Of course they have all sorts of questions: can you make money at it? How much does it cost to get into it? What do I need to know? What certifications or permits do I need? What kind of equipment do I need to get?

Others far more experienced than I have written on these subjects, so I am in good company when I attempt to answer these questions from my own perspective. This is the first in a series of articles that I will be writing on the subject. I invite my colleagues to comment on these articles and to correct me when I am wrong. I also invite questions from the readers of this series.

The fundamental question that a “newbie” should consider is this: do you REALLY want to be a pilot car operator?

This is not an easy life, particularly for someone with a family. If I had family obligations, including a wife, children at home, ailing parents, etc., I doubt I would be IN this business. It is true that some people can make a good living in this business with relatively short runs, thus allowing one to maintain the semblance of a family life. Unfortunately, this is rare. It generally depends upon physical location. For example, if one lives near a state line where there are differing pilot car requirements. The best example I can think of for this is those people who live along the Oklahoma panhandle. The panhandle is only about 40 miles wide between Texas and Colorado or Kansas. Often, oversize loads need escorts just across the state of Oklahoma. Thus, people living in that area could easily stay busy just running short runs for a fixed rate, and make a good living, while being at home every night.

The challenges we face in this business are almost the same as the challenges that big rig (over-the-road) truck drivers. I believe that truck drivers probably have an easier time getting loads. There are load boards available, dispatchers, or trucking companies to whom drivers can lease. While there are some pilot car load boards, they are not nearly as sophisticated or as numerous as for the truck drivers.

There is wear and tear on your vehicle to consider. Even more important, do you have an extra vehicle that you can use for this business? Surely you do not want to leave your family without transportation while you are out on a run.

One should consider the financial aspects of being in business for one’s self. Of course there is a lot of freedom when you work for yourself. On the other hand, you miss the “bennies” of working for someone else. Foremost, especially if you have a family at home, is the availability of health insurance through an employer. Add to that the workers’ compensation insurance in the event you are injured on the job. In our business, I do not know of any independent pilot car services company that offers workers’ compensation. There may be some states in the New England area that require this, but that is the exception, rather than the rule. Working for someone else means there is an hourly wage or a salary that you can depend upon (providing you keep your job and your employer doesn’t sell out or shut down).

This business can be a “feast or famine” type of business. To a certain extent, it is seasonal. Obviously, more oversize loads (or OD loads) move during the warmer months of the year. In the southern tier of states, this is not such a problem, but if you live in the northern tier, it COULD be a problem if you want to stay in your immediate area. There are ways to avoid the seasonal aspect, or to prepare for it. It simply takes self discipline and/or planning.

That brings us to the critical issue of self discipline. You MUST be self disciplined in this business, like any independently owned business. Self discipline is important for a variety of reasons. You must be reliable, meaning that if you give your work to meet a load at a time and place, you must be there. You must exercise self discipline in the maintenance of your vehicle, your paperwork, your business relationships. If you are not a self starter and want to be in this business, work for someone else.

There are many issues that you need to consider before getting into this business. My next issue will deal with the financial aspects of owning your own pilot car services company.

Today I completed one route survey and began another one.  My second survey of the day is for the exact same load that I took through a couple of weeks ago…but I thought I would find a shortcut and save my customer about 100 miles.  I got three quarters of the way through the shortcut when I encountered an overpass that is five inches too low.

Two years ago, I measured that overpass and it was 2 inches higher than my load for this new survey, so I thought for sure I could get my load through.  WRONG!!  Apparently, at some point over the past 2 years, someone repaved the road underneath that overpass.  That’s the only logical explanation I can come up with.  SURELY I measured it accurately 2 years ago, so that couldn’t be it.  There is an important point here, for those of you just learning to perform route surveys:  NEVER EVER simply do a book survey because you think you know your route “like the back of your hand”.  Stuff happens!  Things change!  There is just too much at stake to do a so-called “book” survey.  People get hurt and loads get destroyed and overpasses or bridges get damaged when you do things like that…not to mention HUGE claims against your liability insurance.  Every time I have tried to do a “book” survey, I got caught at it, and that is embarrassing.

Anyway, I had to backtrack about 100 miles and start over on my second survey.  That puts me about a half day behind where I wanted to be by now.  Hopefully I will finish it up on Friday.

I dodged a big weather bullet last night.  As I got into Tucumcari last night, a serious storm was coming through town.  I pulled into a parking lot and waited for about 20 minutes until things cleared up.  I never saw anything, so I had dinner, went to my room and went to bed.  This morning, I learned that  a tornado apparently had passed over me and struck a house not even a half mile from where I had parked.  (Someone up there likes me.  Who knows why?)

I am in Bernalillo, NM, tonight.

You are welcome to check out our rates and services offered. We have photographs of our equipment and loads that we have escorted, as well as other pilot car operators we have met along our travels.

Please browse our website and sign our guest book. We welcome your comments and your suggestions.

Above all, we welcome your business. We have contacts all around the country. If we cannot help you directly, we surely can find an escort near you in short order.

Then, I was called to pick up a load in Laredo, going to Nevada. When I got there, I learned that I wasn’t needed. The trucking company had lined up an escort for the driver two days before I was called, but they didn’t tell the driver that! Even though it was the company’s fault, their attitude is that the best they could do for me was to pay me a no-go feel that doesn’t even cover half of my costs for the trip down, much less for the complete round trip. Fortunately, I was able to pick up another run not too far away, but when it was all said and done, I made about $150 in profit…which I will not see for another 30 days.

I’ve had calls for loads, made commitments and given up other runs because of those commitments…and then my loads have fallen through. I know it is the nature of the business, but it has been frustrating at best. Normally, my nest egg would see me through, but it has withered into an egg about the size of a robin’s egg.

Things will get better!