Hi, new here... and Hotshotting as a stepping stone to tractor O/O

Hi all, I'm new to posting but have been hanging out reading everyone else's posts for quite a while now.

I have read tons of posts telling new drivers to take whatever job they can get and to drive for next to nothing just to get a foot in the door and "pay their dues." Now there's nothing wrong with that if that's the way a person wants to go. But that route wasn't for me.

First off, I'm old enough that I've paid plenty of dues, about half a century's worth, and I don't feel like paying more at least in that way.

Secondly, I'm lucky to have a choice about it and can take a little different road to get to where I want to be in a few years as an independent O/O.

I wonder if anyone else out there is doing what I am, namely using Hotshotting as a stepping stone to start their O/O business.

I put a lot of thought into it, and decided going with a mega-carrier was not in my best interest. There was no way I could justify being gone from home for months at a stretch, at the mercy of some company, and only making a quarter a mile. Especially after paying out of my own pocket for the CDL training.

IMO my effort and costs of getting that training are worth a heck of a lot more than .25 a mile and I would rather use the training to put money in my pocket than in the pocket of some big carrier.

An in-law put a bug in my ear about hotshot work. Since I already own the pickup needed, and it is paid off, I'm going to be doing hotshot work under my own authority as soon as the paperwork flurry settles. Fortunately I have some resources so I can take care of the other start up costs. I have some contacts for getting loads and have looked at this from every angle. So far I think I've got a solid plan...

If things go according to my plan (knock on wood) I'll have enough profit in about 18-24 months to buy myself a new-to-me tractor and upgrade to full loads.

I only know personally one other guy who did this route, and only after he put in 6 months as a team driver with a mega carrier and got fed up when they refused to get him home after being out forever.

Two years later, he now has a new-to-him Freightliner parked in his driveway next to his old hotshot truck and has as much work as he can handle.

Mainly I wanted to post this to let people know that there are routes to being successful that do not require "paying dues" by being abused by a large carrier.

Sure, there are costs involved, and quite a bit with insurance and all, but in my book this is so much better than giving away my labor for next to nothing.

 

Thanks Cummings.. Excellent points! I'm kicking around either that or a pickup with flat bed for the next vehicle. Truly about the only advantages I can see in having a tractor are the availability of a sleeper for those longer runs (saving on motels) and the possibility of taking full truck loads. True though that a tractor setup is going to cost more to run... The nicest thing about it is that I won't have to decide that for sure until I get a feel for available loads, average run distances, and such.

And thanks 123456, I appreciate the good wishes and will definitely keep it updated.

 

Thanks for asking TL, yes, I ended up trading off my old truck for a Dodge 5500 and 40' float trailer. I'm leased to a small local carrier and should get my first load next week. It's been busy getting everything together. I'll update more as I have anything of interest to post.

 

An update if anyone wondered where I went... I dropped the carrier I was leased to and got my own authority. I'm working on getting some more direct customers lined up, already have one good one, and have had some success getting work.

As it turns out, I can make a better deal with my little truck than I thought I could, so it looks like this will be my niche in the business. Gotta say I've learned a lot (probably mostly the hard way but that's normal for me) and am starting to get a grip on how this stuff works.

I figure I'll do fine as long as I keep learning something new every day, and keep plugging along. At any rate, I'm pretty happy and paying the bills so far, so I guess that counts for something