WARNING: USHIP has huge brokerage fees (hidden)

Good luck trying to shut them down. You can drive down the highway and see cargo trailers being pulled from other states running down the highway. No signs or nothing. Kind of hard to convince me that they are just moving things that are personally owned. It is a boom business to USHIP and there will be no changes.

 

I stated it and thefirst place the DOT looks is in the door. If it was any problem I would be pulled off the road. If I pass the DOT, why should it be an issue? Like every truck that hauls, I either get sent through at the weigh stations or I have to pull over for an inspection. If I am legal, I am free to go and if not, I am stuck there until a taxi comes to pick me up.

 

I am well aware of it.

My truck has a gvwr of 12,200 and I am plated for 26,000 lbs. I can run to the max of the license since I have a cdl.

A friend has a similar truck with a GVWR of 12,200 and can only attach a trailer for no more than 13,800 because he does not have a cdl.

I have run into guys who have changed the plating of the GVWR on the truck and finally been caught after many years because the dot did not believe it and checked.

 

My trailer is rated for 14,000 which puts the max at 12,000 lbs for payload. My truck starts stressing at 10,000 lbs so that is my max. I always go to the CAT scale before rolling out with the load. Trust but verify, if it is above stated weight and puts me over, I call the pick up site and inform them of the issue and go from there. I would rather take a load for less and be in the legal limits than be out money trying to haul oversized for a big payday that I may not see because of being pulled off the road and shelling out money to pay for repairs on my truck. The main thing is I stay within the law and have passed the DOT.

 

I'm sorry about your bad experience. .. most hot shot drivers are just tired of slamming van doors or throwing the same chains and wanted something with a little more challenge.
We don't haul for less, we load light loads at full truck rate and cut down on the expenses to move it=more in our pocket at the end of the day...quite a bit more of a challenge but payday makes it all worthwhile. ..


Just like any part of this industry there are good apples and bad ones.

 

Most of the 'hotshot' work is less challenging from my point of view then slinging chains and tarping.

 

Maybe more of a challenge from a business standpoint is what he means? Cutthroat competition is a challenge in any segment. Is hotshot any different?

 

Well, they live in a smaller truck, run equipment not as dependable, or parts as easy to come by...load more "odd ball" loads...then to top it off, try keeping a truck loaded@ 2.00+pm with 10-12k of capacity. ..definitely more of a challenge IMO

 

It is definitely a challenge going up and down the steep grades with that 10-12K load. I once hauled a 10K forklift (my gcvw was 22K) across the Ozarks and with the bulk of the weight on the back end if the forklift it was like playing tug-of-war with my truck and the load. the brakes on my trailer are electric and not anti-locking. This makes it even more fun in adverse weather conditions, especially when the state I live in, Minnesota, bans chains. With the winter coming I am already working my head into conditioning it for winter driving. I have to adjust my trailer brake control every time I load and unload so that I get the right amount of brakes. This control is under the dash and I do not have the luxury of a Jimmy handle.

 

Hotshot trucking started in the 1950s from the oil fields in Texas and Louisiana, and are still thriving on the Gulf Coast today because that is the biggest customer in hotshot trucking. It has expanded to other areas of trucking through the years and is now the fastest growing segment of the trucking industry. We hotshot truckers can haul into places that 18 wheelers sometimes cannot go. Since we are usually only one or two hauls for a load, we can get to the receiver quicker and with fewer stops. In recent years Uship and similar sites have popped up and have exploited this growth and has made a cutthroat business even more savage. These cut rate pirate haulers have hurt the trucking industry as a whole and thanks to Uship's cash cow tv show, it is hurting anyone who hauls for a living. so instead of getting a haul that can pay well, you can get a decent paying haul and often have to line up three or more on the way back to be able to make sure you break even. Unless the diesel prices take a steep swing downward, it is making the profit margins get smaller. I know that there is money to made running hotshot and that it takes time to do so, but I am stuck wondering if the cut rate drivers are going to kill the industry quicker tan the government will. With the growth of hotshot, I would not be surprised that the feds will be targeting us in the next few years and make us their favorite toy.