Sunpass overbills car hauler

John at Angie's Transportation discovered he was being billed for a lot more axles by the Sunpass system in Florida.  He suggested we spread the news about this, as there aren't many companies making this technology, and it could be happening to other truckers in other states that use this technology.

Read the whole story here.

Autohauler Supply 9 year anniversary ratchet wheel strap special

Autohauler Supply is celebrating its 9th year in business today with $14.95 price on their best product, the Big Orange Double J Wire Hook Ratchet Wheel Strap.  More info here.

United Road buys The Waggoners

Yes, it's true.
United Road Services, backed by the deep pocket boys over at Charlesbank Capital Partners, just bought The Waggoners.

Read the boiler-plate press release.  Sorry, no figures public yet.


Want to know more about those guys in Boston funding all this?

ABOUT CHARLESBANK CAPITAL PARTNERS, LLC
Based in Boston and New York, Charlesbank Capital Partners is a middle-market private equity investment firm managing more than $2 billion of capital. Charlesbank focuses on management-led buyouts and growth capital financings, typically investing $50 to $150 million per transaction in companies with enterprise values of $100 million to $750 million. The firm seeks to partner with strong management teams to build companies with sustainable competitive advantages and excellent prospects for growth. For more information, please visit www.charlesbank.com.

Ramptastic deal!

Probably last time you will ever be able to buy a set of 94 inch long, 8,500 lb capacity aluminum loading ramps for under $450 including shipping!

The money you save on chiropractor bills may be your own.

 Check it out:  Aluminum Loading Ramp Deal

Car hauler fire shuts down I-40

KNOXVILLE (WATE) - A car hauler caught fire on Interstate 40 near Midway Road Sunday morning, causing the west bound lane to be closed for more than an hour.

Looks like it started in the axle.  Read more here.  Talk about having a Monday!

Tire Chain Laws, Videos and.. (of course) where to get the best deals!

If anybody is looking for the regulations on truck tire chains, our manufacturer Laclede has a good document on their website. And if you want to see how to put on those tire chains, go here.

If you're a car hauler having difficulty finding chains to fit those 255/70R22.5 tires you're running, click here .

Disruptive Innovation? Web-based, smartphone-based auto dispatch system.

This looks like a pretty good app for carriers working dealer transfers.  Would be refreshing to see a disruptive innovation break the stranglehold Central Dispatch has right now.

Diamond Weave Carhauler Straps

Have you heard about the blue diamond weave carhauler straps?  Woven in the U.S. and stitched in the U.S., these are the latest innovation in strap technology.  If you look at the top picture, you can see the patented weave pattern.  The edges have a different "curled-over" weave that locks the yarns down as tightly as possible.  The idea here is that a flatter, tighter weave may help prevent premature fraying from loose yarns catching on metal edges. 

It's too early to say how much longer these will last than normally woven straps, but the hope is that this new diamond pattern will give long-lasting service.  For more information on cost and availability, please check them out here at Autohauler Supply.

I for one welcome our new overlords.

It's official.  Jack Cooper got Allied.
Read all about it here.

Allied Bankruptcy Part 2

According to Heavy Duty Trucking magazine's website, it looks like Allied assets will be going to Jack Cooper Transport if the court approves.  They'll get no resistance from the Teamsters, who balked at the first bid by Black Diamond/Spectrum. The director of the Teamsters Carhaul Division, Roy Gross,  liked that the auction got re-opened.

According to court documents filed on Friday, the winning bid was for $135 million.  Supposedly, Allied has 4000 tractors and trailers.  If they were ONLY buying the equipment, each truck would be about $33,750.  Word on the street is that most of these are very old, but hopefully Jack Cooper can handle a little extra maintenance and refurb.But of course, it's not just the trucks, is it?  It's also all those nice Ford F-150s and Focuses (Foci?)  and Fusions that need to be transported to all corners of the country.

With Delavan closing up their shop in New York, I wondered how long Allied would be able to keep their fleet going.  Last few years Delavan was going, it seemed they were kept quite busy refurbishing the old Allied trucks.

