Carrier Decision - Auto Carriers - Drivers & Operators

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Career Decision

18 Wheels of Justice Investigates

Auto Carriers

 For

Drivers and Owner Operators

November 2, 2012 - 13:57

Welcome to a new multiple part series called “Career Decision”

18 Wheels of Justice investigates all the rumors we have heard for years about the money to be made in other specialized trucking segments of our industry.  We look into all areas of trucking.

We wanted to get the real story on car hauling, not the typical “spiel” from a large car hauler.  The staff at 18 Wheels of Justice HQ was lucky enough to stumble upon a long standing, small carrier in Florida.   Auto Carrier Express, based in Jacksonville, has been very successful and profitable hauling cars for the last 15 years, and more importantly the owner operators and drivers have done just as well.

They have several customer relationships with prestigious customers as Southeast Toyota, American Honda, Hyundai and Kia to name just a few.  First, let’s get some background on Auto Carrier Express (ACE)  

ACE offers auto transport services primarily in the Southeastern United States, from Florida to Maryland and as far West as Alabama on a routine basis.

The primary benefit of this operation is its “1^st come-1^st serve” approach to the dispatching system. There are no A,B,C rated drivers at ACE. There are no “forced dispatches” or “hot loads”. You have the flexibility to run any direction you wish based on the available loads.

Auto Carrier Express is dedicated to the man behind the wheel. This proves evident in the payscale, the benefits and all of the in-house perks that go along with wearing the ACE uniform.  ACE even keeps the freezer stocked with quick and easy meals for the drivers to satisfy that hunger pang when you’re in a pinch for time.

As an ACE driver, you can expect to see your annual pay to be an average of 30% higher than that of a van or flatbed driver.  Some of the other unique salary benefits are listed below…   

  Company Drivers

• Dollar for Dollar 401k Match up to 4% of pay
• Short Term Disability Paid
• Health & Dental Paid 66%
• Quarterly Fuel (MPG) Bonuses
• Monthly & Annual Quality Bonuses

  Owner Operators 

77.5% of Revenue for Op’s – That’s 77.5% of Car Hauler $$

ACE pays 100% Liability and Cargo Insurance + ½ of Plate

Fuel Surcharges on ALL accounts

18 Wheels of Justice – Quick Stats – Who’s in Charge?

In 1997, Gilbert and Vicki Hanks started ACE with just one truck. Today, the company boasts a 60 – vehicle fleet, a team of 70 employees and a stellar safety record — achievements that are the result of building strong relationships with customers and investing in quality people, equipment and technology. 

 

Gilbert Hanks - CEO

The driving force behind Auto Carrier Express is Gilbert Hanks, co-founder and chief executive officer. In 1997, at the request of Southeast Toyota, who wanted to partner with a dependable vehicle transportation company, Gilbert established ACE. To meet the challenge, Gilbert created a strong platform of technology and high-quality assets. Naturally, this attracted some of the best people in the trucking industry, and the rest is history.  

William Mauldin – Vice President

William’s responsibilities include strategy, branding, strengthening current relationships, providing technical and financial management expertise, and identifying and acquiring new business for the expanding fleet.  William has filled several operational and relationship management roles, serving the auto transport market from the ground up.

In short, ACE has the people, equipment and technology to deliver on its promises. The combined experience of its drivers is well above the industry average. ACE utilizes handpicked company drivers and owner operators who have a keen understanding of what sets transportation companies apart: exceptional service and customer satisfaction.  ACE focuses on recruiting and retaining high-quality individuals who measure up to stringent standards – Good People Skills, Positive Attitude, Effective Problem Solvers, Pride in their Work, Self Motivated – Perhaps the most important thing ACE does is to enfranchise its employees, which allows drivers to directly benefit from going over and above for customers. In addition, ACE has developed a comprehensive Driver Development Program that invests time and energy into training promising individuals to become certified car haulers. 

Want a 30% pay raise? Want Home time? Ready to move up?

Drivers and Operators

Call Chris Hanks today 800-809-1491

We would like to thank Mr. Mauldin for his time.  Auto Carrier Express would be a great place to start exploring a new "Career Decision"...

Copyright 2012 18 Wheels of Justice

Part III - Drivers - How to Narrow your Job Search

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Welcome to Part III - Drivers - How to Narrow Your Job Search...

