Would you do this job?

Yup. I used to have a milk route about 5 years ago so I do have a DOT and LC. I have no idea if I would need other licensing arrangements for Canada.

I am not sure about the cargo insurance but I will need commercial insurance on the truck. I am awaiting a quote on this.

Yes I have heard fuel cost were a bit higher up in Canada. I have dual fuel tanks so I was hoping I wouldn't have to buy too much fuel in Canada.

I have no idea.

Out of all the places I have went looking for work this has been the first place I have found that will put me to work. I am worried though about doing something that will drain me financially when I don't have much of a cushion to fall back on. I definitely will be asking these guys more questions.

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I checked into it, they pay about the same but my truck is too old for their requirements.

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Hauling 'for hire' requires commercial liability insurance. Operations in Canada requires specific protection that allows cross boarder [international] operation.

This covers the public against the damages that may occur should you be involved in an accident.

It won't cover your truck -or- the cargo. You will need cargo coverage unless you can pay for the damages to the camper out of your pocket.

You still need physical damage [comprehensive] to cover damages to your truck.

Motor Carriers using independent contractors usally provide the authority [DOT number, etc.] and the General Liability and Cargo Coverage. The contract [lease] usually specifies what is covered and indemnifies the contractor against lawsuits, like the posibility of an accident where there is a fatality. I had one guy involved in a fatality, the 80yr old guy wasn't wearing his seatbelt caused it rubbed his pacemaker scar...our insurance paid his family $365,000.00!!!!

The insurance usually provides the legal assistance and stands for the settlement otherwise you can be suid too! Last carrier I worked for had 150 owner operators and just the $1,000,000.00 required coverage [Haz mat lite] for the general auto liability cost them around $850,000.00 a year. We were hauling intermodal cargo containers paying $1.00/ mile loaded and $0.80/mile empty and only operated in the USA.

Taking the cost of insurance and fuel taxes, etc. on your own for $1.00 a mile is truly a loosing proposition. Sure these people are eager to hire you, try to guess how many guys only pull one or two trips b/4 realizing they are loosing their shirts. I'd bet their turnover rate is around 200% a year, or higher!

You are being offered lowball rates and being allowed to hold the bag if something goes wrong. This doesn't even bring in the potential for customs/border headaches, etc.

Look elsewhere!

If you look at it as a (most) expenses paid vacation, it doesn't seem like such a bad deal ...............

I wouldn't do it for $1.00/mile, your not going to be making any money. By the time you deadhead home you'll have little to show for you effort. Consider what would happen if you have a breakdown.

Bob

Sounds a bit fishy...

Don't forget as well, your truck will not get as good mileage when hooked up to a camper, so forget what your truck normally gets for mileage!

I'd phone up the border services and propose this to them and see what feedback you get. Better to find out if it's illegal this way than being arrested at the border for something you weren't aware of. If it's perfectly legit, then it's up to you to crunch the numbers. Don't sign any contracts either, as I know lots of trucking companies (at least here) rip off people on contracts, especially those on work visas who are tied to the company for immigration purposes!

You can pm me if you want some phone numbers, or you can try navigating it on the internet.

I knew a guy who worked for a trucking firm that paid $1/ mile. This was about five years ago. He quickly quit. He was paid based upon how they listed mileage, not exact mileage. If, for example, you're detoured because of road construction, would this firm pay your actual mileage or their form that states mileage (and may be out of date). If you got stuck in traffic and spent hours in traffic, using much more fuel than usual, you were stuck. You could easily lose money doing this type of job.

One has to wonder about employers who advertise on Craigslist.

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Moms don't look at things like normal people.
-----DD

before you go any further you need to call canadian customs and see what is involved and they may already know of this firm or they will want to know of this firm if you step one foot over that border paid they want to know and they have a lot of rules about it.
not to mention bringing 20-50k worth of trailer accross and leaving it on thier side that is a import tax or atleast you have to declare it even if it goes to a canadian citizen who pase a sales tax on it at registration. international transport is nothing to mess with uninformed.

why target central wisconsin and other places , guys like you hard up who have a hell of a time finding work , think maybe a dollar a mile isn't so bad and don't do all the math to find they are working for below minimum wage when they cover time and expenses.

Too bad that a paid vacation is not at all what this is.

I know several people who have done this. None of them for very long.

First off this is not a job. It is a contract of self employment. Read: Owner Operator if you understand that term better. You will need a CDL, DOT certification, and a physical card. You will also need a passport. Oh yes, you will need a late model truck.

Now understand that your deadhead miles (empty) will be your own expense and will be more than 50% of your total miles.

