Car Hauler Business – Quick overview of the Trucks and Trailer

Hey, guys!

CarShipIO Team wanted to share with you some general equipment information for auto transport practitioners and people who want to start their own car hauler business. Let’s start with the basic of what’s a car hauler company? A Car Carrier or Car Hauler company can be used to transport or move your car so you can save your time, money and mileage of driving it yourself. In the business of car carriers there are different types of auto transport trucks to choose from, depending on your needs, but in this article, we would speak about the 2 most common used car carrier truck types. Here we go with a quick overview of these 2 truck types for car shipping

Open Trailer Example
Open Trailer Example


The first one is the open carrier truck type transport, shipping with this type of truck will save you money. The car protection in the process of transportation is not in top notch security, but from experience of different companies and drivers, the damage is very rare. The final consumer of the vehicle will save money with this type of truck because he will be sharing the cost of the vehicle with other customers that are shipping at the same time at a nearby final destination.

The second most common way to transport a vehicle, typically set of specific vehicles like luxurious, high-value and collectible is enclosed.

The thing with Enclosed type of car carrier truck is the price!
It is usually available to big budget people.
A general guideline the price can sometimes be doubled compared to open carrier truck types. Also, the cost depends on the number of cars that will be shipped and also the expenses for the insurance on that trip. The loading system of the car carrier truck is designed to load and unload the vehicles easier than the open carrier truck. The advantage here is the highest caliber of security for the cars from climate change, road impacts, or any different types of physical impacts. Every type has pros and cons, it always depends on what are your needs when you transport your cars. 

Most Used Car Carrier Trailers 
Tractor-trailer trucks

Tractor-trailer trucks or multi-car trailers are a type of open transport. They represent a better choice for discount auto shipping because. Why?

  • Bigger Quantity – they can haul more vehicles at once over more miles.
  • Slower Speed – They have the disadvantage that they are slower and have a hard time navigating in different residential areas.

In this specific case, when you will a have a tractor-trailer truck, meeting the driver in an open parking lot to load and unload the car from a tractor trailer, or using a terminal-to-terminal auto shipping parking will be the best solutions. Pickup style truck, dually Pickup style truck is also named hotshot car hauler or flatbed trailers and they represent the opposite type of tractor-trailer because:

  • Faster Speed – Deliver to the final destination faster and very easy navigation
  • Higher Price on Service
  • Small Quantity – typically from 1 car up to 3 cars, some trailers can fit 4 smaller cars

They are a preferred method for shipping SUV’s, trucks, and modified cars. Thank you for your read, hope that this general guideline will help you understand better the equipment for this kind of business. Please feel free to ask CarShipIO questions about what you need for your car hauler business.

Intro to the Car Hauler Business

Are you sick and tired of working for someone else?

If YES, then please continue reading as I want you to imagine this:

You sometimes dream of being your own boss, having your company, being in charge of your own truck & trailer. You choose how do you work with, what trips to have and what loads to pick up. Deep down you know it’s time to take this decision as you already have the experience and money to transition to this.

You’ve already decided, you just need to take action to start up already and I know what you’re thinking “But how I am going to do all of this?’’
“How to start a Car Hauling business?’’

The simple truth is hard work and commitment, I really do not advise to take the car hauler business like a joke. But guess what? We still have for some intro steps to start up in the car hauler business:

  • First of all, get I already assumed you have your CDL A license, but if you don’t have to go get it – Learn more here
  • Go Shop for your truck & trailer – check out our blog about some basics of truck & trailer types in the car hauler business – Learn more here
  • Come up with Legal Company Name and/or DBA, you can have both
  • Incorporate, LLC or S-Corp will do
  • Getting your DOT Certificate, MC # & IFTA
  • UCR Registration
  • Complete any other requirements.
  • Buy the Truck & Trailer – within 30 days of application for your operation authority and make sure you get quote insurance on equipment – these 2 tips are extremely important.
  • Wait for Approval by FMCSA
  • Look for a Load board – Check out CarShipIO guide here

And last but not least, to really become top notch car hauler, I highly recommend checking out our CarShipIO system car hauler software, driver app, and load board as we’ve consulted and helped thousands of car haulers with our technology platform.
Car hauling is still business that has expenses, you will need multiple reports to understand how things are going, you will have to send invoices, understand who owes you money and who paid and who is late and much more.

Here’s a big idea – you need to take this seriously and go all in and you will open up the opportunity to make a lot of money.

P.S You can engage and interact in the indeed forum with other car haulers.  

Until next time, Happy car hauling
CarShipIO Team