In todays post we’re going to show you how to make money with a pickup truck. If you own a truck like my husband does and the chances are you do if you are reading this then you have at your disposal an extremely valuable piece of equipment that can easily be used to earn you some extra income.
You won’t believe some of the stuff our truck has moved. The thing is when you have a truck you tend to forget what it’s like to have a ‘normal car‘ and not be able to fit any damn thing in it.
That being said you also seem to forget YOU HAVE A TRUCK. Time to make use of it.
Household Rubbish Removal
Every household produces rubbish to some extent and this rubbish isn’t always taken away by your local collections.
They could have garden rubbish that they don’t want to put in their brand spanking new car to take to the local tip or they might not have a car at all.
That is where you come in offering your services. Probably the best place to advertise your rubbish removal service would be your Facebook page.
As soon as you have done 1-2 jobs that people are pleased with they will gladly recommend you to people they know.
Even just keeping your eyes open as you’re driving and seeing a trash pile on someone’s lawn all you need to do knock on their door and tell you’ll get rid of that for them for $30-$40 you’ve made yourself some easy money right there.
RELATED READING: HOW TO MAKE MONEY WITH A DRONE
Contractors Rubbish Removal
Moving on from household rubbish removal picking up rubbish from contractors isn’t always something that people will necessarily think of.
They automatically think that the contractors will dump the rubbish themselves, but that isn’t always the best cost effective option.
They generally just dump the rubbish at their yard which is where you’ll pick the rubbish up from and take it to the dump or you could always pick it straight up from the home they’re renovating cutting out the need for them to haul it to their yard, time is money you know.
Snow Removal
Now this one doesn’t necessarily mean the expense of purchasing a snow plough for your truck because you could be looking at anything between $3,000 and $5,000 depending on the make of your truck.
You’d also probably need a more heavy duty truck to cope with the added stress of a plough.
If you don’t want to go that route you could always offer a service where you simply use a shovel to clear shop fronts, house driveways and paths, small carparks of offices.
There are actually companies that are selling real snow from certain areas in the U.S. So not only are you charging for the removal in the first place but you could end up selling it!
I’m sure you could think of a more examples in your area.
Scrap Metal Collection
Collecting scrap metal is a great option for making some cash from your truck. Small businesses like car garages, plumbers.
Again something like Facebook is great option to get the word out that you’re able to pick up peoples old scrap metal like washing machines or old metal lawnmowers.
Of course this is physically hard work but think of all the exercise you’re getting, you might even be able to give up that expensive gym membership that you never use.
Leaf Removal
A bit like the snow removal this requires very little equipment, a garden rake and something to pick them up with.
Something as simple as knocking on residential doors will always get you work, but you might want to look at the commercial side of things and offer your leaf removal service to businesses who have neither the time nor the inclination to do it themselves.
Again like the snow removal there are companies that are selling leaves to the public as gifts.
Deliveries
A lot of local small businesses don’t have delivery options so when you buy a large item you would have to make your own arrangements for picking the item or items up.
Now you could offer your service direct to the shop owner or you could ask if you could put some flyers on the sales counter for their customers to be able make contact with you directly.
People might be planning a project to build a patio for instance (like we did recently) and they need materials such as sand and cement delivered which you could do much cheaper than the builders merchants, just go to your local pit, get the truck filled with sand and deliver to your customer.
It doesn’t need to be new stuff you pick up. Yard sales are massive and not everybody has the means to get that lovely large chest of drawers home.
All you need to do is either start advertising on somewhere like Facebook on a yard sale page or find the people who are holding the yard sale themselves and offer your services, stick up an advertising board and you’re good to go.
A Moving Service
This service is a great option for people who are moving, but don’t want or can’t pay the big money being quoted by the major removal companies.
TRUE STORY…my son and daughter-in-law had to move house recently, not hundreds of miles away, just half a mile at most. They asked one of the aforementioned removal companies for a quote for the move……Β£1600…..absolutely ridiculous.
Now I’m sure you can guess what we done…that’s right we used the pickup truck to move them, an entire 3 bedroom house no less. We even managed the massive trampoline in the garden.
It took all day and I probably wouldn’t want to do again any time soon but you get the idea.
You could aim your removal service at people who are leaving home for the first time meaning they shouldn’t have masses of accumulated stuff.
Flippers
No, not the type you put on your feet, real estate flippers. These guys want a fast turnaround on their investment and if you can get to know a couple then you’ll have an almost endless supply of work.
You’ll be dumping all the old stuff they’re ripping out to make way for the new, heck you might even end up going to pick up some of that new stuff for them as well!