While scouring the Internet for more info on the Allied bankruptcy, I stumbled across this press release from the Teamsters from last year, challenging Allied's attempt to pay $4.6 million  in bonuses and $6 million in severance pay to some of their executives in the middle of a bankruptcy proceeding. Read all about it here.

Chevy Vegas being transported in 1971

Redditor eamantite posted this today on Reddit.  I'd never seen this method of auto rail transport before.  Crazy to think this is how they transported cars... with fluids in them!  More information here, for those of you that are interested.

Price-fixing lawsuit filed against auto transport companies

Read all about it here.

Before you get too excited, it's against the ocean shipping companies, not North American OTR auto transporters.  That market is too cutthroat for any sort of price-fixing scheme to ever take hold!

How to get the best deals on wheel straps

Start by being my customer.  Or at least being one of my prospective customers.  If you are a car hauler and haven't heard of me, you will at some point.  According to Google Analytics, of people who found us via Google, Autohauler Supply was the most frequent keyword used.  That tells me that our name is finally getting out there after nine years of being in business.

This is the sort of crazy stuff I have to do to promote my car hauler parts business.  (Click on the picture for bigger image.)

Anyway, if you're still reading this article, I hope I've made you curious.  Give me a call some time.  

Encouraging economic signs for car haulers

Wallenius Wilhelmsen just ordered up two brand new Post Panamax ships.  These are specially designed ocean-going ships for RORO freight (roll on; roll off)

"Although the car carrying market at the moment might be somewhat weaker than we would like, we believe that the long term underlying growth potential for deep sea transportation of cars and high and heavy equipment is strong and positive," says Jan Eyvin Wang, president and CEO in WWASA. "We are therefore pleased to have come to an agreement with HHI to build two state of the art Post Panamax car carriers. The agreement also includes an option to build another two vessels."  Source.

(Highlight mine.)

I consider this especially encouraging, because these ships won't even be delivered until 2014 and 2015.  If a big company like this is willing to make this kind of long-term capital investment in such an asset, they must feel that future demand in 2014, 2015 and beyond... will support it.

According a article posted by the BBC on May 1st, 2013to the BBC, US auto manufacturers' sales are at six year highs.  Chrysler: up 11%; Ford, 18%; GM 23%.

One would hope that the increased sales and consequent increased hours at assembly plants and suppliers would create a virtuous circle in which the employment numbers could continue to improve.

What does it mean for car haulers in North America?

Well, if you're making money now, you're probably going to continue making money.  If you can convince the bank to underwrite the loan, you'll probably make more money with a new or refurbished truck.  Less downtime and shop bills, am I right?

"If you convince the bank to underwrite the loan."

A big if.  Seems like many banks are still frozen in that  2008 "Lehman Moment".  The big banks are like so many deer caught in the headlights, uncertain what to do.  One of my customers recently switched his business to a local credit union and got much better rates and service.

So in conclusion, if you think you're going to grow... be prepared to think outside the box as it relates to asset purchases.  If the fundamentals are there, it's probably worth doing... if you can find the money for a truck loan.

Due to car hauler fleet upgrade, Penske has a bunch of daycabs for sale

 Details below.  Click on images to see specs for these car haulers.

$96,500

$112,000

$114,000

Due to one of their major west coast customer's recent fleet upgrade, Penske Logistics has 2005, 2006 and 2007 open and enclosed units ready to go to work. If you or anybody you know is looking for another car hauler, call as soon as possible. I sincerely doubt these units will be on the market for long.

If you would like more detailed information about these units, please call Mr. Andrew Stevenson 610-796-4664

