Making Money with your Ranger...

[knightmare1015]

There are several ways to make money with you ranger. For those that are interested in starting a small business, I decided to start a thread that can help people on deciding what feild to select to help them generate an income that can help out in terms of having extra cash when needed for an emergency situation. These types businesses have shown to be successful somewhere in the world and some can be very profitable and helpful in terms of income.

Medical Courier:
Independant labs offer contracts to transport everything from supplies, samples as well as sveral forms of paperwork. One company tends to pop up alot and that's Lab Corp. There are alot of companies out there and the main thing that they want is a highschool diploma and some courier related experience. So if you're a former 18 wheeler driver and have the nessescary credentials, this might be an extremely good way to generate an extra income. Some of these companies even offer really good benefits such as a 401K retiremnt plan, Health and dental insurance etc. This type of busniess does have its drawbacks as well. Your fuel economy isn't that great which can become a problem if you don't have a fund or fee to help cover the fuel expenses. Truckers call it a "fuel surcharge" which is considered a security blanket if you're an owner operator. So if you plan on looking into this, I highly recomend you try to either set up a fuel fund of some kind wether it be through an arrangement with the lab you're working for, or setting up a fuel account through someone like "Fuelman Network" who offer discounts on fuel purchases through various programs that they offer.

Firewood/landscaping/:
I myself did this through several winters with my previous ranger and it helped alot. The bad thing is that in most areas of the country like the northeast and northwest areas, it tends to be seasonal. The overhead involved is fuel for your equipment and ranger but other than that, labor is all that's really needed. The best tips I can give you is NOT to bring anyone a load after it's dark outside. This insures that your customers don't get ripped off and know that they're getting their money's worth. Be knowledgable in about what type of wood you're cutting. This insures that the people you'll be dealing with knows that the firewood you're bringing them won't cause any problems and produces the heat that they need. Also for elderly customers, I use to split the wood for them so they wouldn't have to and I also tended to give them a little discount so they wouldn't worry about their budget as much. The only thing you'll really have to do is advertise. Keep it short and to the point and your phone will light up. Yardwork or mowing lawns also tends to be pretty lucrative deal during the summer especially if you cater to some local busniesses whom don't have the time or man power to spend on this. Think Firewood for the winter time, and yardwork for the summer.


Moving service:
Physical labor can be a huge draw back if you're not careful. Another drawback is the fact that your ranger can only carry so much and the F150 will pretty much be a better choice for this type of service since you can move alot more stuff. How much you charge is really up to you, but please keep in mind that your main cost is going to be fuel.


Aiport/financial courier:
These tend to pay extremely well most of the time and sometimes they don't pay enough. They're also alot tougher to get as well in terms of experience and credentials. I lost a bid for a local bank contract for one reason, bad credit/debt. Banks that are seeking your services tend to shy away from this really quick. In fact some banks won't hire you for a teller posistion if you have bad credit (so I've been told). The security is also tight and previous experience is required. These banks may use armed guard servies most of the time, but they have alot of other stuff that needs to be transported and they don't want to spend alot for a small shipment to an armor division, which is where you come in. They also tend to lean towards the lowest bidder. Airports also have some small things that need to be moved. Fedex Custom Critical call these "A Loads" and usually consist of a couple of envelopes, or a small box or 2. Alot of the major companies won't go near these because they don't pay enough to cover their expenses. However if you know the right person whom controls the cargo at an airport and have a set rate, this can be profitable on a frequent basis and can even lead to you starting a small courier company over time. It really depends on your desire to succeed, and your work ethic. If you have extremely reasonable rates, and are pretty easy to do business with, your success has virtually no limits.


Well these are the most popular types of businesses that people find profiatble when considering starting a business. Most people don't take into account their expenses such as fuel, tires, and preventative maintence which is why alot of people fail. If you have any extra ideas please post them up so other members have some ideas on how to make some money with their ranger. If you have any experiences involved with this or doing please feel to free to share some of these.

[STL]

Haul my trailer with my lawn mowers to fut grass.

Haul off scrap metal for people. All the people I have hauled for let me keep the money from all the scrap.

[knightmare1015]

Originally Posted by STL

Haul my trailer with my lawn mowers to cut grass.

Haul off scrap metal for people. All the people I have hauled for let me keep the money from all the scrap.

Kool deal there. You can do alot with your ranger. Just getting rid of some stuff that are salvagable for people can make some extra dough.

[03 SB FX4]

I used to do odd jobs with one of my trucks I used to have but I got tired of it because once you start it, then people wanted you to alway cut them a deal or come over and help and it turned out to be all day. I didn't mind it occasionally but I ended up being a darn donkey all the time.

