Getting started
Updated September 2026
Here is the honest answer most job pages will not give you: car haul carriers, including Accelerated, want verifiable car‑haul experience before you drive for them. Our trucks require 3 years of CDL‑A driving and 1 year of verifiable 9‑car experience. Car hauler jobs with no experience are rare, and listings that promise them often lead somewhere else.
The good news: there is a real path in. This page walks you through it, step by step, and tells you exactly when you qualify to drive with us.
Why Carriers Require Car-Haul Experience
Car haul is one of the hardest specialties in trucking to learn. You are not pulling a sealed box. You are loading up to nine vehicles onto a steel rack, inches apart, then strapping each one down so it arrives without a scratch.
One mistake is expensive. A single scraped bumper is a damage claim, and a full load of vehicles is valuable freight. That is why carriers protect the seat. Accelerated runs a 99.94% damage-free ratio, and that record depends on drivers who already know the craft on day one.
The skill list is longer than it looks from outside:
- Building a load plan so up to nine vehicles of different sizes fit legal height and length
- Driving low-clearance vehicles up steep ramps, inches from steel, without damage
- Strapping each vehicle so nothing shifts over a thousand miles of road
- Checking clearances at every bridge, because the load itself is taller than the truck
None of that is taught in CDL school. All of it is learned on the job, which is why the job requires the experience.
The experience requirement is not a wall to keep you out. It is the line where a carrier can trust a driver with the load. Your job is to get to that line. Here is how.
Can You Haul Cars Without a CDL?
For real car haul, no. A loaded car hauler is a combination vehicle far past the federal line. Any combination with a gross combination weight rating of 26,001 pounds or more, towing a unit rated over 10,000 pounds, requires a Class A CDL.
Some very small setups stay under those ratings, so you will see “non-CDL car hauling” ads for one-car or two-car hotshot rigs. That is a different business: lighter loads, load‑board freight, and no path onto automaker contract lanes. Every professional car haul fleet, including ours, runs Class A equipment.
So the first honest step toward a car hauling career is simple: get your CDL‑A. Everything else builds on it.
Already have 3 years of CDL‑A driving and a 9‑car year? Skip ahead and apply.
The Path: From CDL School to Car Hauler
The path has four steps. Each one builds the record the next one needs.
- Step 1: Complete CDL training
Since February 7, 2022, first-time Class A CDL applicants must complete Entry-Level Driver Training from a provider listed on the federal Training Provider Registry. Pick a school from the registry so your training counts.
- Step 2: Get hired by a carrier that trains new CDL holders
General freight carriers hire new CDL‑A graduates. Car haul carriers mostly do not. Spend your first stretch pulling dry van, reefer, or flatbed.
Flatbed is a strong springboard. Every flatbed load teaches securement: working load limits, strap angles, tensioning, and re‑checking your load at every stop. Those are the habits car haul demands, applied to freight that forgives mistakes better than a new vehicle does.
Two more habits from this phase pay off later. Keep your driving record clean, because carriers screen your motor vehicle record. And keep your work history tidy, with dates and carrier names you can document, because your experience only counts if it can be verified.
- Step 3: Move to car haul and build your 9‑car year
Once you have solid over-the-road time, target carriers that train drivers into car haul. From your first day hauling vehicles on a 9‑car rig, the clock on your year of verifiable 9‑car experience is running.
- Step 4: Bring your experience to a contract carrier
With 3 years of CDL‑A driving and 1 year of verifiable 9‑car experience, you meet our bar. You trade load‑board scraps for contracted automaker, port, and rail freight and equipment built for the work. See what you would be pulling in our car hauler equipment guide.
How carriers verify your experience
“Verifiable” is the word that trips people up, so here is what it means in practice. When you apply, recruiters check your work history with the carriers you list and confirm you hauled vehicles there, and for how long. Time you cannot document does not count, no matter how good you are.
Protect yourself along the way:
- Keep the exact dates you started and ended at each carrier
- Save pay stubs, settlement sheets, or lease agreements from your car haul work
- List every carrier on your application, even short stints, so the record matches what verification finds
A clean, documented history is what lets a recruiter move fast. Gaps and mismatches are what slow an application down.
What Entry-Level Car Hauler Jobs Pay
We will not quote you made-up numbers. Entry-level trucking pay changes by region, freight type, and carrier, and many “car hauler salary” figures online are estimates. Treat any exact number you read as a guess unless the carrier itself confirms it.
What we can tell you is how pay works as you move up:
- Feeder jobs: general freight pays by the mile or by the hour. It is the tuition phase of the path.
- Car haul: you are paid for a specialty skill, and your verified experience is what you bring to the table.
- Contract car haul at Accelerated: all of our contract drivers keep 82% of the truck’s gross, on steady contracted freight.
One more piece of advice: get pay numbers from the carrier, for a specific lane, before you sign anything. A recruiter who knows the lane can tell you the freight, the miles, and the home time behind the number. A salary website cannot.
When You Have Your Experience
The day you have 3 years of CDL‑A driving and 1 year of verifiable 9‑car experience, you stop reading pages like this one and start choosing carriers. Here is what we offer when that day comes:
- Steady automaker plant, port, and rail freight from approximately 70 locations nationwide
- A strap-only fleet with an average age of 3 years
- A company that has hauled for major automakers since 1999
- Your choice of path: contract with us as an owner operator or through lease‑purchase, or run your own authority on our sub‑hauler program
Already there? Skip the wait and go straight to car hauler jobs at Accelerated, or start your application now.
The application takes a few minutes from your phone. A recruiter reaches out to talk freight and next steps.
Car Hauler Experience FAQs
Can I get a car hauler job with no experience?
Rarely with a major carrier. Car haul carriers want verifiable car-haul experience, and Accelerated requires 3 years of CDL‑A driving and 1 year of verifiable 9‑car experience. The realistic path is CDL school, then general freight, then a carrier that trains drivers into car haul, where you build your 9‑car year.
Do I need a CDL to haul cars?
Yes, for professional car haul. Federal rules require a Class A CDL for any combination rated 26,001 pounds or more towing a unit rated over 10,000 pounds, and loaded car haulers exceed that. Only small one-car or two-car hotshot setups can stay under the non-CDL limits.
How do I get car hauling experience?
Start with CDL‑A training from a school on the FMCSA Training Provider Registry. Drive general freight first, ideally flatbed, to build securement skills. Then move to a carrier that trains drivers into car haul. Every month on a 9‑car rig counts toward the experience carriers verify.
Does CDL school count as car‑haul experience?
No. CDL school makes you a licensed truck driver, not a car hauler. The experience carriers look for is time spent hauling vehicles: loading, strapping, and delivering cars. Training and general freight driving come before that clock starts.
What does Accelerated require to hire a car hauler?
3 years of CDL‑A driving experience and 1 year of verifiable 9‑car experience, a valid Class A CDL, an acceptable MVR and a clean safety history, and a current DOT medical certificate. You also need to pass a DOT physical, drug screen, and background check. A TWIC is useful but is not required in order to apply.