Don’t forget these guys don’t want to get hit with a code enforcement.
Wooden Pallets
This one is a bit unusual in that it’s not something everybody thinks of to make money. Pallets are everywhere, everything that get delivered is normally on a pallet be that to a residential address or a company, their deliveries all come on pallets.
The trouble is those pallets aren’t small and they start to take up a lot of valuable space, most people don’t know what to do with them so they just keep piling up with every delivery.
Sometimes you may need to pay a few dollars for them, other times you’ll get them for free, people are just happy to get rid of them.
What you’ll do with the pallets is take them to a pallet yard where they’ll buy them off you, yes you read that right, there are places that actually buy these things.
Boat Deliveries
With this option you would obviously need to have experience and feel comfortable with towing things, but with the amount of second hand boats being sold on places like Ebay then it would be a mistake not to take advantage of the need for transport.
This could mean you would be travelling a lot miles or could just be a local pick up, who knows?
You could offer your services directly on Ebay as a listing.
You could also include jetskis and motorbikes.
The Mobile Billboard
Advertising isn’t cheap so why not take advantage of this and offer your truck as a mobile advertising unit. There are a couple of option out there, you could have a full wrap, a partial wrap or just some magnetic sign that stick to your truck.
If you don’t want to go down the vinyl wrap route you could make use of the cargo bed and have signs fitted there instead.
You could canvas local stores in your area to gauge interest in your new money making venture or think big and go straight to the big boys who are always looking for effective ways of keeping the public aware of their brand.
Dump Trailers
Now, if you’ve got some cash to spend then a great investment would be a dump trailer, these things pay for themselves so quickly that if you can get one you’d be silly not to.
You can deliver all sorts of materials like soil, gravel, stone, mulch and the best part is there’s no manual loading or unloading.
You get loaded at the quarry or wherever you getting your load from and then at the customers you tip the trailer and dump the load. Simple as that.
Final Thoughts
Well there you have it, 12 awesome ways on how to make money with a pickup truck. Please bear in mind you might need to make additional arrangements with your insurance company to accommodate any new venture you decide to do.
Do you have a particular favourite you want to try? Any other suggestions?
Let me know in the comments, I’d love to hear from you π
Most importantly, have fun!
These are great ways to make money with a truck. I personally don’t have a truck, but my son does and he can actually do a few of these π Specifically moving and deliveries. I could see him doing these. Now finding the customers is he tricky part. How do you go about finding the customers?
Hey Leahrae, I agree finding customers is tricky, but once you’ve done a couple of jobs and done them well you’ll find it’ll snowball, word of mouth is the best kind of advertising!
To start with though Facebook would probably be the best bet. You could also give out your details to local real estate companies or even shops that don’t actually offer delivery, you’ll clean up!
This is a fantastic article. You have some excellent suggestions for making money with a pickup truck. If I could drive, I would definitely be doing these side hustles. However, I am unable to do so, so I will share my thoughts with those around me. Using a pickup truck, or any vehicle for that matter, is an exceptional way to earn extra money. Whether it’s assisting someone with moving furniture or simply running errands for someone. So, thank you for writing this article.
Hey Kiersti, thank you for taking the time to leave a comment, glad you enjoyed it and found it informative. I really appreciate you sharing this ?
You have some great ideas for making money with a pick-up truck. I think a lot of people have wished they had one to take rubbish to the dump or pick up new furniture and save themselves a delivery fee. The uses for a pick-up are many and I’m sure a lot of people have never thought of them. The saving on moving costs is huge. Putting a billboard on the tray is a great idea. I am sure a lot of businesses would be willing to pay for you to advertise on you pick-up truck for them.
Hi Margaret,
I’ve only just scratched the surface of how to make money with a pickup truck, i’m sure there are plenty more ways, but i hope i’ve given people a little taster of what can be done.
I probably like the billboard option the best.
Thanks for stopping by.
Hi Sharon, thanks for your post and I learn a lot about how to make money with the pickup truck. Using the pickup truck to help someone move house is indeed a great idea. This is because many people would rather spend less on the house moving charges and spend a bit more on renovating their new house.
Hi,
I’m not sure you’d want to do a full house move all the time, we were lucky in that my son was moving just a little way away, but it was still a lot of hard work, but once in a while would be ok.
I would actually target smaller apartments with not so much stuff to move π
The two things I love most in one article money and trucks haha But seriously you laid out some good ideas. A pick up usually cost more than a compact car for instance and finding ways to recover that extra cost is huge in my books. I personally prefer boat deliveries since I love the ocean π
Hi,
I’m glad you found the ideas helpful. It’s funny you should say boat deliveries as your favorite…it’s what my husband does from time to time, he actually has his own business repairing boats.