So now I go by the motto - "Yeah its my truck and no I won't help you move"!

I didn't mind helping and the gas money was nice, but it only went so far. I racked up a ton of miles because nobody would ever tell me right and 10 miles turned out to be 40.

[BoyRanger]

Originally Posted by 03 SB FX4

I used to do odd jobs with one of my trucks I used to have but I got tired of it because once you start it, then people wanted you to alway cut them a deal or come over and help and it turned out to be all day. I didn't mind it occasionally but I ended up being a darn donkey all the time.

So now I go by the motto - "Yeah its my truck and no I won't help you move"!

I didn't mind helping and the gas money was nice, but it only went so far. I racked up a ton of miles because nobody would ever tell me right and 10 miles turned out to be 40.

haha my family owns alot of trailers and trucks, Ive moved so many people I cant even begun to count...

[pooleo]

so basically, you can do just about anything you can do with a truck.

[03 SB FX4]

Originally Posted by BoyRanger

haha my family owns alot of trailers and trucks, Ive moved so many people I cant even begun to count...

Thats part of the reason I am in the shape I am in now. About 10 years ago one of my friends called me and asked if I could come over and help him move his gf's dresser (they were moving into an apartment together).

So I get over there and was kind of wondering why her brother and one of our other friends were there. I'm think this can't be that big. What I didn't know was it wasn't a small little dresser as he let on, is was a SOLID (I do mean solid Oak), dresser/cabinet - there is a word for it. Anyway this think weighed like 1,200 lbs and because her Dad built it not to be moved, it didn't have anything that could come apart, not even the drawers could be taken out.

The worst part we were all like 18-19 and were all pretty built but weighed like 150 at most. So we had to go get one of the neighbors and it took 5 of us. We literally had to take all the doors off the house going out and had to move like 2 couches and a ton of other furnature. Even then it took us like an hour and 30 minutes to go about 35 feet to the truck parked outside.

[Drexl]

cool story, bro.

[03 SB FX4]

Originally Posted by Drexl

cool story, bro.

Not a story, actually happened. There is more to it than what I put. We had to get really creative how we got it out. Lets just say we didn't lift it, rather we used good ole' redneck engineering!!

[Drexl]

Originally Posted by 03 SB FX4

Not a story, actually happened. There is more to it than what I put. We had to get really creative how we got it out. Lets just say we didn't lift it, rather we used good ole' redneck engineering!!

I never said you lied about your story.. Stories can be fact or fiction.

I merely said you story was cool.. plus I called you bro.

[Fordzilla80]

Hmm, let's see. My Ranger is my transportation to work, which is where I make money, so in essence, driving to work is making money with my Ranger.

But when you work with your Ranger, and make money with your Ranger, you also lose money with your Ranger, so is the money earned working with your Ranger worth the money you spend working with your Ranger? In some cases yes, but in others, no.

Regardless, Cool Story, Bro. Very super cool uber awesome story, bro.

[knightmare1015]

In some cases it can be a huge help, but in other cases it really does defeat the purpose. I did use my truck to collect for the local cable company here. But it was through another contractor called Metro Cable and basically all I was doing was running for fuel when I left that place. They didn't want to reimburse me for fuel and they really didn't set up their deal with the cable company to collect other fees that the cable company normally collects. You can really do these ideas with any small truck, but if you're not making enough to cover your expenses, you're losing money.
I did find another idea. After STL's post I decided to look into it.

Auto recycling/parting out:
Some places will actually pay you for junked vehicles but it can be a hassle in terms of tranporting them. However you can take some parts off of junked vehicles that are in some what decent shape and resell them. Some salavage yards here locally will buy these junked vehicles and strip them for decent parts such as steering components, seat belts, some body parts (if they're able to be restored) also fall under this category. Engines and tranny combonations have been a great product for alot of salavage yards for years. Think about it for a moment. How many times have each of us went to a local salvage yard somewhere looking for these parts? I've lost count myself concerning this. This was my original idea but decided to re-write the idea so it would make more sense as to what I was talking about.

[94mtx]

Cool story, brah.



^ I called you brah.




Normally, any kind of shop will just make a scrap bin outside, and someone will come and get it for free.. I have never heard of someone stupid enough to pay someone to purchase fenders and such.

[joshyddog]

lololol

[Drexl]

I'm certain that nowadays with scrap prices the way they are, shops will be taking care of their own scrap. They're not idiots.

Besides, Davidson, you can't be lifting hoods and fenders and such with your back... right? RIGHT?