Arkansas Car Hauler Fire

Car Hauler Fire On Hwy 63 Near Black Rock Closes Road For Hours

At 2:17 am on Monday morning, the Lawrence County Dispatch received a 911 call reporting a semi truck hauling cars was on fire at Hwy 63 and Lawrence 219 just north of the Rest Area. Black Rock Fire Department was paged and responded to the area to find the semi and several vehicles on board in flames.
The Imboden Volunteer Fire Department was then paged for assistance as the fire grew more intense. The semi was carrying a total of nine vehicles, according to the driver, as he drove past the rest area he noticed smoke coming from one of the trucks axles, he then pulled the truck over to the shoulder of the road and attempted to extinguish the fire with a portable fire extinguisher. The fire spread from the semi to the cars on the trailer, completely destroying 5 of the 9 on board.
Lawrence County Deputies and Arkansas State Police arrived on scene and stopped all traffic on Hwy 63. Ravenden Volunteer Fire Department was requested to assist and arrived shortly thereafter. Firefighters fought for over an hour to contain the blaze. AET Ambulance of Imboden arrived on scene for medical standby.
Dail’s Wrecker Service of Ravenden was called to the scene and arrived with two large wreckers and two rollback trucks to begin removing the wreckage from the roadside. By 4:30 am officers were able to allow one lane of traffic through while firefighters from Black Rock were still on scene containing hot spots left in the fire. The fire spread to the highway right of way but was contained by firefighters.
There were no injuries reported in the incident, the cause of the fire is not known.

From http://www.imbodenlive.com/2013/02/04/car-hauler-fire-on-hwy-63-near-black-rock-closes-road-for-hours/#

Wonder if it had anything to do with MAINTENANCE-FREE HUBS!

Pacific Auto Transport Crash

This made 2nd page on Reddit. Driver in empty three car wedge jack-knifes on the interstate. (skip ahead to :32) Happened right in front of the guy shooting the video!

Wheel straps with removable rubber tread grabs?

Here is a new thing Gunnar invented. I jokingly referred to it as "The Franken Strap". The rubber tread grabs can be pulled off over the one inch material. Patent pending approval of this monstrous wheel strap design!

United Road Services Sold?

This just came up in my news feed: "Goodwin Procter Advises Charlesbank Capital Partners on LBO of United Road Services. [. . .] Getting to know the exceptional team at United Road and assisting Charlesbank in this strategic acquisition was extremely gratifying, and we look forward to helping Charlesbank achieve their long-term investment goals. (said Jon Herzog,partner in Goodwin's Private Equity Group. Read their press release. Hmm... sounds like this transaction occurred in December of last year:
http://www.charlesbank.com/news/2012/12_14_12.xml

NY Auto Salvage and Super Storm Sandy

Just had a customer in Long Island, NY tell me that the insurance auto auction outfit has signed a one year lease on some property on Long Island, and they've got about 20,000 cars that were damaged by Super Storm Sandy. He says there are POVs and new cars that got hit by the storm at the port as well as dealerships. Car haulers are keeping busy in that area hauling for the auction as well as hauling used cars in to the dealerships, because all those folks whose car got totaled by the storm now need cars. In a weird way, this storm may provide a positive jolt to the economy as people go about putting their lives back together. My Long Island customer told me there are construction contractors coming from as far away as Texas for work. You think about the building supply stores, the contractors, plumbers, roofers, window guys, siding guys, painting guys, carpet guys... and then there are the furniture stores, clothing stores, etc. We know the bad news about the storm, all that damage... but the good news of the stimulus to the economy is that it won't be just one sharp jolt. It's going to take a lot of time to move the thousands of cars and rebuilt all those homes. The insurance auction place signed a lease for a year, after all. Now if we can just get the insurance companies to move with all due haste as well as the federal, state and county governments... That'll help the people who suffered losses from Sandy, and it'll give the economic recovery a little more juice as well. Could be just the thing to finally lift construction employment off the floor!

California 3 car hauler trailer owners beware!

One of our customers is a shop teacher down in southern California. He told me that he got some useful information from a CHP trainer the last time he went to the Golden State Truck Show (formerly the Latin American Trucking Show) at the Fairplex in Pomona, CA. The recruiter said that any time they needed to have someone to pull over to demonstrate how to write tickets for the new recruits, they'd just wait for a wedge trailer to come by with three trucks or SUVs on it. He'd pull them over, ask them to follow him to the scale: bing, bang, boom-- easy demonstration for the rookies on how to write up someone for being overweight. Another thing they write tons of tickets for is anybody in one of these trailers that doesn't have his electric brakes hooked up.

Sky Ramps

Amazing new product: self-levitating auto loading ramps. These were photographed levitating under an RTR Mustang.