Truck as second income source

What’s up Tacoma Owners?


As truck owners you are definitely tired of the “Can you help me out with something? I bought XXX and could really use your truck and helping hand.” question that you get from friends all the time. You feel kind of obligated to help them out right? They are friends after all...

Unfortunately the only form of payment you get for your time and energy “wasted” on helping friends is usually a thank you or maybe a pizza. I suppose none of us likes to be free labor, right?

Thus I am asking you if you ever had the idea or opportunity of using your truck to actually earn some money (e.g Uber) and if yes are you still doing it?

If not are you open to using your truck as a second income source?

I’d really appreciate your guys’ feedback: D

Bests,

Arian (the guy without the truck)

 

Making it into a business opens up the door to all kinds of issues... liability, customer service, having work when the customer demands it, people aren't going give a shit about scuffing/dinging your truck, etc. I enjoy helping out friends when they need a hand with something; they always get me back with something... dinner, a gift, genuine thanks and appreciation, etc. Sometime it's a case of paying it forward -- chances are you may need them to lend a hand with something or a tool or whatever sometime down the road.

Making it a business doesnt fit into why I have my truck. The help I offer to my friends I get paid back in friendship. And if it ever got to the point where someone was abusing my generosity, well, that's about the point where they'd cease to by my friend anyway.

 

I would think using a Tacoma to Uber people that need items too large or dirty (some furniture-plants-animals/pets..) could be somewhat lucrative.
Just a thought..If Ubering your vehicle it would be wise to check with your insurance company to verify that you are covered while Ubering. Auto Club in So Cal has a note in their auto policy that states vehicles are not covered while being used as a Uber-Lift or like service.

 

Agreed with @BuddyS I even looked into doing something like "Uber" for people with helping them move shit.

Then I realized a HomeDepot or Uhaul ain't that expensive, and, if I am moving something for someone and it breaks they'll expect me to be responsible. Nope. I'll enjoy burning my fuel in the dirt.

 

thank you for your honest and detailed replies! A few friend of mine and I are working for a class project on
a start-up company - basically an on-demand, application based delivery service.

The insurance part is undoubtdedly a crucial part of the hauling business as it needs to cover the driver, his vehicle and last but not
least a potential customer and the item moved. Just as surfnmoto 2 has already said: As soon as you start driving for Uber you
will loose all your coverage which is something that is not okay in our books.

However I am glad that not all of you feel like they are being exploited by there friends in that regard. Most of the primary
research with truck owners that we have done has showcased that a majority of them is rather dissatisfied with
what they receive in return for their help and time.

Thank you for your time and feedback!

 

Do you Offroad at all? Or is this only research for a class project? I was going to say there's ways of earning a little extra side money that doesn't involve uber.

 

LOOOOL didn't know there are were already so many out there with that idea.
@memario1214 I appreciate the offer but we're already done with ours..^^


@Ice Horse i moved to the US from Austria last September and plan on getting
a truck as soon as I am done with college. Right now I am rather broke...

 

Don't know anything about how the insurance would work with this, but have you heard of taskrabbit? I've never used them, just heard about it. Basically, you can sign up and say you're willing to move stuff from point a to b or fix things, whatever; then people will go to the site and say they need help with such and such and are willing to pay a certain amount of money. When someone wants something like what you said you can provide you get matched up and given the opportunity to take the job.

Like I said I've never used this, but seems like you could use this service as a way to make some cash with your future truck.

 

Here's a couple of thoughts..................

Most folks have lots of acquaintances and a few true friends. And many folks don't know the difference yet. Learn how to discern that and life gets easier.

Learn to smile and say no to the acquaintances, help out the true friends if you can.

Both the ability to say no and to discern friends from acquaintances will serve you well later in life.

 

I live in a college town and help people move stuff around at the end of every quarter. I advertise on Facebook and can make some pretty good money for how easy the work is.

 

@andrewb insurance is incredibly complicated. We are in contact with a broker who builds a individual quote for every little detail
that needs to be insured. You can get insurance on everything as long as you are willing to pay an arms length for it...
I just checked out Taskrabbit and it seems to be quite the nice service. Looks like they have 1MM worth of insurance on every "haul"

@Clearwater Bill well said. It is an experience everyone has to make though.

 

would you be interested in doing this all year long as a side job or are you satisfied with seasonal activity?

 

I did... but not in the way I think you are leaning towards...

 

Yes I would definitely do it all year long but I'm not sure if it would be worth all the extra work like insurance etc

 

Most of my friends also have trucks, so this doesn't come up too often. I've moved things for my mom a couple times--she bought a love seat once and a kitchen table another time. I also did tow firewood for someone once because he got over-zealous loading the trailer and then he was significantly over the tow rating on his Outback.

I wouldn't do it regularly with a midsize truck, though. Can I put a car on a trailer and tow it if I need to? Sure. Same with loading the bed with 1000 lbs of pellets, mulch, or whatever else you can think of. But both are pretty close to the limits of the truck, so I'm not going to do either one every day.

 

Here in the Sierra Nevada, there's a few long distance hiking trails (JMT, PCT...) that people come from all over the world to backpack on. Public transit is nearly nonexistent and towns are far apart.

Hitching is a popular way to get from trail to then and vice versa.
I have run a few scheduled runs for a fee to help hikers out. I set the schedule and post on an FB group when and where I'll be and where I'm going. FCFS, flat rate no frills. Truck makes it easy, especially with stinky hikers, packs go in the bed.

I don't do this as a business, just for fun and a few extra bucks, and giving back to the trail community.