How to Make Money With a Pickup Truck or Cargo Van

If you are looking for some easy ways to make some extra money, your cargo van or pickup truck could be the key. With so many golden opportunities to earn cash, why not take advantage of your options? From driving for ridesharing services to deliveries to helping people move, there are a ton of great ways you can gain some extra income with your vehicle.

Vehicle Advertisements

One of the easiest things is to use your truck or cargo van like a mobile billboard. You apply the sticker and drive around! Keep in mind that all of the companies that advertise their wraps online are not legitimate. Scam advertising companies are probably more common than you’d think.

There are a couple of options for you if you want to look further into the specifics. Carvertise and Wrapify are legitimate companies that you can use to earn a passive income while simply driving around. Through Wrapify, you can earn up to $452 per month. Drivers who work with Carvertise earn a flat rate of $100 monthly, although they offer rare memorable gigs worth double pay.

Start a Blog

If you love trucks, starting a blog can bring in some money if done right. You can write about nearly anything because there is always an audience that wants to learn more about the same topic you’re passionate about. Whether you are more into the mechanical aspect of things, off-roading, or customizations, you’re bound to get some traffic.

One of the best ways to have a successful blog is to find something that makes you stand out. Viewers like unique content that they aren’t going to find everywhere else. Using sponsored ads on your blog can also help you earn more.

Offer Moving Services

For those that have owned a large van or a pickup truck for a while, you’re probably pretty used to people asking for help when they move. Advertising your services on Craigslist or your local online marketplace could bring in a surprising amount of customers.

If you aren’t sure about putting up an ad online, you can sign up as a mover with an online company, such as Dolly. Dolly is a service that helps people that need assistance with a move find local people offering their services. This could end up being a great way to add some extra income to your household.

Delivery for Local Businesses

Smaller businesses, especially those that sell large items like furniture, lumber, or larger tools, don’t generally offer delivery services. However, if you own a big enough vehicle, you could help out local mom-and-pop antique shops around town by helping their customers get their new items home.

Additionally, if you can’t work directly for a local business, you could advertise delivery services independently. A post on a local Facebook community page stating that you are willing to pick up large purchases and bring them to peoples’ homes could end up being an excellent way to bring in some extra cash.

GrubHub

One of the most popular delivery services right now is GrubHub. Why? Because they allow people to order food from their favorite local restaurants whether those businesses personally offer delivery or not. This opens the door for anyone with a reliable vehicle to become a delivery driver without being stuck with just one restaurant. This also helps restaurants to have even more business without needing to offer their deliveries.

The best part of delivering with GrubHub is that you get to make your schedule. If you have things going on and you’re not available to work, you don’t. GrubHub makes a great side hustle due to the flexibility it offers.

Instacart

Having your groceries delivered is an excellent option if you are busy and don’t have the time to run to the store, don’t have transportation, or don’t want to go. Working through Instacart, you help customers get the groceries they need to feed themselves and their families.

You’ll be shopping for your customer based on their shopping list. Sometimes you’ll have to pick an alternative item if the product they wanted is out of stock, but you’re able to communicate with the customer directly so you can check with them and find a suitable replacement. Through Instacart, you’re able to set your schedule and work the hours that work right for you.

Postmates

No matter what you need to be delivered, Postmates has your back. This general delivery service is an excellent option for anyone that needs to have groceries, food, medication, or just about anything else delivered. If you live in a larger town, chances are you can fill your days with deliveries, as this service is becoming more and more popular. They even have a feature on their app that shows you your earnings after every delivery so you can easily track things.

Amazon Flex

Drivers with Amazon Flex help customers get their packages as quickly as possible. Driving for Amazon, you sign up via the Amazon app and make between $18 and $25 per hour. Each driver delivers in time blocks, usually a 3 or 6-hour block.

The flexibility that Amazon Flex offers is appealing to many people, especially those that already have full-time commitments. The best thing about their scheduling is that you are in charge of your schedule. You can work 1 or 2 days per week, or the whole week, depending on what you want to do.

Hauling

Did you know you can get paid to haul away items for people and businesses? Broken furniture, wooden pallets, and even old inventory are popular items that companies often need help getting rid of. You can browse local classified ads to see if anyone needs help removing large objects. You’d be surprised how common these jobs are to find.

