rates for sub hauler for IAA and copart

[KEN TOWTRUCK2020]

I want to buy a 2 car flatbed and haul cars for copart and IAA.

How much are the rates that sub hauler's make in the Cleveland Ohio area?

[ESC]

On 2/16/2020 at 10:15 AM, KEN TOWTRUCK2020 said:

I want to buy a 2 car flatbed and haul cars for copart and IAA.

How much are the rates that sub hauler's make in the Cleveland Ohio area?

I had talked with Copart a few years ago and found their rates were ridiculously low.   They are 32 miles from me, and the rate to haul one from my shop to them was $55 per car.     Pretty scary that their are people running for those rates.

[2000intow]

My semi local subcontractor for copart told me $1.00 loaded mile, he's a pretty honest guy, but I can barley believe that to be true? 

[yoBdaBenO]

Copart said $75 a car within a 50 mile radius of their storage lot. Does not matter of it's 5 miles or 50 miles it's the same rate. One of the owner operator one truck haulers said if he hauls 2 or 3 in one load within that 50 miles and he does that a couple of times a day or 6 cars it's $450. That's a lot of work for a little pay after expenses. He averages about $2500 a week, we didn't get into his expenses. There's some Fuzzy Math there someplace.

[GRUMPS The Towman]

There are two types of guys around here that haul for Copart & IAA . the first type use those as filler jobs and haul here and there for them. the second type are fly by night guys running ragged 3 or 4 car carriers that run all over gods green earth dragging wrecks around for them. Their trucks  are barley road worthy and poorly equipped to deal with most of the wrecks they haul. These auction houses just simply dont pay enough to get any decent companies to haul for them.The numbers mentioned by yoBdaBenO above are pretty accurate with what I have been told by the guys running for them around here. A 3 car carrier makes 5 -6 trips a day at those rates and they feel they are making a living. But in reality they only are scraping by if nothing goes south for them. Their antics have put them on D.O.T's radar so they constantly get dragged in for spot inspections that usually result in a red tag. I have gotten a couple calls in recent times from a particular company around here that shall remain nameless that picked up a vehicle from me an hour or so later asking me to come pick up the same car and hold on to it untill they can send another truck for it due to being shut down by D.O.T. or their truck going down with a mechanical issue. Of course I happily provide service and charge for another tow and day or so storage. If you can run for them as a filler to supplement your other work then i would say try it out. If your a newer company hoping they will pay your bills my advice would be to look elsewhere for work. There is just no money with them.

[mackrandyb]

i hauled for copart before they pay by zones 0-10 miles etc.. and they have 3 pay tiers, i was on tier 2 for 50 miles i got 54 dollars a car

[GRUMPS The Towman]

2 hours ago, Gatorengineer said:

Not sure if this is the right post, but how does someone decide to tow it to copart or other place. Especially when it is late at night and the insurance carriers are closed.

If I am understanding you correctly, you are referring to towing a vehicle there straight from the accident? If that is the case, then It is up to the owner or driver of said vehicle as to where it goes. They must pay for it of course. Otherwise it goes with me to my storage yard untill the owner or insurance company decides what they want to do with it. And again, Payment is due at time of pickup (or delivery if I am towing it ). 

[Derlyn Z]

 

Not sure if this is the right post, but how does someone decide to tow it to copart or other place. Especially when it is late at night and the insurance carriers are closed.

 

 Yes, if we are towing it directly from the accident scene, we usually tow it (Like Grumps stated) back to our storage lot, or to the place of the customers choice. Though we usually try to get the vehicle back to our storage lot, especially if they have full coverage on there insurance. Then usually the insurance adjuster comes out directly to our lot to look over the vehicle to determine if it is totaled or not. Anymore it seems like most of the new vehicles get totaled so much quicker with all the airbags that deploy.

