My opinion of Hotshot trucking with experience

For those of you looking to get "into the biz" I will share my experiences and thoughts of past experience learning the hard way a 40' GN and with what the market is offering these days. I like lists, so here ya go...

1. For MOST hauling where a flatbed gooseneck is used, a standard 1 ton, 3500, etc pick up will break you. Ok sure there are exceptions, and if your hauling light all the time, or RV's they are great, but general freight I have proven to myself that they wear out 10x faster. At the highest point, we operated 6 Hotshot trucks from a 2500 to a F-550. Anytime you run a vehicle to max capability, its gonna wear out faster. Case in point, the 550 with a 40' Gooseneck, and I could scale 35,000 lbs legally, which was about 20,000 in load weight. Now 20k that is a foot off the trailer, is fine. 20k that is an 8' wall pushing air, now feels like 40k. Depending on terrain and wind, the turbo was wound tight always. In 49,000 miles, and with a cool down timer, the truck still used 2 turbos.

The 2500/3500 wear out 10 ply tires so fast with max weight, and brakes I might as well have kept in the truck. Again, RV's and constant light freight, its another story.

2. Don't bother asking "do I need a CDL?" The answer is YES. Again, unless you are doing RV's or have a dedicated run, you will starve looking for loads that are light enough to get you under CDL. If you get caught over 26,001 then youre really asking for it. Its not hard to do, and you can test in your own truck. There is a Class-A CDL without Airbrake for those with hydraulic brakes. An 8,000 lb truck and 8,000 lb trailer with extras allows a 9,900lbs load.....which means tons of empty miles to find them.

3. You are competing with Fed Ex, UPS, etc. If customer A has 4 skids, the LTL market will be much cheaper than you can ever do, unless you treat it as a partial. Hotshots excel when time is crucial, not when the load is lite. Now, if you can haul a product that needs a flat or stepdeck, but can do it more competitive than the "big boys"...youre gold!

4. Tarps...yep make the investment.

5. Make sure the facility will load hotshot trucks. Especially if you use brokered loads. Tell them upfront what you have. If you bounce 200 miles without finding out, and cant get loaded....guess who bought your fuel. Some facilities have to load at dock height, and do not have the ability to load steps or goosenecks.

6. Recaps. I know there are various opinions, and I don't feel anyone is wrong. At the end, we went with Medium Duty International 4900 trucks. Our local recapped is known for good quality, and Ive never had an issue unless it was driver error. When dealing with caps. Buy a couple "used" but good tires. Have them capped and either stored or bring them home. When your tires get to say 1/4 or 1/8 tread, swap them out. Reason being if the tire goes bald, you lose your casing credit, usually 60-70 a tire. Since its gonna wear down anyway, change them early and pay only the tread fee, which is much lower.

7. Chinese tires are junk. These are the cheap, no name 1/2 price ones. Ive had more egg shaped, or flat spotted junk tires that I should have been shot for buying them. Remember, Tires in an emergency are much much more expensive!

8. Since im tired. We have had much better luck since going with Medium Duty trucks, ie GMC 6500/7500, Freightliner 50/60/70, International 4700/4900, Ford F-650/750, etc. These trucks are relatively cheap, have better drivetrains, and will handle your 40' GN much easier. Plus, the air seat is much more comfortable. We bought short wheel base "UPS" style single axles for local, and 2 crew cabs for long distance. The back seat of a crew fits the sleeper rules well, and also a single mattress. We can now do 53,000 max, so that same 20,000lb load rides much better than the 350-550 that's working its butt off.

The best part of trucking is there is no 1 way to do it. What works for you wont for me, and visa versa. I wanted to share my experiences incase they answer some questions. Hope this helps!

 

I was looking to go the "hot shot" route, and sell my hopper wagon. Frac sand is non existant right now and feed and bulk commodities fluctuate a lot. I was looking at using this
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What do you think? The step deck I'm looking at is a Teraport or a Featherlight, both truck and trailer cost puts me lower than a new Dodge truck or a 2 year old used truck with a new gooseneck. I currently run a 1989 Pete 379 exhd with a PDI Cummings motor and a 6+4. I thought about taking mine and cutting it down like this but this is already done and then I can just put mine in the shop and redo it at my leisure. It's got 40k on the odometer since the complete rebuild. 475 cat E model, 15 with OD, and 3:55 rear, he is getting 12mph towing his 38' horse trailer. I have been in this business before, and I wore out a dodge in nine months, so I won't be doing that again. I agree that if you only pull light loads a duelly is fine but those are too few to always get. What broker or dispatch service do you use or would recommend? I know flatbeds, have had those for 15 years but ran hay and lumber on the west coast. In Texas now and won't be going back west. Still have my straps, chains and tarps too. Any input is appreciated.

 

Just go ahead and buy a tandem, single axles are for specialized hauling, as someone new getting into this you want to have all options available and not limit yourself.

 

I have a tandem, Pete 379exhd, and I'm not new to this, have had my own company for over 15 years. Including running hotshot deliveries in the Pacific NW. So I know how quickly a 3500 with a gooseneck dies. That's the reason for the Pete. It's all new, with a Cat 5/500 platium warranty. And right now flatbed rates are not any better than what I can get with hotshot loads. So why not? Better fuel milage, a good looking set up (that goes a long way to impress your customers) and I can tow my trailers when I'm not working it. So what would be the down side?

 

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Here's the truck, for some reason the above pic didn't load

 

Sounds like you already know the business and have contact's? Not sure what your asking here?

As far as fancy trucks and coffin sleepers its all personal choice.

 

Good info. Subscribed

 

Alright guys, don't eat me up. I've been reading about guys going belly up after purchasing a $60K truck and not getting loads, thus not being able to make payments. Here's my question. If someone had the capital to buy a truck and trailer, get their own authority, and start off completely debt free, would it be worth it?

 

Nesbitt89, I can tell you for a fact that 75% of the new guys who go under (if not more) do so because they're lazy starting out, or get lazy along the way. By the way thats the same reason trucking companies have such high turnover rates with company drivers.

If you're motivated, have a sound plan, and willing to put the work in, you should be fine.

Having equipment thats paid for starting out doesn't really offer protection from failing, if anything it'll just buy you some time. And a smart person will use that time to work on the issues in their business that may be causing them to fail.

There's companies that start up debt free who have hundreds of trucks and trailers. They can fail just as easy as 1 horse outfit. Sometimes even quicker.

 

This is great information. I am in the research mode and working towards getting on the road by mid-summer this year. It is good to get another view of truck type to use. All the other information helps too as I put my plan together. Thanks!