So you want to hot-shot? (Will be updated/edited frequently)

Cactus214 · Sep 16, 2018

HOTSHOTTER432 said: ↑

Hello all, So you want to get into the hot shot trucking business? Here's some helpful info I've picked up along the way. Now I am not an expert, we are all learners. So if I make a mistake, anyone can chime in. I want this thread to be a helpful tool full of real facts and truth.

1. Will I need a CDL?

Short answer: YES. Any vehicle combination over 26,001 pounds will require a class A CDL to operate. The GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating) is the combination of the truck's GVWR, and the trailer's GVWR. (For example: My truck has a GVWR of 13,000 pounds, my trailer has a GVWR of 24,000 pounds. Add those two, and you get 37,000 pounds, So I need a CDL.)

2. Do I need a DOT number?

More than likely, yes.
If your truck and trailer's GVWR exceed 10,001 pounds (and doing business out of state), a USDOT number must be displayed on the sides of it. ( 2" letters, must be visible from 50' away) Also, since you will be running a GVWR more than likely 26,001 plus, you'll need the DOT number.

3. Now that you have your DOT#, you'll need to register with a drug testing consortium.

You are a CDL driver, you must comply with all FMCSA standards. So, you'll need to go do (and pass) a pee test, AND, you will be randomly selected by your consortium to take a test.

4. Do I need an MC number?

If you ever plan on working out of state, yes you must have a motor carrier number.

5. What about IFTA?

From the Texas state website:

IFTA is an agreement that provides for the consolidated reporting of motor fuels (i.e., Gasoline, Diesel Fuel, Liquefied Gas, Compressed Natural Gas, Liquefied Natural Gas) taxes for qualifying commercial motor vehicles traveling in more than one state or province of Canada. IFTA is not a separate tax or fee.

http://www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/fuels/ifta.html

6. Apportioned plates?

If you run out of state, you will need apportioned plates. Along with the MC# and IFTA tags.

7. Lets' talk insurance.

For the most part you will need:

A $1 million dollar general liability policy for your company.
Cargo insurance

Depending on the customer, you may be required to have worker's compensation insurance.

Also, they (your customer) Might require you to have an umbrella liability policy. (additional coverage in case you, God forbid, FUBAR something.)

Speaking of "company" you will more than likely have to file for a EIN or Employer Identification Number. (unless you are registered as a sole-proprietor company, then your SSN should suffice.) For your taxes.

8. Lets' talk taxes........ $$$$

You will be self-employed. SAVE AND OR MAKE COPIES OF ALL YOUR EXPENSE RECEIPTS!!!!

The tax man does not forgive, so you want to save and add up all of your fuel, food (while OTR) and maintenance expenses. That will help you out substantially.

*There are many more things I know of that are missing out from this intial post*. I know this and I will add in the info ASAP. (its almost midnight here) So good night drivers! stay safe and I will be back soon to add more!!!!!
Click to expand...

flatbedcarrier said: ↑

Here's a few things that'll help you while shopping for Insurance,

Just about every Broker, and Shipper out there today wants to see that you have $100,000.00 Cargo, and $1,000,000,00 liability coverage before they'll let you move their freight. The FMCSA will let you run with less but the bottom line is very few Brokers and Shippers will let you haul their freight having less.

When it comes to Commercial insurance you really need to shop around. I hear guys saying all the time they have clean driving records, no prior commercial driving experience and they're being quoted as much as $12,000.00 a year. At the same time I have guys here with good driving records, no prior commercial driving experience getting quotes for $5500.00 to $7,000.00 a year.

Paying for your insurance, You can either pay all up front, NOT ADVISABLE. Or you can put 2 to 3 payments down and pay the balance in monthly installments. Why do I advise against paying it all up front? Because what I've seen over the years is a lot of insurance agents become less helpful after they have all your money. Beside that, if they turn out to be a rotten agent you'll be in for a long hard fight trying to get your money back from them.