[CNGTOWING]

It’s all about what you make of it. CoPart offers an app where you can request and receive work depending upon the demand. Rates will vary though. I would suggest that you inquire at your local CoPart facility about becoming a Tow Provider. Someone at the location should give you all the insurance requirements and rates. I would suggest that you use CoPart as a additional source of cash flow on slow days and/or months. Don’t sell yourself short with a two car hauler though. You can make decent revenue. And, I am a tow provider /independent contractor for CoPart. 

Edited August 7, 2021 by CNGTOWING

[Donnie Huey]

Thinking about getting a 2 car hauler and haul for copart as my only job in Birmingham what are your thoughts should I or not would it be worth the rates they pay 

[Derlyn Z]

I have never hauled for Copart or IIA, but from what I hear from the guys towing out of our storage lot it seems like they hardly pay enough to make it worth while to do that full time, unless you use Copart as a fill in in between other jobs that pay a little better. But maybe It has gotten better in the last while, there might be someone on here that could give you a better idea.

[Hollywood3271]

Copart called me from their Knightdale NC  location today and I’m just wondering about the pay. The paperwork I seen was saying zones but didn’t say where the zones are so I could figure out if it’s worth it 

[CNGTOWING]

So for example. If you did tows in the zones nearest your local CoPart you would get the least amount for those tows. The further out you go to different zones the more you would get for completing those tows. 

Edited December 30, 2021 by CNGTOWING

[J J]

How much does iaai & copart subhauler pay per car in nj at the Glassboro location and Washington twp iaai location?

[Stubborn66]

Just read through these posts and I did not see anyone mention time at Copart.  I took one vehicle to Copart on an insurance request.  I spent over an hour at Copart waiting for them to get their paperwork in order and tell me where to drop it.  I will not go back to Copart for any reason.

Recently I had a customer call and ask me to go pick up a car at Copart that he had bought through their online auction.  I did not take that call either, I can only imagine how long that would have taken. 

 

We are also looking to hire a guy here and I have had a couple guys apply who had worked for, or are working for, companies how haul for Copart.  All three of them were paid on a commission and did not make the money promised when they took the job. 

[CNGTOWING]

@Stubborn66 I believe if you owned your own equipment/tow company and hauling for CoPart it would put you at a much better advantage. Any person who works for a tow company other than their own is at the financial dependency of that said company. 

[Stubborn66]

46 minutes ago, CNGTOWING said:

Stubborn66 I believe if you owned your own equipment/tow company and hauling for CoPart it would put you at a much better advantage. Any person who works for a tow company other than their own is at the financial dependency of that said company. 

Good Morning, Not sure what your point is. 

Whether I own the company or I am a driver paid on commission I want the wheels turning to get to the next job, unless I can bill for the time waiting.  

 

51 minutes ago, CNGTOWING said:

Any person who works for a tow company other than their own is at the financial dependency of that said company.

That is true of anyone working for someone else in ANY industry.

 

 

[Crank IT]

We subhaul for copart. We have an older truck that has low mileage so I honestly feel a bit insulted by the guy earlier saying everyone that hauls cars for them have basically junk for trucks. It doesn't have to be a $100,000 brand new fancy with all the bells and whistles truck to get you started. Ours is well maintained and very much DOT compliant as are all the rest of the guys we haul with. Your pay is based on zones that go out so many miles from the main location and the pay  increases the farther away you go. So you may go 2 miles into one zone and get $75 per car or you may go 25 miles into the same zone and still get $75 per car but it all levels out in the end.  Our rates are pretty good and so far we have been successful in getting rate increases readily when fuel prices go up. We won't get rich over it but we make a decent living. It's alot of miles being put on these trucks every day because your running constantly. So yes there are more break downs than usual because of the constant running. It's challenging and a fast learning environment because you pick up every thing you can imagine all in one day.  You could pick up 2 that run and drive in one load and the next load they maybe severely damaged and you've gotta get creative and do a salvage hookup because there's no front end left. They do their best to make sure we have a towable and non towable on each run so it's a full run and will also add on a motorcycle so your hauling 3 or set you up with a haul out to deliver to an owner or collision center to up your pay if they've got one. They value their subhaulers because they are their life's  blood so they work hard to keep you happy and successful. 

