The captain's night before
The captain's day starts the evening before, when the call sheet is approved. Everything the transportation department does comes from that page and the notes the 2nd AD adds at the bottom. The captain reads it for crew call, cast pickup times, the location address and parking notes, and anything flagged for transportation: a picture car needed at 9:00 a.m., a camera car for Scene 18, a background holding area across town.
From that the captain builds a run sheet for the drivers. On a practical location shoot it might look like this:
| Driver | Vehicle | Run | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Driver 1 | Honeywagon | Stage at base camp, Lot B | On site 4:30a |
| Driver 2 | Cast van | Pick up cast #1 and #3 at hotel | Depart 5:15a |
| Driver 3 | 15-pass van | Crew shuttle, crew parking to set | 5:30a to 7:00a loop |
| Driver 4 | Stake bed | Art department pickup, prop house | 7:30a |
| Driver 5 | Picture car (1968 sedan) | To set, report to props | 8:45a |
Drivers get their assignments by text or a printed sheet, and the captain keeps a copy for the day.
A realistic shoot day
Take a Day 9 with a 6:00 a.m. crew call at a house in the hills and a company move after lunch to a park 4 miles away.
At 4:15 a.m. the captain is on the street checking that the cones and "no parking" signs from last night held. Trucks start arriving at 4:30 and get staged in the order departments need them: grip and electric closest to set, camera next, then wardrobe and makeup at base camp. By 5:45 the shuttle loop from crew parking is running.
Mid-morning is quieter. The captain checks on the cast van timing for the afternoon, confirms the park's parking area with the location manager, and sends one driver ahead to hold the spots. Around lunch the captain meets with the 1st AD and key grip to agree on what moves first. After the last shot at the house, the captain releases trucks in that order, rides the route to make sure every truck made the turn at the bottom of the hill, and sets up the park. At wrap the captain stays until the last truck leaves and the cast have been driven back.
Who the captain works with
- The transportation coordinator, who hires the drivers and handles rentals and budget
- The first assistant director and second assistant director, for moves and cast timing
- The location manager, on parking, permits, and neighbor complaints
- Department heads whose trucks need to be close to set, especially grip, electric, and camera
- Cast and their reps, when pickups change
Captains and co-captains under Local 399
Teamsters Local 399's 2024 to 2027 wage schedule separates the first driver captain hired on a production from all other co-captains. For the period August 2, 2026 through July 31, 2027 the studio minimums are $60.86 an hour for the first captain and $54.28 an hour for co-captains. Daily employees on this schedule go to time and a half after 8 hours and/or 40 hours in the week.
Here is how a 13-hour day works out for the first captain at minimum, assuming all hours past 8 are at time and a half (confirm any higher overtime tiers in the agreement for your show):
- 8 hours x $60.86 = $486.88
- 5 hours x $91.29 = $456.45
- Total: $943.33 before fringes
That is one reason a captain watches the clock on a long move. Every extra hour on a stalled truck is time and a half for the driver too. Use the overtime calculator to check your own numbers, and read the Local 399 schedule for your production type (distant location, episodic, and low budget each have their own sheet).
How captains get the job
Almost every captain has been a driver first. A driver who knows the routes, doesn't lose trucks, and keeps a clear head when the street permit turns out to be for the wrong block gets asked to co-captain, then captain. Union shows in Los Angeles hire from Local 399, whose members also qualify for the Industry Experience Roster maintained by Contract Services. On smaller non-union shoots a "transpo captain" may be a production assistant with a van and the location manager's phone number.
Paperwork and tools
The captain lives in the call sheet, the run sheet, and the drivers' time cards. Other paperwork includes vehicle inspection checklists, fuel logs, incident reports when a truck gets scraped, and the notes that feed the daily production report. Storiara's call sheets pull the location address and daily weather into one page, which gives the captain the address and conditions for tomorrow's staging in the same document the rest of the crew reads. See the call sheet feature.