Just make sure your insurance allows you to tow them.
You just sparked ideas with this article. I have a truck that i havent been utilizing much and with this i should be able to make good use of it.
I recently just moved to a new area where everything is still developing, lots of people are building and moving to this area. A little facebook ad will be able to target this people and provide them with my services, thanks to this article.
I will certainly put more thoughts to it.
Thanks Sharon.
Hey Jimmy,
It certainly sounds like you got a great opportunity to make a bit of money with your truck. I’m glad this post has given you some good ideas and wish you all the best.
I found your article very interesting and yesterday I had to call a friend of mine to help pick up and basket ball hoop then take it home. I even paid him $40 just for a short drive not even 3 miles. But, hey!! he is the one with the pick up truck and that is exactly how he earns his money by delivering and helping others.
Just like you posted on your article there are so many ways to make money with a truck that most people don’t realize that like me! LOL
Back in the day when I was in PR, I did make some money with a truck that I had. The way I made my money was with THE MOBILE BILLBOARD idea that you have on your article. Especially during politics season and we even had some speakers and went all over town promoting their party. It was an amazing time.
Thanks for your article, Sharon!
Hey,
It’s surprising how many friends you have when you have a truck π but it’s always nice to offered money even if you don’t take it. I bet you had an awesome time with the mobile billboard, its so easy to do and extremely effective.
Sharon,
This is a fantastic idea! I am retired and looking for some meaningful employment. I have an old F-150 pickup truck that I love. I also live in a community that is growing leaps and bounds! So, you have me thinking!
Have you heard of the new company Shipt? This company is now operating in our area and I’m thinking about using my truck for this opportunity – delivering groceries! Check out this company!
Another idea that comes to mind is using a pickup truck to deliver yard and garden maintenance equipment that people don’t usually own. For example, an aerator or tiller.
Or, providing delivery service for one’s community to take small engine equipment to service shops for tune-ups and/or repairs — lawn mowers, for example.
How about pick up and delivery from landscaping companies.
Hauling off bags of leaves for persons in the Fall?
How about making an appeal to realtors to help them with any moving needs they have. For example, folks who move out of a house often leave a lot of junk in the house. This has to be removed before the house can be sold. Or, homeowners who rent their homes and need help getting rid of junk before they can re-rent the home. This would be especially helpful to a homeowner who has to evict someone. Folks that get evicted often leave a mess.
What about businesses that have minor junk removal needs? Or, contractors of small building projects that need clean up removal?
By the way, do you have any ideas for pricing out services for pickup truck deliveries? The only downside to the idea is that my old pickup truck only gets 14 mpg. It has a long bed which is an advantage! Newer trucks would get better mileage.
Hope this helps, Sharon. Kudos on a great website and interesting pickup truck idea!
Hey Marty,
You’ve got some really great ideas, i’m sure you can put these to good use.
Get some flyers made up, hand them out around the community and i think you’ll have more work than you can handle π
I haven’t heard of Shipt before so i just took a quick look at their site and it seems quite an interesting prospect…go for it.
As far as pricing goes i would say to look around your local area to see what other similar ventures charge and price accordingly, obviously you are going to need to take into account your mileage issues, you don’t want to be working and it’s actually going to cost you money!
I really wish you all the luck in the world with this, but something tells me you won’t need it π
Sharon
Sharon,
Thanks for your reply! An additional thing I thought of that might be helpful on your website is the contact information for insurance companies that provide not-so-expensive commercial insurance coverage. I do not have a commercial insurance policy. If I get in a wreck and let’s say I’m picking up and delivering a refrigerator from Lowes and it gets damaged, my insurance will not cover it.
So, to use a pickup for business purposes will require a commercial insurance policy. I will be contacting Amica Insurance, because their rates are fairly low, but I don’t know if they provide a commercial product. Anyway, this may be beyond the scope of your website, but it is an issue that is very important regarding the use of a pickup for business.
Hi Marty,
You’re absolutely 100% right, that’s why i made a reference at the end of the post to make sure you made any additional arrangements with your own insurance company to accommodate any new venture π With regards to including insurance contact information It’s definitely something i’ll look into adding on.
Thanks for your input.
Hello dear
I’m just amazed with the 5 ideas !!!
It’s amazing how sometimes we can make money from our basics items. Most of the time we aim to have a big start up business capital yet we could have already start to earn money .
Really I will apply those ideas because we all need some extra cash.
Thanks
Hi,
The thing with this is that if you have a pickup truck then you have options for an additional income stream which people don’t always think about.
Hope you have success with any one of these options.