[Crank IT]

These are our rates for our copart each one is different depending on the location of your local office. They will give you a rate sheet and a map if you go ask them for one. 

[CNGTOWING]

@Crank IT Mostly accurate. My company gets those same rates. I feel like if anyone really wanted to know they would go through the same process we have in order to look at the rates. CoPart works for me, I don’t work for CoPart. I can literally do 6 tows in one day for CoPart and pay my insurance off for the month. It’s all in how you utilize the opportunity. I have no complaints. 

[Crank IT]

I agree, best thing to do is go talk to them and get the packet to start. It tells you everything you need to know including what insurance you need. Copart does pay less than IAA but they also require less insurance. Win some you loose some.

[Stubborn66]

1 hour ago, Crank IT said:

We subhaul for copart. We have an older truck that has low mileage so I honestly feel a bit insulted by the guy earlier saying everyone that hauls cars for them have basically junk for trucks. It doesn't have to be a $100,000 brand new fancy with all the bells and whistles truck to get you started. Ours is well maintained and very much DOT compliant as are all the rest of the guys we haul with.

I too run older trucks that are in good shape, and I keep them that way.  We run our businesses to make money, new trucks are nice but not a necessity.  If you can run a truck that cost 30K and do the same jobs as a truck that cost 110K why spend the money?  Maybe I was brought up differently??

As for being insulted, I think we all have guys running around our areas that are running beat up old trucks, not properly insured, cutting the rates to where a normal business cannot make a profit.  Those guys come and go, in my opinion.

 

As for working for Copart, it may good filler work for some, some it may not be, it all depends on the individual business.  We do not do Copart, but we do club work as filler work for our shop.

 

 

1 hour ago, Crank IT said:

Your pay is based on zones that go out so many miles from the main location and the pay  increases the farther away you go. So you may go 2 miles into one zone and get $75 per car or you may go 25 miles into the same zone and still get $75 per car but it all levels out in the end.

It is good that they are giving you pay raises, the clubs are tough to renegotiate with.  I have an issue with the zones, personally, with the GPS capabilities, they know where the cutoffs for each zone is, why cant they just be fair and pay the mileages on each car???  They know that as well.  They control the dispatch, so I have a hard time believing "it all levels out in the end".  But that is just me.

 

 

1 hour ago, Crank IT said:

I agree, best thing to do is go talk to them and get the packet to start. It tells you everything you need to know including what insurance you need. Copart does pay less than IAA but they also require less insurance. Win some you loose some.

 

I agree 100%, if I was looking to get into buying a truck, I would know what all my other costs are up front before I decided who I wanted my customers to be, and I would be looking at multiple customers, not putting my eggs all in one basket.  I would also be going to my local Copart facility to put faces to names.

 

The original poster is looking to BUY a truck to haul for Copart.  I would caution against that if he has no other customer base to rely on.

 

 

[CNGTOWING]

I'll enlighten those who are contracting and/or hauling for other companies such as RCG, LKQ, etc. and are having timing issues at CoPart's yards. Those long lines you have to wait in could be created for various reason. However, I won't get too specific. But I did try hauling for CoPart and RCG at the same time and quickly discovered that I was working in a conflict of interest. 

Edited March 19, 2022 by CNGTOWING

[KEN TOWTRUCK2020]

What are the rates for towing for the post office moving vehicles from place to place. In Cleveland Ohio and Youngstown Ohio

Edited March 26, 2023 by KEN TOWTRUCK2020

[CNGTOWING]

I have no idea what the USPS compensates independent tow contractors. However if you are looking to contracting with various  companies you should look into UHaul, Hertz, RGC Logistics, TQL, CoPart, IAA and etc. The more contracts at your disposal the more options you have instead of being limited to just providing roadside assistance. In addition, I would call around to various tow companies in your area and ask for quotes to get a idea of what the average tow costs including hook fees, miles to vehicle fees, loaded fees, and etc. 

Edited March 27, 2023 by CNGTOWING