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Make Money from Your Truck

While driving back from the bank in my full-sized pickup truck I thought, “there must be more that I can do with my truck than just doing errands”. It was really only utilized when I went on camping trips or had to lug home new furniture. Then it dawned on me! There must be jobs for pickup truck owners near me! So, I started researching what to do with a truck and found there are many ways to make money utilizing my truck. Here is what I found and what worked for me:

How to Make Money with a Pickup Truck and Trailer

When trying to make money with your pickup truck, you can find the most amount of work if you have a trailer because you have more space to load materials. In any case, it’s always a good idea to get a bed liner to protect your truck bed no matter what work you’ll do with it. For example, the DK2 Mighty Multi Utility Trailer gives an extra 5 ft x 7 ft when the sides are up, and an extra 12 ft when the front and back load-bearing gates are down. This particular trailer has a carrying compacity of 1693 lbs. Parking does become more tricky with a larger trailer. One way to handle this is parking assistance. You may think that dashcams are only used for recording the road ahead of you, but many come with parking and reverse assistance. To find out more about this and other features that may help you with your money-making endeavor, check out my article explaining what dashcams can do for you. With a trailer, you can make money hauling stuff much easier than without a trailer.

Scrapping Metal

You can make quite a bit of money “scrapping” metal that you can find from your workplace, your yard, and even on the side of the road on trash-day. You can go even further and set up agreements with local businesses to haul off their metal for free such as mechanics. You can also tow away junk cars for cheap to later scrap. It is wise to have basic knowledge about metals since some are worth much more than others. For example, carbide is worth about $4.50 per pound whereas light iron is worth only $90 per ton (or 4 cents per pound). You can make a lot more from your scrap metal if you appropriately sort it and “clean” or strip insulation from any copper wire you’ve collected. The reason for this is that insulated copper wires are worth approximately half a dollar and clean copper wire being worth more than two dollars per pound. Besides this, you will be paid less if they have to sort all the different metals from each other themselves. If you have a bunch of time on your hands and you need something to keep yourself occupied, you can even disassemble appliances to remove the motors (which are worth more than the scrap steel).

Moving Services

If you not only have a truck but also physical strength, then providing moving services may be an option for you. There is a large market because there are many people who do not have a vehicle to move their furniture or the physical ability to move it from one house to another. You could also provide other related services like packing, unpacking and furniture assembly. It would be wise to create a contract for each customer that clearly lays out the services you provide, the price of each, and how complaints and disputes are resolved. Generally, local moving services are charged based on mileage or hours spent.

Lawncare Services

If you have access to lawn care equipment providing lawn care services may be the way to make money with a truck for you. Some specific services you could offer include laying mulch, trimming hedges, planting flowers and grasses, mowing lawns, edging, lawn treatments, fertilizing and de-weeding. Lawncare can provide you with quite a bit of income, especially in the summer months. Although you can absolutely make money with just a lawnmower and weed whacker, if you want to make the most out of your lawn service gig you may want to consider getting a blower, hedger, spreader, and sprayer if you don’t already have them. This will greatly reduce the amount of time you have to spend on each yard and means you will make more per hour!

Construction Material Delivery

Another option is delivering construction materials to job sites. You can either pick up supplies from a warehouse specified by the client or a large home improvement retailer like Home Depot. You can also find work delivering construction materials between sites. This is especially useful for people who are building with a small team or independently (such as people who are building their own house). Materials that can be delivered include tiling, sheetrock, paint, bags of concrete, machinery and much more.

Trash and Junk Disposal

You can help people who are cleaning out their yard from the junk they have had sitting around. Home rental companies may need your help after they evict tenants, tenants abandon the property, or someone dies. Contacting your local HUD office is another good way to find junk and trash removal gigs. To find foreclosed homes, you may also want to contact banks that provide mortgage loans. When a home forecloses, the previous owners often leave the property in a bad state. Cleaning the property out gains the bank more money on resale, making hiring you worth it. Things acquired during the cleanout can also be resold through yard sales and scrap yards. You can also advertise that you will pick up junk cars for free of charge or even pay them a small amount then sell it off to junkyards. This can also easily support your scrapping side work.

How to Make Money Without a Trailer

Even though it is great to have a trailer and you can carry more in one trip, not everyone has a trailer or is willing to go out and get one and that’s okay. There are still a lot of ways how to make money owning a truck. In fact, everything you can do with a trailer you can also do without a trailer- just on a smaller scale. Besides those jobs, there are even more things you can do.

Snow Plowing Services

If you live in an area where it snows, starting a snow plowing business can be a great side job or seasonal work. There are many people who do not want to wake up before work to shovel out their driveway in the cold and would be more than happy to pay you to do it for them. Even more money can be made by plowing roads that do not have a plow service provided by the local city. Alleyways, private roads and parking lots are another area you can plow for a significant amount of money. You will need to invest in a snowplow, salt sprayer, salt, and a snowblower.

Towing Services

Cars inevitably break down at some point for whatever reason and those people need assistance. Towing services are often expensive, meaning you can make money and even make yourself competitive by offering cheaper services than local competitors if needed. The amount different trucks can tow vary widely. After getting some numbers from your truck’s owner’s manual (your Gross Vehicle Weight Rating or GVWR, Gross Combination Weight Rating or GCWR, and curb weight), you can find out what the carrying compacity of your truck is using an online towing calculator.