6.  Consult with your wife, husband or significant other.(for ease of reading we will refer to this person as your wife)  This is a step that is often overlooked.  You're wife will remember all the issues you complained about or liked at your last job.  Sometimes we only tend to remember the good things or bad things about a company we worked for.  Your Wife is a great sounding board because believe it or not she listens to you and wants to see you happy.  If your happy, she's happy.  It's not just about the money, it's easy to get wrapped up in the money aspect of a job.  Trust me, the a few pennies more per mile will lose its appeal when you are stuck out over the week-end, not getting the miles, or have a dispatcher that doesn't care or is too busy all the time.  FBC(Federal Blog Commission) Warning.  Too much interaction/conversation with your wife can lead to problems.  As you all know, a wife is, pound for pound, the most dangerous animal in the world.  Tread carefully here.  I learned this the hard way when I recently asked my significant other her opinion and ended up in a relationship counseling session.

5. Online Driver Discussion boards.  Check these out!  These can be a good source of real information.  I think every driver should belong to a few of them.  Like anything, there are good ones and bad ones, and some of the people who post on boards are just disgruntled and unhappy.  So use caution here also and don't believe everything you read.  I have gotten a lot of good information from these boards, and the better ones have members who have their profiles published also, so you can see who your talking to,  I find that for the most part, if someone is going to take the time to write and discuss companies etc. on these boards, they are generally sincere.

4.  Respect.  This is a common and rather generic term that is thrown around a lot these days.  Why?  I don't know.  I think respect is a given.  Perhaps what these trucking companies mean is that they are honest about things.  I think Honesty is the best quality a company can have when it communicates with its drivers.  Its just that simple.  This is a key aspect to look for in any potential employer.  When your following these steps, always keep this in mind.   

This seems like a lot of work, doesn't it?  Yes it does!  But, please remember the hours/days of orientation, setting up your truck, paperwork, drug tests and spending a few months at a company you don't like, when you make a knee-jerk decision to work somewhere. There is a lot of time and money you are investing in a new job, make it count.  A few hours of research now will save you tons of headaches later.  I originally tried to do this in 3 parts, but this is an important decision and there is a lot to cover.  Stay tuned, Part IV this weekend! 

What about a career change?  Have you thought about switching to pulling a reefer, van, flatbed, or tanker?  How about a being a car hauler or driving for an Oil Field Services company? Intermodal?  You ask, we deliver.  18 Wheels of Justice investigates and compares apples to apples and breaks it all down for you... Debuts next week!  "Drivers and Operators: Choices within your Driving Career - The Inside Scoop"...Next week will be the long awaited debut of “Ask 18 Wheels of Justice” on our website. We provide opinions, answers and solutions to all things trucking.  If we don't know, we will find the answer! A sincere thank you to all of you who submitted questions, please keep them coming.

© 2012 Michael H. Komadina

18 Wheels of Justice™

"Negotiating with Freight Brokers and 3PL's"  A "must have" in todays freight market, improve your company's profitability by training your staff with this hands on training manual today!

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Drivers - Part II. How to Narrow your Job Search

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Welcome back and thank you for joining us for "Part II - How to Narrow Your Job Search".  It can be a very daunting task, with all the options available.  So many ad's, a thousand job search website's, everyone promising everything to everybody.  I think an important thing to remember as a driver is that our industry is just silly.  Yes, silly.  It is so segmented and there truly aren't any major players in the truckload market.  I remember reading a few years ago that if you combined the top ten truckload carriers in this great nation of ours, they hauled less than 10% of the total truckload market.  When business picks up, your local trucking company will go down to the truck dealer and buy 10 more trucks.  When he has drivers for all of his trucks, he feels he must be doing something right and buys another 10 trucks.  When the bank stops by and visits him and gives him the green light for more trucks, he buys him.  God bless the optimism of the trucking company owner!  My point is that all of the turnover and all the driving positions available doesn't make this a bad industry to work in, in fact its the best industry in the country to work in.  The capacity and availability of driving positions reflects the segmented state of trucking, lots of moving parts for a lot of different reasons.  Back to business.  I hope you have read Part I, if not please do so now and join me back here. 

7.  How did you hear about this trucking company?  This is important.  The amount of advertising a company has does not necessarily mean that they have issues finding drivers.  There are a number of reasons a company advertises for drivers.(see above)  You may have seen their trucks close by home, saw an ad the internet, etc.  What about the ad appealed to you?  Was it any different than the others?
Sometimes you just have to pick one, sort of like duck hunting.  Write down 5 things that appeal to you about a company you want to work for.  New Tractor? Home time? Newer Trailers? Miles? Regions they run? Pay? The Dispatcher - does he have any authority on the amount of miles you get and when you need to be home? Fuel network? Company's reputation? Maint.? and so on. 

Join us later this week for the rest of this article and more!  Please check out our 18 Wheels of Justice LinkedIn group for Drivers and Owner Operators.  If you're not on LinkedIn, please join, it is a valuable resource for Drivers and Operators.  As always, thank you for reading...

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