I have a buddy who is retired, lives in northern Indiana, and hauls campers on what he calls a “part time” basis. What that means to him, or did in the beginning 2 years ago, is typically two trips a week. From talking to him about this there are basically two kinds of haulers. Drivers like him who do it to supplement their income and drivers that are trying to make a living at it.
My buddy will rarely make a trip that he can’t do a round trip in one day. Even for him, this at times stretches the limits of what he’s supposed to drive. Keep in mind these guys are subject to keeping a log book just like a semi driver. And from what he tells me the rules have gotten stricter as far as showing down time. Technically (as I understand it) this also counts on return trips when they’re empty.
So for him, to drive all the way to the East Coast and drive back empty doesn’t pay enough. And drivers out there trying to make a living at this can’t afford many (if any) trips back empty.
I considered doing this when I got my new diesel, but the pay versus the wear and tear on a new truck just wasn’t worth it.