Construction Deliveries

Having construction materials delivered to a job site can be an expensive cost for a smaller business. Often, small construction companies will pay for private deliveries rather than a larger company, as they can often save money on these services.

Construction Site Cleanup

In addition to deliveries, it’s not uncommon for construction companies to hire private parties to haul away trash and other debris. Doing construction site cleanup and haul away can end up being a pretty lucrative gig if you can find them.

They may ask you to remove construction materials, logs, dirt, rocks, or leftovers from demolition. You load up the items and take them to your local trash or recycling center.

Snow Plowing

If you live somewhere that gets snow in the winter, adding a plow attachment to the front of your pickup truck and offering plowing services is an excellent way to earn an income.

This type of seasonal work is an intelligent choice for people outside in an industry that thrives in the summer, but they have a lot of downtime in cooler months. It could very well carry someone through until their main job picks up more when the weather changes.

Large Item Deliveries

Most people don’t have the space in their vehicles to transport large items. From TVs to furniture to appliances, helping people in your community with deliveries could be an easy side hustle that can bring in some quick cash.

People may request that you pick up a large item from a store and deliver it to the customers’ home, or maybe someone local to you purchased something off the Facebook Marketplace and needs help getting it home. Either way, as long as your cargo van or pickup truck has enough space, you can deliver all kinds of things.

Landscaping Services

Providing landscaping services may be an excellent fit for those who enjoy being outside and have access to a lawnmower, weed whacker, and more lawn care supplies. Having a truck or cargo van provides you with plenty of space to haul your equipment.

You’ll be able to get plenty of fresh air, improve the curb appeal of peoples’ homes, and help people with physical limitations keep their lawn care under control.

Drive For Local Parades

If you live in a town that tends to host different parades during the year, you may be able to rent out your truck to be used as a float or for local businesses to display their advertisements during the procession.

Your local newspaper or radio station should be able to let you know when parades are scheduled. You can advertise your services by calling local businesses or posting on local sales pages online.

Large Appliance Delivery

When appliances stop working and have to be sent off for repair, it can be challenging to find a way to get your washer, dryer, or refrigerator to the repair shop. Most people don’t have the means to transport these large items on their own.

This is where your services come in. If you offer transportation services at a lower rate than the competitors in the area, you may find that others are willing to pay you to transport their appliances.

Towing

For those with a truck or van with a high towing capacity, offering towing services locally could be a smart move. If your area gets a lot of snow in the winter, you can offer to tow people who get stuck in the snow.

Another time that you could end up with more calls is weekends and overnights. If you provide your services when other towing companies are either closed or only offering emergency towing, you could end up with many customers.

Rent Out Your Vehicle

Consider renting it out to others if you’re comfortable with other people using your van or truck. You don’t have to do this on your own, as services are created to help individuals with this process. Ridesharing is great because you can drive people around, but renting out your vehicle allows you to stay home while someone else does the work.

You can sign up through one of the online rental services. Turo is a popular option and allows you to sign up and post your listing for free. Even better? You can set the rules that drivers have to follow with their vehicles. If you don’t want it used as a work vehicle, you can specify that. For each rental, you will earn up to 85% of the price of the trip.

Resale

Something trendy right now is thrifting and reselling. If you are crafty and can refurbish or revamp old items, then starting your own resale business could be the right fit for you. Spend some time driving around and seeing if you can find anything interesting that you can make better.

Curbside finds are free, but if you have a little bit you can spend to invest in your business, estate sales, auctions, and thrift stores are usually full of awesome things you can refurbish. Once you make a sale, you can even use your van or truck to deliver your creations to your customers.

Event Set-Up

Helping set up local events is a side gig that’s perfect for anyone who can haul things such as tents, tables, chairs, and other party supplies. Events such as weddings, birthday parties, and graduation parties are popular times when hosts may need extra help.

This can be particularly effective when the event may have more oversized items, like archways for weddings, large bounce houses, or other party equipment.

Scrapping

Selling scrap metal has been a popular way to make money with a van or truck for years. Brass, copper, and aluminum are valuable and can be sold at local scrap yards near you. Knowing the trash pickup schedule in both your town and neighboring towns can be helpful.

