14 Ways You Can Make Money With Your Truck (Most Starting Today)

There are so many ways that you can make money with a good truck! This includes things like hauling away appliances, performing odd jobs, or even plowing snow for your neighbors. These can be a lot of fun, rewarding, and allow you to make some money on the side with your truck.

For the most part, our most expensive piece of gear is our vehicle, and for many people that is a truck! These trucks tend to sit there most of the day, if not for days like mine… this can mean that you end up paying a ton of money for something that isn’t giving much value in return. However did you know that your truck can actually make you money?

Here are some great ideas for those that want to make money on the side, or it might be great for those that are out of the job, but have a truck!

I would recommend looking through all of these ideas and maybe mix and match the ones you feel most comfortable with!

Please Note: I can’t attest to if there are legal things that need to be done on any of these ideas. So make sure your are within legal limits whenever you are making money off of your truck, or any business. 

1. Hauling away garbage

Hauling away garbage could actually be a lot of fun if you have an old (or new) truck that you just need to be able to use and make a little bit of money off of.

I wouldn’t really recommend going door to door on this one… as it could be kinda offensive at times.

Also, you may be asking yourself why wouldn’t they just have the local garbage service do this? Mainly this service is great for those who have too much to get rid of, or it is all in a place that the normal service can’t access, but you can with your smaller vehicle.

Some things you could do today to start this business

1. Create 30 posters with what you do, your phone number and when you are able to move the garbage. Some great places to leave posters would be grocery stores, gas stations, and restaurants.
2. Locate all of your local garbage disposal sites, and determine if there is any cost for you to bring garbage there.
3. Find local Facebook groups that are meant for service type companies and post there.

Pros

• Not many people are willing to do to take out garbage so this can be lucrative in your area
• For the most part you can create your own schedule
• Generally won’t mean long trips and being away from home

Cons

• Can be really gross
• Would be a bit difficult to get people to call you

2. Hauling away appliances

Hauling away appliances will be very much like hauling way garbage. The main difference being that you will need to make sure you have at least two people, for lifting appliances like refrigerators and other heavy appliances that can’t be carried by one person.

However I believe you could make a pretty decent amount of money providing this service. 

I know recently we were looking into having someone haul away some of our older appliances appliances when we bought new ones, and it looks like the cost was around $25 per appliance.

So if you could help somebody remove appliances from their home, and I you can make upwards of a hundred bucks to remove the four main appliances in a kitchen.

Ways you could start this business today!

1. Find at least one other person who is open to working with you on this project.
2. Much like hauling garbage, make sure where you are able to dispose of the appliances and the cost. If there is a cost, bake that into your cost to the customer.
3. Call local appliance centers and see if their customers have a need for this kind of service and ask for referrals.
4. Put up posters in your area advertising your service.

Pros

• Not a ton of liability issues that I can think of, as the appliances likely become yours after pickup
• You can get the first pick of things to keep
• people that will probably be very grateful to get rid of their appliances

Cons

• Appliances can be really heavy
• You will probably need multiple people to do this

3. Help people move homes

Helping move people from home to home within your town might also be a great way to be able to make a little bit of money. 

You will want to make sure that you have enough people to be able to do the jobs that you are given.

Having the right vehicle and maybe a trailer also would be great, so you are able to do it so you don’t have to make so many trips on every move.

One other downside to it may be that there might be a little bit more liability on this style of company, so I would definitely look into what you need on the legal side to be helping people move their belongings.

However this might be a lucrative way of making money! I know I see quite a few companies around my town that do this, and help people move homes. It seems to work for them as they are constantly hiring new workers. 

This might be a great option, and you might as well get started with your personal truck and grow from there. 

Personally, I wouldn’t start this option though, unless I planned on creating a whole business around it. As you will need to bring other people in to work it with you!

Steps to take to start this business today

1. Find one other person that would help you move.
2. Research if and what insurance you need to make sure you don’t get in trouble if there is damage to items.
3. Research the cost to rent trailers if you need it.
4. Post on local Facebook groups about your new endeavor and start getting leads.
5. Think about starting a website.

Pros

• Each job you can make quite a bit of money instead of a bunch of small jobs
• Could probably easily become a full-time job

Cons

• A lot of liability issues
• Need to be licensed and insured
• Will probably need a larger truck

4. Plow snow

This is a big one for a lot of people live in the northern United States where there is a lot of snow! 

Where plowing snow is needed, you can never have enough plows.

Most the time it takes all day for these plows to get out and complete all driveways, as well as all the roads. Because of this, there’s always going to be a spot for somebody that can at least plow one or two driveways per snowfall. 

While this is a great option for owning a truck, it can be extremely hard on the vehicle, so just make sure you are okay with that.

