Introduction:
While at a recent trip to a dealership, I noticed a driver delivering a brand new truck to the dealer. The driver that delivered the truck told me he was a ‘driveaway’ driver. The driver told me that he loved it much more than driving long haul with a trailer and that he wished he had discovered it sooner. He said he would never go back to driving a tractor-trailer after becoming a driveaway driver. So what the heck is a driveaway driver? Fascinated, I asked him a few questions to learn more. Here is a transcript of our conversation:
Question and Answer:
Q: What is a driveaway driver?
A: Drive away transportation drivers, often referred to as “driveaway” drivers, work transporting vehicles from one location to another. They are typically hired by individuals or companies to move various types of vehicles, such as cars, buses, or RVs, to their intended destinations.
Q: How does being a driveaway driver compare to being a truck driver?
A: The primary distinctions are:
Truck drivers:
- drive their own truck
- typically haul freight on their truck
- are concerned with the safety of the freight.
Driveaway drivers:
- drive the customer’s vehicle for transport
- typically move vehicles on behalf of their owners or manufacturers
- are concerned with the safety of the customer’s vehicle.
Q: Why do you love it more than truck driving?
A: Two words, job variety and flexibility. As a driveaway driver, I enjoy a greater degree of job variety and flexibility compared to truck driving. Because I drive a wide range of vehicles, each transport assignment can be different from the previous one. This variety not only keeps the job interesting but also allows me to gain experience operating various types of vehicles. Additionally, as a driveaway driver I own my own company and work as an independent contractor. As a result, I often have the freedom to choose assignments that suit my preferences and this provides diversity and a flexible work schedule that can’t be beat.
Q: How do you get your assignments?
A: I use a load board that is probably very similar to load boards you use as an owner-operator truck driver. The only difference is I am looking for vehicles to transport instead of loads to haul. I search Nationwide for something that needs to be delivered and, if the pickup isn’t in my hometown I have to travel to pick up the unit and deliver it to its destination.
Q: What type of vehicles do you drive?
A: I have driven everything from semis (without the trailer), box trucks, mobile homes, UPS trucks, cars, vans, you name it.
Q: How much does it pay?
A: The jobs pay anywhere from $0.80 to $3 a mile depending on what you’re transporting. The most lucrative jobs are those that begin and end at home. Otherwise, I have to factor in paying for my transportation cost to the pickup, home from the pickup, or both. However, sometimes I can string a few jobs together that will give me a round trip home and these are the holy grail of driveaway driving. On one such trip where everything aligned just right, I began and ended at home, completed three deliveries in four days while out, and netted $2500.
Q: You make this sound like a nice gig. Is this something I can do whenever my truck is in the shop or down for an extended period of time?
A: Sure, and because you have a CDL and truck driving experience, you could also look into doing ‘towaway’, which is basically a type of driveaway where a semi truck tows two other semi-trucks behind it. If you ever wondered why you sometimes see a semi-truck towing a personal vehicle, that is most likely a driveaway driver. That person is likely going to deliver the truck and drive their personal vehicle back home.
Finding the next load:
After he had answered all of my questions and since he had just finished delivering the truck to the dealership, he began searching for a new job opportunity. I offered to drop him off at his next pickup if he could find one on my route. As he searched, I helped him with the calculations to figure out what the profit would be. He said that going through the numbers this way was helpful and very important but that many drivers either did not know how to do it or didn’t want to do it.
The reason it’s important is that sometimes there are unexpected expenses. For example, for one of his jobs he needed to deliver a UPS truck. He said after the job was over he was surprised to find out that driving that UPS truck cost $300 a day in fuel. He would have never expected it to be that much and because of that, the job was less profitable than he anticipated.
I told him that it’s unfortunate that drivers neglect this and offered to develop a spreadsheet for him to use to make it easier and quicker to calculate his profit before he accepted the assignment. He said that he would really appreciate that and that it could also help other driveaway drivers make sure they’re earning money from their assignments or select the most profitable jobs for their particular situation.
After speaking with him I created the White Glove Trucking Driveaway Profit and Expense Tracker spreadsheet to help him and other driveaway drivers calculate their jobs to know beforehand how much money they will make and be able to compare different jobs.
I have linked the spreadsheet here for any driveway drivers to download and use.