Another thing that will drive your insurance quote through the roof is what you tell a Insurance agent. If you tell them you want to haul hazmat loads, Oilfield loads, and do expedited work you're telling them you're a high risk. If you just plan to do like a lot of us and haul a mixture of LTL freight and vehicles, you should not mention Hazmat, Oilfield, or Expedited work. And if you don't plan on hauling the Hazmat, Oilfield, or expedited and the Insurance Agent uses these words, you need to immediately correct the Agent and tell them you're not doing that type of work, Tell the Agent, you're an over the road LTL carrier that may have a vehicle or two on once in awhile.

Also when choosing a Insurance Agent, make sure they're putting you with an Onshore Insurance Provider, not a out of the country Insurance Provider. Why? Because if you ever have a claim you can play hell trying to get a Offshore Insurance Company to pay. I learned this the hard way years ago and I had to eat a loan on W900 Kenworth. Oh, you can sue the Insurance company but you'll have to go to their country and play by their rules to do it.

Also when you're choosing a Agent you need to ask them how quickly they'll send out insurance certs to Brokers and Shippers. It's critical that they send them out right away for you. Most Brokers, and Shippers will not wait for a Insurance Cert very long, they just give the load to someone else with a faster insurance company. Time is money. If the Agent tells you they send them out at the end of the day, week, or they say you can do them yourself on line. Myself, I'd find another Agent willing to handle it right away.

Another important piece of advice, Some insurance companies will try to put you on a limited operating radius (commonly a 500 miles radius). Do not let this happen, even if you plan to work local. Why? Because in the trucking business you need to be able to step further out when your local work dries up. There's times when it will dry up.

When it comes to hauling LTL Freight $100,000.00 may not always be enough to cover whats on your trailer. My policy is written to cover $100,000.00 per Bill of laden, for up to 5 Bill of ladens on any load that I put together and transport . It's not common that I have a load on valued over $100,000.00 but there are times where it happens. And in the rare even someone wants you to move a load valued at more, lets say $500,000.00. You need a Insurance agent that can increase your limit for that one single run. My agent has done this for me many times over the years when high value loads were offered to me.

If you're talking to a commercial insurance agent that has to get back to you, or put you on hold to get answers to most of your questions. Or every time you call you're talking to a different person. Find another Commercial Insurance agent. Preferable one you can be on a first name basis with..

If I can think of anything else regarding insurance I'll up date this.
Click to expand...

Once you have everything needed.....rig, numbers, ins., etc, besides boards, where would one look to for business?

setenney · Sep 26, 2018

I am new to the forums here and have been doing alot of research and have found alot of useful info from all of the seasoned veterans on here. I just upgraded my trailer to a 40' Load Trail and am looking to upgrade my supply of load securement equipment. In the past I've always used a 23-25' chain and hooked one axle then bound it and there was enough excess to go under driveshaft on units loop back over and under and bind both sides utilizing one chain. Is this frowned upon in an inspection? It's one chain yes but in theory it's two if its cut in half. My photo illustrates what I'm referring to. (Pardon my poor artwork). Please let me know if individual chains are needed at each of 4 points or if one long 25' will work like I've been doing.
Thanks in advance.

Lovely82 · Oct 6, 2018

HOTSHOTTER432 said: ↑

Hello all, So you want to get into the hot shot trucking business? Here's some helpful info I've picked up along the way. Now I am not an expert, we are all learners. So if I make a mistake, anyone can chime in. I want this thread to be a helpful tool full of real facts and truth.

1. Will I need a CDL?

Short answer: YES. Any vehicle combination over 26,001 pounds will require a class A CDL to operate. The GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating) is the combination of the truck's GVWR, and the trailer's GVWR. (For example: My truck has a GVWR of 13,000 pounds, my trailer has a GVWR of 24,000 pounds. Add those two, and you get 37,000 pounds, So I need a CDL.)

2. Do I need a DOT number?

More than likely, yes.
If your truck and trailer's GVWR exceed 10,001 pounds (and doing business out of state), a USDOT number must be displayed on the sides of it. ( 2" letters, must be visible from 50' away) Also, since you will be running a GVWR more than likely 26,001 plus, you'll need the DOT number.

