Untapped Market?

[Scott Tyner]

Has anyone living within a reasonable distance of a "state welcome center" ever looked into the possibility of doing repairs for the people traveling and stopping at these welcome centers.

On my trip to Florida, I noticed how many people are stopping at these centers and I can only imagine how many may be in need of windshield repair.

Anyone living close to one of these welcome centers may want to check into it.

Scott

[jroske]

One thing you may want to consider is that some rest areas have "No Soliciting " signs posted and the State Police occationally enforce. But it is a good idea. One side you have travelers (Insurance jobs) the other side you have truckers (owner operators) (Cash jobs).

[Scott Tyner]

Hi Joe,

You brought up an important point. Before anyone just starts doing repairs there, they should check with the management to see if it's ok or not.

If they will allow it, anyone living close enough to one of these welcome centers could probably make a pretty good income.

Scott

[CPR]

Find a truck stop near you and you will be amazed at the amount of business you can find, I made 250.00 in 4 hours yesterday.

[Scott Tyner]

Hi CPR,

That's a great idea and there is no shortage of truck stops. Are you working mainly on cars or also the big rigs? If you're also working on the 18-wheelers, what size ladder do you use?

Scott

[dgarza]

hey cpr what are you charging the trukers? do most of them accept your price or try and negociate?

[Scott Tyner]

Here's a link to a company that sells foldable ladders for those of you who are thinking of doing 18-wheelers and/or motor homes and you are limited on room in your vehicle.

http://www.ProfessionalEquipment.com

Home Depot and Lowe's might also offer foldup ladders. CPR could probably give those of you interested, some good information.

I would think the most important thing when choosing a ladder, would be how stable it is. I would go with safety over price.

Scott

[CPR]

I,m charging 25/10/5 for 18 wheelers and rv,s are a easy 50/10/10. That is what the drivers here in florida are willing to spend, sounds cheap but when you get 10 trucks in one place the work goes fast.

One thing I found was you HAVE to get the first repair going, then you will draw a small crowd, see that you are legit and will want you to work on their truck. I have even done the first one free just to get the show started.

I,m using a 3 foot step stool and from there stand on the front tire and do the job. Some trucks have enough room between the wheel and cab to get a small ladder in there. Am finding that being 6'5'' is a real help, some breaks are tough to reach.

[Scott Tyner]

I was wondering about the difficulty of doing an 18-wheeler CPR. You mentioned some breaks being a little hard to reach. With it being somewhat more difficult to reach some of the repairs, does it add much repair time to the job or not enough to really notice?

Scott

[CPR]

Takes a little more setup time, I stick my probe down the barrel and line it up that way. If you dont mind working on breaks 9 feet up all else is smooth. These guys are happy with a decent repair, just want to keep the DOT off their bumpers and save the cost of a replacement.