Has anyone ever been an independent contractor for these guys? Are they any good to work for. Any feedback on these guys would be great. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and am considering contractong for them.
Run as fast as you can in the opposite direction... I am currently in the towing business but my first 2.5 years in business I operated as a "roadside service" company and I am familiar with the rates paid and the job. Previous to being self employed, I worked for one of the "franchised roadside service" companies (as an employee) for about 6 months.
The reason they hire you as an "independant contractor" is to not pay the costs of an employee. I.e. payroll tax, workman's compensation and unemployment tax.
Now call up you friendly local IRS office, describe what you will be doing and ask them if you qualify as an IC. The answer will be "NO". IC test... https://www.hrtools.com/etoolsapplets/indcontractortester/contracttest3.asp
Now call up the motor clubs that you will be servicing, and ask them if it is OK for their work to be done by a subcontractor, and done without having workman's compensation insurance. Again, their answer will be "NO" (This stuff is in the MC contracts).
Now none of that really affects you personally. Let's look at your income and expenses.
The various "franchised roadside companies" get their work by being the lowest bidder to the Motor Clubs. Because their capabilities are so far less than a towing company, their bid must be substantially lower. An educated guess would be $21 per call, plus or minus a few dollars. That's for a completed call. Motor Clubs also have what is called a "GOA" (Gone On Arrival) rate. Say you get to a jumpstart and the car won't start, you don't get paid the service, you get paid the GOA the same as if the customer was not there. Look for GOA rates between $10 and $15.
I did a quick search on the internet to try to find the percentage they pay, and the ads I found do not list it. However they DO list an hourly wage of $30 / hr and yearly earnings from $35 - $50K. (Note they are advertising gross not net and those numbers are VERY optimistic).
Again an educated guess, they are probably paying around 40%, plus or minus 5%. Out of that you need to pay your commercial insurance, income and self-employment taxes, fuel and vehicle depreciation.
The IRS WILL consider you a business, and you will be taxed as such.
If they have given you real numbers for percentages, MC rates etc I'd be happy to substitute those for my "educated guesses". You can email me through the site if you would prefer to not post them publically.