Always a 4x4 and a big trailer...

htrj

Does anyway know what the people driving the 4x4s and usually towing big tri axle car transporters are doing? I seem to see them everywhere on the roads at the moment and I guess they are getting paid for moving cars around, but specifically I wonder what the job is, who's employing them and where they are finding their work. 

Does anyone explain their enterprise a little more clearly? I have all the equipment to start doing it myself. 

flaneurs_lobster

Rescuing dead EVs?

Nobbie1967

Moving vehicles around for the likes of Cinch? Lots of sales these days are over the internet and rely on someone to deliver the car to the door. Could also be delivery/collection of lease vehicles.

paul_c123

https://www.engineius.co.uk/transport-agent and MANY others.....

htrj

That makes perfect sense now thanks. Any idea what the pay is like? 

EssexExile

Enquire online about having a car moved across the country and you'll find that there are many people out there desperate to get your custom, leave it a day or two and you'll find they can shave quite a lot off the quote.

Mildly_Miffed

htrj said:

That makes perfect sense now thanks. Any idea what the pay is like? 

Most people doing it won't be salaried. They'll be a bloke with a 4x4 and a trailer working for themselves.

By the time they've worked out the true cost of doing business legally (tacho/driving hours/tax paid), they'd probably be better off working in B&Q.

But if you start cutting corners on the legality...

paul_c123

htrj said:

That makes perfect sense now thanks. Any idea what the pay is like? 

Do you already have a tacho installed? Worth taking into account, cars and dual purpose vehicles lost their exemption a few years ago so now need to have one installed for hire/reward over 3.5t. Typically costs £1k-2k to install.

Did you even click the link? Literally the second question on the FAQs is "how much do you get paid?".

htrj

paul_c123 said:

htrj said:

That makes perfect sense now thanks. Any idea what the pay is like? 

Do you already have a tacho installed? Worth taking into account, cars and dual purpose vehicles lost their exemption a few years ago so now need to have one installed for hire/reward over 3.5t. Typically costs £1k-2k to install.

Did you even click the link? Literally the second question on the FAQs is "how much do you get paid?".

Although I had clicked the link I had not scrolled that far down. That said I would be sceptical of what the website says and what real world experience would be so I would prefer to ask in order to read what other peoples knowledge is.

htrj

Thanks for explaining what these guys are up to. By comparison it sounds like i'd be better off lorry driving..... or B&Q....

paul_c123

Its £1.50/mile while you're "transporting" but there's the dead time (and distance) in between the jobs. The skill is getting the jobs to line up in a somewhat convincing way, to avoid too much empty running. Also you need to decide if you're going to try get home every night, which will restrict things a bit (but you can break up, eg Scotland - Cornwall if you live not-too-far from the M6). Or take on jobs so that you end up in an area of the country miles from home and stay in AirBnBs or Travelodge/similar. You'd still need to plan "out" at the start of the week, then towards the end of the week start winding your way "back". Deliveries tend to follow normal working hours - don't rely on delivering/collecting at eg 8am or after 5pm. Probably the best way to plan it is to do a 9am delivery, then a transit to a "daytime" job of 100-150 miles, then collect your 3rd car of the day at 3-4pm and put the miles in to get nearer its destination (or home, then away again). Also you'll get used to setting off at eg 4am - roads are much quieter then anyway.