3. Now that you have your DOT#, you'll need to register with a drug testing consortium.

You are a CDL driver, you must comply with all FMCSA standards. So, you'll need to go do (and pass) a pee test, AND, you will be randomly selected by your consortium to take a test.

4. Do I need an MC number?

If you ever plan on working out of state, yes you must have a motor carrier number.

5. What about IFTA?

From the Texas state website:

IFTA is an agreement that provides for the consolidated reporting of motor fuels (i.e., Gasoline, Diesel Fuel, Liquefied Gas, Compressed Natural Gas, Liquefied Natural Gas) taxes for qualifying commercial motor vehicles traveling in more than one state or province of Canada. IFTA is not a separate tax or fee.

http://www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/fuels/ifta.html

6. Apportioned plates?

If you run out of state, you will need apportioned plates. Along with the MC# and IFTA tags.

7. Lets' talk insurance.

For the most part you will need:

A $1 million dollar general liability policy for your company.
Cargo insurance

Depending on the customer, you may be required to have worker's compensation insurance.

Also, they (your customer) Might require you to have an umbrella liability policy. (additional coverage in case you, God forbid, FUBAR something.)

Speaking of "company" you will more than likely have to file for a EIN or Employer Identification Number. (unless you are registered as a sole-proprietor company, then your SSN should suffice.) For your taxes.

8. Lets' talk taxes........ $$$$

You will be self-employed. SAVE AND OR MAKE COPIES OF ALL YOUR EXPENSE RECEIPTS!!!!

The tax man does not forgive, so you want to save and add up all of your fuel, food (while OTR) and maintenance expenses. That will help you out substantially.

*There are many more things I know of that are missing out from this intial post*. I know this and I will add in the info ASAP. (its almost midnight here) So good night drivers! stay safe and I will be back soon to add more!!!!!
Click to expand...

Lovely82 · Oct 6, 2018

This is awesome information. Thank you so much.

Lovely82 · Oct 6, 2018

I have a 2001 f250 2wd would this vehicle be sufficient to get started it's already equipped with the brake system and also has the gooseneck connection In the bed of the truck. Any recommendations?

Lite bug · Oct 6, 2018

Lovely82 said: ↑

I have a 2001 f250 2wd would this vehicle be sufficient to get started it's already equipped with the brake system and also has the gooseneck connection In the bed of the truck. Any recommendations?
Click to expand...

I know a couple of people doing this with a f250. These guys are running under 26,000 lbs. I have a 2000 f350 that has 700,000 miles on it. I have updated everything. I have a new engine block, rebuild transmission. A lot of newer parts as I have went along. Your truck needs to be reliable. Everyone will have breakdowns. I know of people starting out with a used truck and before they get their feet under them breakdowns have put them out of business. Starting out most people don’t have steady people to work with. Yes you can get loaded with the load board, but without someone guiding you, you are rolling the dice at best. Keep reading here and asking questions.

Lovely82 · Oct 6, 2018

Lite bug said: ↑

I know a couple of people doing this with a f250. These guys are running under 26,000 lbs. I have a 2000 f350 that has 700,000 miles on it. I have updated everything. I have a new engine block, rebuild transmission. A lot of newer parts as I have went along. Your truck needs to be reliable. Everyone will have breakdowns. I know of people starting out with a used truck and before they get their feet under them breakdowns have put them out of business. Starting out most people don’t have steady people to work with. Yes you can get loaded with the load board, but without someone guiding you, you are rolling the dice at best. Keep reading here and asking questions.
Click to expand...

Lovely82 · Oct 6, 2018

I really would like to go with someone that's willing to teach me and show me the ropes . I would like to feel confident and comfortable.

Lite bug · Oct 6, 2018

Lovely82 said: ↑

I really would like to go with someone that's willing to teach me and show me the ropes . I would like to feel confident and comfortable.
Click to expand...

Where are you located at?

Lovely82 · Oct 6, 2018

Lite bug said: ↑

Where are you located at?
Click to expand...

I'm in Saint Louis until in of this month and then I'll be relocated to fort worth Texas area.

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