Entertainment hauling covers concert tours, theater performances, sporting events and more. Some events only require the driver to bobtail to a venue, hook to a trailer and take it to the next venue without ever touching the freight. Other events require the driver to help load and unload.
One thing that’s common with most event hauling, though, is higher pay.
“They don’t pay you those rates just because they like you,” says Landstar owner-operator Gary Buchs. What merits more money is experience, responsibility, flexibility and the commitment to weeks or months on a tour.
There also can be benefits beyond pay. “Catering, seeing a show, things like that,” says owner-operator Steve Mesh of Chelsea, Vermont, leased to Stage Call Specialized Transportation. At the same time, drivers shouldn’t expect special perks. “It’s best for drivers to be seen and not heard,” he says.
Because the miles per day averaged over a tour’s length are relatively low, drivers usually get paid a flat rate. Landstar owner-operator Tom Arnold, who hauled for “American Idol” audition tours from 2011 to 2015, says his weekly pay was more like a salary.
The tours lasted as long as three-and-a-half months or as short as seven weeks. Arnold averaged 500 to 700 miles between venues.
“Some weeks, we would stay in the same city and just move to a different venue, so those weeks were great,” he says. “We got paid the same for doing less work. But one time, we had to get from Los Angeles to Boston in four days. We did it legally, but we had to push the limit.”