Driving around on trash day before the trucks come through is the best time to find discarded metal that you can then turn in for cash. There’s also the option of advertising online that you’re willing to pick up scrap metal and take it off of people’s hands for them.

Hauling Wood Pallets

Wood pallets are extremely popular right now. You can find tutorials for DIY projects using pallets, from furniture to garden beds to holiday decor, everywhere you look online. A lot of businesses even get rid of their pallets, giving them away for free. If you can find a source for some for really cheap or free, you can turn them into a lot of money.

There are wood pallet scrapping businesses that will pay up to $700 per week, depending on how many pallets you bring them. You can even sell pallets on Craigslist and other online marketplaces, advertising them for anywhere from $2 to $10 per pallet, depending on the condition and quality.

Offer Small Scale Recycling and Trash Removal

Does your neighborhood need help with trash removal? Maybe the company that services your area doesn’t offer bulk item removal or charges an outrageous amount. Whether you choose to remove trash bags, big items, or both, you may have some neighbors that are willing to pay you to get rid of their junk that they can’t dispose of easily.

You can also offer trash removal for times that your company either misses your block or when they’re closed due to holidays.

Ridesharing

With Lyft and Uber, anyone that owns a vehicle with 2 or more seats can drive for a ridesharing company. The modern taxi cab driving an Uber can bring in additional income outside of your regular job. You can work evenings, weekends, and any other time that you’re available and want to earn money.

Pickup trucks aren’t the most common options for ridesharing, but that shouldn’t impact your quality as a driver. If your truck or van has plenty of seating, you can have more riders in your vehicle at a time. You can still drive for those that have a 2 seat pickup, but this limits you to pick up just one person at a time.

Odd Jobs

Are you good with tools? Maybe you have some skills such as electrical or plumbing that you can offer to people. Handyman services are a convenience that can benefit a lot of people.

Apps such as Wage and TaskRabbit allow you to find people locally who need help with various things, from building something to installing a new faucet. Using your pickup truck or cargo van will enable you to bring any tools you need with you, and you can even use your vehicle to haul away any debris or trash when you complete the job.

Firewood Transport

For those that have the experience and licensing, being a tree cutter is an option. Having a truck or van is helpful because you can bring your saw with no problem, plus it allows you to haul away any stumps that you need to dispose of.

Most people don’t have the proper training for this job. However, as long as you have a vehicle that can handle hauling things, firewood companies often hire subcontractors to assist with delivering wood to stores, gas stations, and anywhere else that they sell their firewood.

Yard Sale Hauling

Yard sales are really popular during the spring and summer, but not everyone that wants to sell their used items has the space to do it at their own home. You may find some individuals who need help bringing their items to a friend’s house or their local church’s rummage sale.

Another way to make money during yard sale season is by offering to haul items for yard sale shoppers. Most yard sale hosts require buyers to haul away their purchases, but not everyone has the means to do this. You can put an ad on your local garage sale page online or in the newspaper offering item removal/delivery for garage and yard sales.

Vehicle Delivery For Auctions

Many towns have a local auction where they sell all kinds of things, from furniture and tools to vehicles. If your van or truck can haul a vehicle trailer behind it, delivering automobiles to your local option is an option you should consider. Vehicle types vary, but auctions are known to sell a wide range of items, from cars and trucks to ATVs, motorcycles, jet skis, and boats.

You could also offer to transport a buyer’s new vehicle for them. Unless they were planning on buying something large at the auction, chances are they aren’t equipped to tow a whole vehicle home with them. If you offer to help people bring home their new motorcycle, boat, or car from the auction, you could end up making extra money, as well as potentially growing your business.

Conclusion

Owning a cargo van or pickup truck can come in handy. If you ever have to move, you can handle things on your own, and you never have to worry that you won’t be able to get that new TV from Walmart home. You can even use your vehicle as a way to make an income! There are multiple services you can offer to folks in your town.

Having a large vehicle can come in handy from help with moving, hauling vehicles to auctions, and pulling people out of the snow. You’d be surprised by just how easy it can be to use your cargo van or pickup truck to start a business and make more money.