this? Or does anyone else have any ideas on where to look?
 

RichM

Veteran Expediter
Charter Member
I think what you are looking at doing is what is primarily called "Hotshot Freight" in where a small tractor or a large pickup will pull a flatbed trailer with bulky but not heavy freight.I have seen these rigs pulling insulation,plastic tubing 1-2 vehicles etc.One company that I know of is JONES Transport somewhere in PA that deals with hot shot freight.
 
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