Like the truck drivers themselves, trucking can’t be put into the same box. There are nearly unlimited driving opportunities, from traditional dry van and tankers, to loggers and miners. With freight of all types being moved around the world, some freight requires specialized skills and drivers who are up to the unique challenges.
Today, we are chatting with Shane Zandbergen, an owner-operator who has been an auto hauler for over 20 years.
TTN: Can you tell us a bit about your background and how you got started as a car hauler?
Shane: My dad was a car hauler. So when I was 13, he was already teaching me how to do this. He had a run on weekends that started on Friday night and you had a bunch of cars that had to move from an auction in Oshawa to an auction in Milton. If there was a bunch that didn’t sell at one, they would move to another one. So we would start on Friday after school.
TTN: What drew you to car hauling specifically, as opposed to other types of trucking?
Shane: It never crossed my mind to do it. And it never crossed my mind not to do it. I just kind of bounced around from job to job, doing landscaping, working at gas stations. I just kind of went along. And then my dad got out of it for a while. The truck was still in the yard, and [the company] called one day and asked, “Are you going to do something with this thing sitting here?” I said to my dad, “If you don’t want it, I’ll take it.”
TTN: You’ve been hauling cars for more than 20 years. Can you describe a typical day on the job? What does your schedule look like?
Shane: A lot of the guys aren’t home every day, but I’m up at 3:00-3:30 in the morning the truck is loaded. I always load the night before. I’m in the truck between 4:15 and 4:30 and then driving down the road. I’ll either be going into Toronto or going into Michigan. And then from there it varies.
TTN: You mentioned that you are home every night. Do car haulers travel across the country?
Shane: Yep, they do. I used to. A lot of guys run California. Drivers can have a truck loaded, and they would start working their way down to California, dropping and picking as they went. Car haulers can be LTL.
TTN: What is the most challenging aspect of loading and unloading cars, especially in tight spaces or tricky locations?
Shane: Having nowhere to turn around. As soon as you drive into a location, you have no control over anything that happens. Now you have to rely on people stopping. Somebody from the dealership has to be competent enough to get you out of there. That’s why drivers park on the road. That way they can control the traffic. Because when you’re backing out and something happens, that’s still the driver’s fault. It’s nobody else’s fault.
TTN: How to you know ahead of time where you will stop the truck at a dealership or a yard?
Shane: Google Earth. Or calling guys and saying, “Hey, have you been here?” Or call the dealership where the trucks normally park. We have an app for our new car delivery and it includes notes in there.
TTN: What’s the most interesting or unusual car you’ve ever hauled?
Shane: A couple of Ferraris that would go to Florida. And the Mercedes Maybach. We have a lot of people with really nice Mercedes, the AMG models. And some BMW Alpinas. An Austin Martin. And Corvettes. We have a lot of Corvettes.
TTN: Have you ever encountered issues with damaged vehicles?
Shane: Yes.
TTN: How do you handle that?
Shane: If I damage a vehicle, I pay for it. There’s insurance, but there’s a deductible. Sometimes it’s cheaper to just pay it yourself.
TTN: What if you find damage when you pick it up?
Shane: We have bills of lading with a picture of a car on it. You record the damage on there. If there’s major damage I take a picture of it, and I try to have something in the background that proves where and when the picture is taken.
TTN: What are some unique risks associated with hauling cars compared to other freight types?
Shane: Vehicle damage. That’s the biggest one.
TTN: Are there any technological advancements that have significantly changed car hauling since you started?
Shane: This sounds funny but the height stick. The first company I worked at, it was a pole for cleaning a pool. They just put an elbow on it, and they just made some marks on it. They’re a little better now. They’ve got nice plastic and little pins to pop out to adjust. We also went from chains in the frame to secure the vehicles to wheel straps. Not super innovative, but it was a huge change. And actually, it’s a lot easier on our bodies. A lot of the guys my dad’s age are like crippled from it. Going chains every day to using straps instead, I felt the difference.
TTN: Car haulers don’t slide tandems on your trailer, so are you always balanced then?
Shane: I can slide my fifth wheel, and some trucks have a sliding kingpin, which is different. That’s going to change the weight distribution. I had one that had, had the sliding kingpin. It’s more of an outwest thing for bridge law. For the length, they’re only allowed to be a certain length from the axles to the kingpin. There have to be shorter length than what we do.
TTN: If you weren’t hauling cars, what other type of trucking would you do?
Shane: I don’t know. I don’t think I’d have the patience to sit bumped up against the dock while the guy inside to decide if he wants to empty my trailer. Now, I pull up somewhere (with the vehicles) and they’re coming off the truck. Nobody controls my time.
TTN: If you weren’t driving a truck, what would you do?
Shane: I think about this a lot and I can’t see myself doing anything else.
Thanks to Shane for taking time from his busy schedule to share his experience as an auto hauler.