Also understand thet the company does not care about laws and regulations. That for the most part is your problem. They like to scheduls delivery times real tight. For example 1,200 miles to deliver in exactly 24 hours. This will not work for a single driver, legally; in a log book. Then they would have you back to reload in 24 hours if you can or would do that (also impossible).

Now you could do a team driver thing. One man that I know got his wife a CDL, and certified, etc. To make a long story short the seperation was long, but they did not get divorced. They almost did. This man was retired from General Motors on a good pension, he told me that he got tired of feeding the truck from his pension funds.

It appeard that this kind of business opportunity would only work for an entity that could print it's own money, that ain't me and probably is not you either.

Definately not a vacation

I do have a CDL (class B if it was class A I would have a job) and a DOT physical card. The person I talked to seemed okay with an older truck as long as all the legal and insurance requirements were met.

Unless they changed the laws I was under the impression that one could run as many hours as they wanted if they were under 26,000. However I know my own limits and I could never stay up 24 hours without putting myself and others at risk on the road.

At this point I think I am leaning more towards not doing it. If the place was within Wisconsin at least I wouldn't be racking up so many unpaid miles and would be more willing to try it out.

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I think i'd do it if I was headed up to Canada for a vacation anyways, as a way of making a bit of money along the way. I know a lot of people do this for dealerships- they take a transport car to one dealership, and another one back to the original dealer as a way of making money and not taking your wn vehicle on a holiday. But for a job? No way!

What you are doing with your truck, is classified as a CMV

You will be driving under the DOT HOS requirements. Possibley Canada's also.

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regul.../hos/index.htm

$1 a loaded mile isn't good. $2-$2.50 a mile is more like it. Bringing a load back from Canada is how it could pay off. Is it too late for you to get a job as a census taker?

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If it's under 26K (combined truck and trailer) you wouldn't need a CDL. Technically, you would still have to keep logs, etc. I've driven trucks (wide loads) and I don't see how you can actaully make any money even if you lived across the street from the factory. And if you manage to make a few dollars you'll owe self employment tax of over 15% before you even pay income taxes. Plus, you'll have to replace your truck much sooner cause of all of the miles you've racked up. Good luck!

Former DOT cop here. Under 26K the Class D is fine, but- any vehicle with a GVWR or Combined GVWR involved in a commercial operation is a CMV. There's no "techinically" about the logs, absolutely required if your destination is more than 100 air miles (113. something staute miles) from your starting point. If it's a really big trailer and the CVGWR is over 26K and the trailer over 10K you'd need a Class A.

FWIW- I've dealt with company several times. They tend to get older guys with no real odea of what they're doing and send them down the road. If the mileage works for you and you have some decent CMV experience to start with (log, tie downs, equipment, etc) then it might work for a temp job.

Already applied for census taker. They told me I should be hearing from them sometime this February. I hope I do

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The Driver will need to have a CDLA, if the trailer is over 10,000 lbs. If the trailer is under 10,000 lbs, he will need a CDLB.

A trailer is defined as a "vehicle", by the DOT.

"Class B -- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing a vehicle not in excess of 10,000 pounds GVWR. "

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/registratio...ng/cdl/cdl.htm

I work for the DOD-Navy and we ship some things to Canada.

We've never shipped campers, but I do know about boats going back to the Canadian maker for repair.

We have to have a husbanding agent to handle the paperwork getting the cargo through customs, no husbanding agent - the cargo not allowed into Canada.

We have to have statements showing the value of the item, the expected amt of time it is going to be in Canada, the reason it is going to be in Canada etc.

We have to fax or email all paperwork to the husbanding agent well in advance of our driver arriving.

Naturally the boat can't get out of Canada to come back to US without it's proper paperwork also.

Once due to a glitch in paperwork we had a driver have to sit on the US side of the border for 5 days (2 of those weekend days) before he got across the border.

Our office had to pay the driver detention time for all those days. It was a nightmare. I spent approx 3 full work days just being on the phone trying to get everything settled.

For what we spent (line haul, fuel surcharge, detention, long distance calls, my pitiful salary) it would have been more expedient to just buy a new boat.

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I've done so much with so little for so long that I'm now qualified to do almost anything with practically nothing.

A nearby school bus manufactory does the same thing. They're always needing someone to deliver buses across the United States. Pay is about the same as mentioned above. I know one guy who done it for a couple of summers. He said after the first summer he realized he was just purty much wasting his time. But then he done it again the second summer to take family vacations with. He and his family would hop aboard a bus and deliver it to a certain location and then they would hop aboard a charter bus and ride back. However, they might stop at a certain theme park, or touring destination and stay a few days before resuming their travel back. He said that was the only way it was worth it.

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r.h. in oklahoma

Raised a country boy, and will die a country boy.