Best States to Base a HotShot Business

That is good to know Thanks. I just don’t care to go there. Always been a challenge getting out like Florida. Of course I can just chill out in Florida you can’t sit around in the NE . IMO

 

as someone doing hotshot id have to say you can get great rates coming out of iowa, however getting loads back can sometimes be a bit harder to do, also if you dont like snow its probably not the best idea.

 

Preferably a state with a low tax burden and modest COL. TN might be a good idea. TX for another if you stay away from the large metro areas.

 

Are these brokered loads ?

 

TX seems to really suck for out loads anymore, or at least anytime I've been there lately. It's like going to FL anymore.

 

I see cars all the time going to IA. I figured it would suck coming back out so I've never taken any.

 

Those Texas oil fields used to be gold. Not sure how they are now.
Auto parts lanes that run north to south used to be very profitable. They died after 2008, they came back a little bit I'm not sure how they are now.

 

Auto/Aircraft/Equipment parts lanes from El Paso to wherever. Lots of Maquiladoras in Juarez, then things get held up in customs and miss the scheduled trucks. I used to get top dollar to van expedite or enclosed hotshot these loads to other border towns, Vance or Montgomery, AL, West Point or Pooler, GA, Michigan, Anderson, SC, Gallatin, TN, or anywhere else manufacturing lines with a JIT supply chain were located that would shut down without said parts on the truck.

Van expedited (Sprinter) was the most profitable, because I ran an older OM647 with a GDE tune and 3" custom exhaust. It got over 30 mpg and could haul 4 skids sideways inside. Being 8550 GVWR, I didn't need to hit the scales nor run a logbook. I could run these loads with just a 4 hour nap in the middle, then catch up on sleep at the destination (always leaving fully-rested from the house). The return trip would usually consist of oddball things, like vendor displays from a show in Nashville, Plastic tubing from Indiana, etc.