 Assist Local Businesses

Before you start looking for local delivery jobs to assist local businesses, you should make sure to have a dolly, ratchet straps, bungee cords and moving blankets for protection. With this, you should be able to deliver furniture and electronics for local businesses. Physically show up to local businesses that sell these types of items and give them your business’s information for when they have customers who need assistance transporting large purchases. Local businesses may include furniture stores, antique stores, appliance stores, and auctions.

Apps to Make Money with a Pickup Truck

Burro

If you have a 2003 or newer full-sized pickup truck that doesn’t have any cosmetic problems, you can deliver for Burro. As a driver for Burro, you can view what exactly is being requested to be transported and how far right on the app. You then accept or decline the request. You then have to show up within minutes (you can’t schedule out days), load up, transport and unload. A customer may want help packing. Although it is up to you, it may be worth doing as you get paid for your time spent doing this. To work for Burro, you have to be 21 years old, capable of lifting 100 lbs., and pass a DMV and background check. Although it isn’t required, it may be best to have a dashcam when driving for a rideshare app. My top picks for truck dash cams are discussed here, with an option for everything from the best quality to the best price.

iScrap

iScrap App is available on both iOS and Android and can be accessed through their website found here. Through the phone application or website, you can see national scrap prices that are updated every day, local scrap prices, and find scrap yards.

Carvertise

If you have a 2008 model truck or newer, drive at least 30 miles a day, have a factory finish paint job and a clean driving record, you can do a campaign through Carvertise. Carvertise is an advertising company that puts removable ads on your vehicle and pays you monthly for it through direct deposit. After the campaign is over, they remove the advertisement from the truck. You can apply on their website in a few easy steps.

Goshare

You can be a Pickup Truck Driver for GoShare as long as your truck is from the last 15 years, has a bed length of at least 5 ft. (so no Chevrolet Avalanches), and can pass an inspection. You get paid hourly at a very good rate. You can also work as a courier where you deliver small parcels or a helper for other drivers who will need more than just themselves to complete a job. Working for GoShare you will be considered an independent contractor and will receive a 1099 form for tax purposes if you make more than $600 during the tax year.

Rideshare Apps

All of the options so far utilized your truck’s bed, but this option doesn’t use it at all – you could be a driver for a rideshare app. Ridesharing apps are apps where passengers can request a ride by putting in their location and their desired destination and choose what type of ride they want. You could use your truck to make money by providing rides, much like a taxi service, in your truck. You get to choose when you work and which rides you want to take. For the rideshare app Uber, you will need an eligible 4-door vehicle, a valid driver’s license, at least one year of driving experience (or 3 years if you are younger than 23 years old) and insurance.  Lyft is another common rideshare app that may be worth checking out and has similar requirements.

GoTrashy

GoTrashy is an app used for junk removal, trash pickup, yard debris removal, and donation pick up. Customers upload a photo of what they want to be removed, and providers (haulers) bid. The customer chooses which provider they want and they come to remove whatever it is. If your truck is a 2003 or newer and can pass an inspection, a background, and a driving history check, you can work through GoTrashy. You also must have an iPhone or Android phone, a checking account to get direct deposits and speak English.

BuddyTruk

BuddyTruk is an app specifically for moving new furniture. This is a good option if you don’t want any surprises when you go to do a delivery and it can help keep your truck in good condition opposed to some other options where you could be hauling trash. All you really have to do is be 21 years old or older, pass a background check, and fill out a questionnaire about your truck. You can find all about how to sign up at BuddyTruk’s website.

How to Find Independent Contractor Pickup Truck Jobs

Most of the above jobs to look into if you have a pickup truck ARE independent contractor jobs; but HOW do you find them? Well, you have two options. You look for them through the same means as any other job, or you start a small business. You could use internet job search engines like Indeed, Monster, and CareerBuilder. On these websites, you can put in your town or zip code and keywords such as “pickup truck”. You can also look for gigs through classified advertisement websites such as Craigslist, though you always want to be vigilant and safe when seeking jobs directly from customers.

Create Your Own Small Business

Not only can use Craigslist to help you find one-time side work with your truck, but you can also use it to promote your small business if you decide to go that route. Depending on what type of small business you would like to start, you have to consider insurance. Some insurance types to look into include auto liability (bodily injury or property damage caused by your truck), general liability (bodily injury or property damage caused by yourself such as accidentally making a hole in the customer’s wall while trying to move a dresser), and cargo legal liability (damage to customer’s goods while being transported). Transguard is a great insurance company to get an idea from because they specialize in insurance for independent contractors in the freight, moving, home delivery and storage industry. I can not speak enough for dashcams. If the worst were to happen while you were transporting goods or passengers, there is no better back up than video evidence of what really happened. If you decide to get one, I have written an article outlining some things to consider before purchasing a dashcam.

If you don’t go through another company for jobs for pickup trucks you will also have to look into your local and state requirements, get a business license, acquire MC and DOT numbers, get an IFTA and file a UCR registration. A DOT number is required by all commercial vehicles that carry passengers or goods and an MC number is required as you would be operating as a for-hire carrier for a fee. More information about this can be found on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration website. You also need to report fuel purchases to your state’s tax agency. If you only plan to do business within your state, you only need to file a Non-International Fuel Tax Agreement form once a year. If you travel interstate, you will need to file an INFA/MCRT form quarterly and have the receipts to back it up. Then you have to become UCR registered and pay an annual fee based on your company’s fleet size. Lucky for you, it will only be one truck! This may sound like a lot of work but if you want to collect all of the profits and run your own business, this may be the way to go for you and will be time and money well spent.