More BMWs to haul in the US

With European sales at a 19 year low and American inventories down to a 34 day supply, BMW plans on shipping thousands more vehicles to the US. Source: Automotive News Click here to see the Automotive News story.

Shady Auto Sales

I drew this for one of my old customers who missed my cartoons of dying hydraulic cylinders.

Wheel straps for antique cars

This was on a turn-of-the-century Buick. If you need basket straps for old cars like this, better call Gunnar: (810) 814-2480

Detroit Auto Hauler Accident

4 Hospitalized After Alleged Drunk Driver Smashes Into Auto Hauler « CBS Detroit

drunk driving at 7 in the morning?  Jiminey Christmas!

Allied Systems Holdings Files for Bankruptcy Protection - Truckinginfo.com

Allied Systems Holdings Files for Bankruptcy Protection - Truckinginfo.com

Here is another article.  Says they're going to keep paying people.

Allied Bankruptcy

Yucaipa car hauler Allied Systems files Chapter 11 | Reuters

* Allied had faced involuntary Chapter 11 by lenders

* Yucaipa has 63 percent Allied stake -- filing

* Falling revenue, litigation led to restructuring

By Jonathan Stempel

June 11 (Reuters) - Allied Systems Holdings Inc, which hauls cars and trucks to dealers from manufacturers and is majority-owned by private equity firm Yucaipa Cos, put itself into bankruptcy protection, less than one month after facing an involuntary Chapter 11 petition from creditors.

The Atlanta-based company and 18 subsidiaries, including its Canadian units, sought protection late Sunday night in the U.S. bankruptcy court in Delaware, citing its worsening financial condition as well as litigation by unpaid lenders.

Car Hauler Jobs

Companies advertising for car haulers can be found here.Generally, companies hiring car haulers want a minimum of two years experience hauling cars, plus OTR experience, plus clean CDL, clean criminal record.

Universal e-track wheel strap for car haulers

OK, there are lower-profile solutions for wheel-strapping to e-track, but this little beauty allows you to use the same wheel straps on both vertical and horizontal e-track. See this strap



Design allows idler to swivel AND bend at the central pivot point.

Ohio Car Hauler Fire

Westbound Turnpike open again in Archbold - WTOL.com: News, Weather and Sport for Toledo, Ohio

ARCHBOLD, OH (By WTOL) - The westbound lanes of the Ohio Turnpike in Archbold are open again after a half dozen vehicles were destroyed in a vehicle hauler that caught on fire. The Turnpike was closed between State Route 108 to State Route 66.

It happened just before 7 a.m. Friday. Westbound traffic was at a standstill for a couple of hours while crews put out the fire.

The vehicles are nearly unidentifiable because they were so badly charred.

Witness reports from nearby residents said it was a huge fire ball and they heard several small explosions.

The highway patrol said the driver of the truck was not hurt.

It is still unknown what caused the fire

Chinese Car Hauler

I can only imagine what the hell that thing weighs!

The lowest profile e track clip for auto tie-down in the history of the universe.

Allows you to use the strongest 6M E-track fitting on horizontal e-track without putting a twist in your wheel straps.  A must-have item for anybody hauling high end vehicles in an enclosed trailer.  Several different strap set-ups available with this piece of hardware.  This is one of the more popular ones.

What is the best smart phone for car haulers?

I have absolutely no idea.  But as I am on my THIRD warranty replacement for a Motorola Droid Razr, I can tell you that this is one tricky little phone you'll want to avoid.  As a business owner, I live on my phone, so having a phone with a screen that locks up in the middle of a call... or worse, won't even let me dial... pure pain.  The Droid Razr is a fast, beautiful phone... it's wonderful in every way, except for when it locks up and won't let you make phone calls.  It's a great phone for a college student, or someone who just wants something to surf the web at Verizon's blazing 4G speeds.  But as for me, I am a knuckle-dragging, troglodyte who primarily uses his phone to... well.. make and receive phone calls.  I think I'm going to trade this beautiful new phone for a scratched up iPhone 4 at the second hand shop. 

Do you have hydraulic fluid running in your veins?

Was talking to a car hauler this afternoon, and he gave me a great phrase.  He said his girlfriend wanted to know why he was always working.  He said that he told her, "That's what I do, I'm a car hauler. It's like I'm addicted to it.  I've got hydraulic fluid running through my veins."

Incidentally, he says a lot of the GM vehicles are now wheel strap vehicles:  Malibu, Cruze and Traverse.

New app for carhaulers

Just got this press release (below)  from Dave at EZ-Dispatch.  If you haven't checked out this software for carhaulers, you owe it to yourself to find out more.  It automates so many functions of the car hauling business, it is hard to enumerate them in one short article.  How would you like a program that allows you to scan a VIN and download auto data including weight?  Update your customers?  Create a bill of lading with the touch of a button.  Oh yes, and it is affordable, too.  Dave offers a money-back guarantee to his customers, and in all the years (six?  seven?) that he's been at this, he's never had to give anyone their money back.  It's that good.

So here is the latest news flash from EZ-Dispatch:


We have a free app for drivers using Android powered phones that will let them scan VINs. Not only will it insert them into the BOL and invoice for accurate billing, but also quickly tally the weights before loading. You can find the app on the android app store under EZDispatch and the instuctions for its use are on Transportfool.com. If this turns out to be popular with the drivers we will consider developing one for the iPhone as well. If you want to try the scanner and you do not have an EZDispatch login you can use driver for the login and driver for the password. If you have any questions you can reach our office at 405-382-2866.

Nissan and Chrysler soft tie-down rules

Hearing from a lot of guys that some locations are not allowing side strap at all.  Supposedly all over-tire type straps (with the 3 rubber tread grabs) which hook directly into the carhauler deck.  Don't know what the guys are going to do with Kaufmans with those expanded metal decks.  I don't think I'd feel comfortable with a Nissan Titan strapped into mesh behind my head.  If you're buying a 3/4 car wedge and you're thinking about hauling out of assembly plants, better think of something besides Kaufman, because that deck plate will give you fits.

The world's most expensive car hauler.

The World’s Most Expensive Car Hauler | The Truth About Cars

This cracks me up.  The USS Ronald Reagan had to go from San Diego to Washington to have some work done, so they saved some expense by shipping the sailors' cars on the flight deck!  If you assume approximately 1,000 cars being transported for three days, then the cost per car would be roughly $10,000.  Now, since the carrier had to make the trip anyway, I'm not going to waste time talking about excessive government spending, yadda-yadda-yadda.  It's just fun to think about a load price of $10,000 per car.  Which you'd pretty much have to get to make the payments on the most expensive car hauler ever built! According to the article in the link above, the aircraft carrier will set you back between 4.3 and 6 billion-with-a-b dollars.  A new Cottrell stinger costs slightly less.