Steps to start this business

1. If you don’t have a plow already, research the costs of buying one
2. Find places to posts signs advertising your business
3. Post on local Facebook groups

Pros

• You can go door to door every snowfall and offer to plow.
• You aren’t always on call unless you want to be.
• You get to be in the warmth of your truck seat (if you have heat).
• Extremely easy to start, especially if you already have a plow.

Cons

• Very seasonal
• Can be very hard on a truck
• Will void many warranties on a truck

5. Tow trailers and boats

Towing things like trailers or boats for people that don’t have a truck is another great way to make money.

My favorite way I would do this is by moving boats. A lot of people have boats out there, but they don’t necessarily have a truck. A lot of them keep the boat in a marina and then have them transported from the marina to storage every winter. This makes for a great opportunity for you (who has a truck) to be able to contract and move people’s boats for them. 

For the most part, they will pay good money, because not all people want to own a truck for just this one task. 

The nice thing is you know where all the marinas are you can set up an exact price from the marina to that boat storage. Then, you will have a boat storage company constantly giving your referral business.

How I would start this business

1. What you can do is or what I would do is I would go to storage companies and and build up a rapport with them and be able to figure out how you can contract with them to transport boats from the marina to those that own storage units.

Pros

• Rather easy work
• Don’t have to be on call constantly

Cons

• Seasonal to spring and fall.
• Will probably need to have insurance

6. Scrap metal

Scrapping metal is a bit different than the rest of the list, as it will take quite a bit more work than the rest.

Basically, with this option you will try to find different places that may be just trying to get rid of different things like mobile homes, old trailers, or other metal objects.

Then you volunteer to take it off their hands for no fee, and scrap metal at your local metal yard.

While this is definitely a more labor intensive idea, it can be pretty lucrative. As the more work something is, the less people will be doing it, meaning more work for you.

Some ideas for scrapping the metal are appliances, safes, mobile homes, old storage sheds, cars or other vehicles, lawn mowers, and more.

For the items that have motors in them, I would probably first try to find a way to sell those as parts instead of just scrap, as those items likely will have a higher value that way.

Ways I would start this business today

1. Call your local scrap yard and find out the costs they pay for different metals
2. Post on Facebook that you are looking for scrap metal items to take off peoples hands

Pros

• In a pinch, there are a lot of people that want their old stuff gone, and will just give it to you
• Can be a lot of fun

Cons

• Metal prices have gone down quite a bit recently, so you don’t make as much as you used to
• Is labor intensive

7. Advertise on your truck

This option would be great for those people who are on the road constantly. Whether it be for business, or you just travel a lot.

It also would be ideal for people who are in big cities that commute for hours each day, and are in stop and go traffic.

Essentially, you would go to small businesses in your area, and discuss the idea of either wrapping your car with their advertisement, or just putting a magnetic sign on the side that advertises their specific business.

Then you would charge a monthly fee for this.

How I would start doing this today

1. Quote out the cost for wrapping your car, for magnetic signs, or however you would like to make this happen.
2. Talk to small businesses that may benefit from this. Companies that don’t have a storefront could really benefit from this. I know I have seen a computer repair company driving around with this in the past.

Pros

• Easy and consistent money once you find an advertiser

Cons

• Need to make sure you don’t represent your advertiser well (no road rage for you)
• You have to prove the advertisement is worth your advertisers money.
• Your truck needs to be in use constantly 

8. Getting people unstuck

This would be a really fun way to pass time, and would be great for those that have a very off-road ready truck.

You would advertise locally that you get people unstuck from people’s off-road adventures. And then they would call you whenever they can’t get out of the snow, sand, mud, or anything else.

It definitely would be more of a long term work, as you would have to build up a reputation, and build up reviews rapport and more.

How I would start this business today

1. Figure out if you need insurance to do this
2. Call tow yards and see if they could send you business. I’m sure a lot of towing companies will have a hard time going to far out into the woods to pull people out. So they may be able to refer business to you.

Pros

• Would be a lot of fun going out to remote areas to pull people out
• People would be really grateful for your service
• You get to actually use that truck you have spent so much time building up

Cons

• You could damage your truck pretty easily
• Not really a business you will get work right away with

9. Be a hotshot for oil companies

I have heard you can make a ton of money by being a hotshot for different companies, specifically oil companies.

Basically you would be transporting large items in the bed of your truck, and have to get it to different places extremely quickly.

This would require an extremely reliable truck, as if you don’t get the item there on time, it won’t exactly look great for you.

I actually got this idea from some stories I was reading about the first (and 2nd) Toyota Tundra to get to 1 million miles. Both trucks were hot shot trucks, and put the majority of the miles doing their job. Maybe a Tundra might be a good idea if you want to do this?

