The promise -- and challenges -- of the car-haul trucking niche

Overdrive Radio

In this edition of Overdrive Radio ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, we're taking time to engage with two independent car haulers – Indiana-based owner-operator David Bunting and Ellenwood, Georgia's Eric Turner, owner of small fleet Turner Transport, both of whom have mastered the niche in spite of current auto-market challenges. Those challenges were discussed in-depth with them and others in Overdrive News Editor Matt Cole's three-part deep dive into car hauling, which you can read via this link: https://www.overdriveonline.com/business/article/15280473/automarket-turmoil-is-putting-squeeze-on-car-haulers There are plenty other car-haul challenges in a normal time, too, including per-vehicle-moved rates that don't always fluctuate with fuel the way a truck owner might want them to. There's varying heights of trailers loaded on two levels with differing types of vehicles, presenting bridge-strike danger around different parts of the country. Yet for the self-starting, self-reliant among owner-operators, there’s a reason so many are attracted to the hauling niche -- most car haulers report cumbersome loading processes but with a chief benefit in that you're reliant on yourself to do the work most often. Dock personnel do not hold you at their mercy, as it were. Hear the stories of both men and how they got into the niche, and plenty more, in today's edition. Also in today's podcast: A run through "Virginia Red," a new single written about a driver and his truck. The tune was penned by Overdrive's Music to Truck By streaming radio host Big Al Weekley and his wife, Sandy Shortridge, who sings the bluegrass ballad. Read more about it via https://www.overdriveonline.com/life/article/15280309/music-to-truck-by-back-in-overdrive-with-a-third-hour