Hot Shot Flatbed, New Company advice

Discussion in 'Expediter and Hot Shot Trucking Forum' started by NJohnson11, Mar 7, 2015.

  1. NJohnson11

    NJohnson11 Bobtail Member

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    Mar 6, 2015
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    So I have been reading on this forum to try and find the answers I need and it is sort of hit or miss in the hot shot threads. I say hot shot but whatever you would like to call it I would be taking any loads that would fit on my truck, so hot shot, LTL, whatever but I would not be a 24/7 on call truck and not be devoted to the oil fields. To give the people that are going to answer my question a chance I will provide the specific information that I see a lot of people are not really providing when they seek there questions to be answered.

    questions ???????
    1. is my estimated rate realistic
    2. do you think my bare minimum loaded miles per year is realistic
    3. have I chosen the right equipment for what I plan to do
    4. I plan on getting my own authority through OOIDA, thoughts
    5. I have no contracts to begin with but I have found that truckersedge.net powered by Transcore and DAT to be the best board for me to start with. I do seek to get contracts as my business progresses, what are your thoughts
    6. is it common if the load isn't posed as hot shot but it is a partial will it pay that same as a normal load generally
    7. at a 500 mile radios is it true that the rates are high because the loads are not considered long haul freight

    I have created a good spread sheet on excel to show and calculate my fixed and variable costs to run my one truck. My final rate with the current fuel prices I am going to shoot for $2.30 per mile. This would pay for all of my expenses including my own pay. Also this includes 40,000 DH miles per year, four nights in hotel a week, I mean the list goes on you can trust me I have done my research and included all necessary costs and maybe even a few extra things to make sure this company will survive. I plan to drive 70,000 loaded miles per year minimum which is 5833 per month and 1500 per week and 292 per day in a five day week. my insurance quote was 16,000 per year through progressive with 150 cargo and 1mil. liability. this leads me to my radios of 500 miles of River Falls WI. I am within 25 miles of the St. Paul Minneapolis area so finding freight hasn't been a problem when demoing the load board within my criteria. I plan to get a new F450 and a new PJ flatdeck trailer. The trailer I plan to buy is 30ft of deck and 6 feet will be the PJ Power Tail. also I will have two 12000lb axles with air ride equipped suspension. I have been looking on truckersedge.net and using the free demo and it seems to be the best way to go from a load board standpoint. if you don't know I encourage people to check it out and provide there feedback. the funds will be provided by a small business loan for my LLC and when I start I will also have a couple of months of operating costs. I have also included factoring in my rate per mile so I wont be losing money as I will need fast cash flow to begin with to get the company up on its feet. other information is that I do have experience with class A combinations because i have been in the landscape industry for 6 years now and am extreme comfortable pulling heavy loads with f750, 4300 international, and sterling tandem dump trucks and lots of ford L8000 to. I would just like to here from some people the really do know what they are talking about so I can get advice that will do me good instead of people just blurting out there opinions. I am 22 and not your typical know it all punk that you find out in the world today. i am ready for your advice and more than willing two learn about the trucking industry.
    :biggrin_2558:
     
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  3. Lite bug

    Lite bug Road Train Member

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    At 22 and given your experance so far, and the way you have asked your questions, why do you want to get into this business? Don't get me wrong I love what I do, I work when and where I want of course I am at the other end of the spectrum I am 60.
     
  4. Ridgeline

    Ridgeline Road Train Member

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    I normally break this all out to answer questions but I'm tired today so my comments are in bold

     
  5. FarmerTransportation

    FarmerTransportation Light Load Member

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    1) Everything Ridgeline said is valid. Especially note that you should not make your decision based upon what you would make if you hit your plan numbers. Rather, you need to figure up your expenses, see what business you would have to do just to break even and see whether THAT number is realistic for a slow period. Because you WILL hit slow periods.

    2) You can do all the work to get your own authority and DOT registration. I did it after researching here and finding out where to go. Shop insurance. Take the minimum that you have to have. You will pay a higher amount because you're a newer company. The exception is that most of the larger freight companies and brokers want you to have $1 Million liability. Talk again with Progressive. I pay under $5K per year, although I do have them rating me at 300 miles per trip.

    3) You can reduce costs in a couple ways: Don't stay in hotels every night. Sleep in the truck, get a shower at Pilot. Next night do the hotel. Get on a hotel chain rewards program and earn free hotel nights. Fit the truck with a little microwave, refrigerator and coffee maker. Buy your food from the grocery store, rather than spending big bucks at restaurants.

    As said above, a used truck will go a long ways to reducing your costs. I run a 2003 F450. I put about $3200 into it to bring it up to my spec, but it still cost me less than 1/4 of what I'd have spent for a new one. I looked for a LONG time and could never find a used trailer that had what I wanted and wasn't trashed. Ones that weren't trashed were not much less than new. I love the spec on your trailer and I'm jealous! Consider adding a battery and a hitch receiver up on front of the bed to hold a winch on a receiver plate. PJ doesn't do the receiver, I don't think. I had the trailer dealer weld it on. Also get two jacks on it with power wind-up. You aren't gonna want to crank that one up and down. Save money on the truck - put some of that back into the trailer.

    4) Factoring. Choose a factor that will take your paper with no recourse. That means that if they can't collect, they won't come back to you for the money. The caveat is that you have to call them with each load to get their approval up front on that broker. As long as you have their approval, they've bought the debt and you are in the clear. I pay 4% for mine, and it's well worth it. They do come to me once in awhile and tell me that this broker or that one is on their shoot list, and I avoid that broker till they get straightened out.

    5) Rates. I use Internet Truckstop because it allows me to sort loads easily so that all the loads I want to look at are right up front. I can see the load length, weight and rate if the rate is posted. I couldn't sort like that on the boards you mentioned. I don't see a correlation between load distance and rates. What I do see is a correlation with weights, but not always. Almost everything I see in the smaller short trips is posting at $1 per mile and less, unless there are other overriding factors such as Oversize, Hazardous, Expedited and so on. I look through the list and call on loads that suit me, and then negotiate the rate. If they won't pay enough to make it worth it to me, I go on to the next. If I see a trip that looks good but the rate is a bit low, I go and look for a backhaul. If I can get a trip back that gets me up over $2/mile for all the miles driven it's a go.

    When you have worked with a few brokers and made them happy, you'll be able to get them to call you first with loads you can handle. Eventually you'll have some brokers who call you with loads before those loads get on the boards. I have 2 brokers doing that for me, and hope to have more soon.
     
    Jocsan, Barbee's Girl and Lite bug Thank this.
  6. FarmerTransportation

    FarmerTransportation Light Load Member

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    Oh, and by the way. I wish I'd have done this at age 22.
     
    Jocsan Thanks this.
  7. Lite bug

    Lite bug Road Train Member

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    Yes, Roger that Farmer
     
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