How I would start doing this today

1. Search for jobs, or contract positions performing this job online
2. Spend some time applying for the jobs
3. Make sure your truck can handle this many miles

Pros

• You don’t have to be outside of your truck much
• High paying position

Cons

• Lots of miles on your truck
• Much like truck driving, you are away from home a lot
• Not something you can get jobs with right away

10. Landscaping

This isn’t so much about doing work with the truck, however it is very mandatory for doing this type of work.

However with your truck, and just a couple inexpensive tools, you could start a great business doing landscaping.

I’m a big fan of starting a business slowly, and not going in debt for it. So starting with your truck, a lawn mower and maybe a weed whacker, I would just go house to house during the spring and summer months and gather business.

Then as you get a loyal following of customers, begin to put the money you make back into the business and get more tools that allow you to wow your customers even more.

I think within the first season you could have your business up and going.

Then during the winter, I would see my snow plowing idea up above!

Pros

• Can make immediate money on day 1
• Keeps you outside
• You are in charge of how much you make

Cons

• Would need some stuff other than just a truck to get started
• Can be hard on your body

11. Oddjobs

I super respect a couple individuals in my community that have started their own businesses as being a local handyman. I don’t know how many times I have looked at something and thought to myself “man, I really don’t want to do that” and then looked up a local handyman’s phone number.

Having a pickup truck, and a couple of tools means you can quickly start up a handyman service.

Ways I would start this today

1. Post on local Facebook groups about your handyman service
2. Create posters with your printer and post them around time
3. Create a website and write articles about the work you do

Pros

• Never a dull day
• Get to learn about a bunch of different things

Cons

• Everything will likely be an emergency
• Would need to advertise a lot

12. Firewood

Firewood is extremely imperative to those that live up north. And all you need to start this business is a truck and and an axe.

Again, much like other businesses on this list, you can slowly build up the business as you go. First thing I would save up for is a portable wood splitter that tows behind the truck.

Once you have a wood splitter, you could begin to grow the business even more. 

How I would start this business today

1. Find where you can either source firewood, or trees to cut up
2. Post signs on the side of the street that you have firewood for sale
3. Post on social

Pros

• You can easily start this today with your truck and an axe
• You can get a lot of exercise

Cons

• Requires you to live somewhere that needs wood heat
• If you don’t exercise it will be hard in the beginning

13. Deliver for furniture companies

Logistics is hard, and extremely expensive. That is why this really could be a great way to make a little bit of money on the side!

Furniture companies tend to have to deliver their product quite a bit, so why not see if you can help them out a little bit! You could charge by unit, by trip, or by the day.

I think where there would be a huge opportunity here would be delivering to rural areas. Out in the country, logistics become even more difficult because of the time it takes to deliver something, and the uncertainty of what there is between the store and the delivery point (bridges, power lines, and more).

Because you have a standard size truck, this is where you can capitalize on that!

How I would start this business today

1. Call all of your furniture stores in the area, and see if they need help with deliveries (specifically to rural addresses).
2. Figure out if you need insurance to work with them.

Pros

• Can be consistent income, because you are working with a company
• May pay well
• You can work with many different companies at once

Cons

• Is hard work
• You have to build up report with businesses to gain their trust
• Probably will need to be licensed and insured

14. Haul cars for auctions

I really have no idea if this idea really would work, but if you want to pursue it it definitely is worth looking into!

Basically you would contact local public auto auctions and talk to them about delivering cars for their customers. A lot of customers that go to these local public auctions are wanting to buy them for themselves.

Many times these vehicles are non-running for one reason or another and the customer thinks they can easily fix this, and flip it or use it as a daily driver.

However now, the new owner of the car doesn’t have a truck and trailer to transport it home where they will fix it.

That is where you come in! You offer to deliver it for a fee.

How I would start this today

1. Call every local public auto auction in the area and see which ones think this is an issue they currently have
2. Talk to the auction about advertising your service

Pros

• I would enjoy getting to see all the cars
• Can be constant business for you
• These auctions only take place on a specific schedule, so you can easily schedule around it

Cons

• May not work for everyone, as there aren’t a ton of public auctions out there

Conclusion

These are only some of the ways that you could possibly earn money with a truck, and this is also why a truck could be a great investment for anyone!

I’ll be adding new ideas to this list as I come up with them, but these are just some of them!

That said, please do your due diligence on each of these. Every state is different, and every business is different. Make sure everything you are doing is legal, and consult whomever you need to consult to make the right decision for yourself. Making a little in the short term is not worth losing money in the long run.

Now, go out and make some money today!

Congratulations, now that you have read through this rather long article, maybe use a little bit of that money you made by trying a cup of coffee with one of my favorite coffee mugs.