background checks.

Some will, usually the bigger guys. Some wont even let you haul for them until your DOT number is older than one year.

 

Makes it tough to last a year when nobody lets you haul freight for them....

Ran into a similar situation when I was in high school trying to buy my first motorcycle:

Couldn't buy the bike without a loan.
Couldn't get a loan without insurance.
Couldn't get insurance without a license.
Couldn't get the license without a bike.

Vicious cycle it is.

So you have to have DOT numbers that are a year old before anyone will let you run their freight...so what do you do for that year? Get the numbers, pay for the insurance, and keep it all in a drawer for a year while you are leased on running under someone else's numbers?

Sure would make for an interesting audit....

"yeah, here's the insurance and stuff. Logs? Driver files? Ain't no logs or driver file 'cuz we ain't hired a driver yet. Well, it doesn't make sense to hire a driver 'til we have a truck to put him in. Yeah, there's that truck out there, but it's currently under contract with XYZ carriers, so it's not really ours. If we could find work for a truck, we might put one on in the future, but nobody will do business with us until we've been around for a year."

Wonder how that'd go over...

 

It will be 6-months since my authority went active and have had 1 tell me a year. Handfull are 6-months but one thing is certain, I have been able to keep the wheels rolling.

 

As far as my knowledge and common sense go I would say:

If you lease to any company they will run a full background, MVR, criminal and job history.

If you run under your own authority the broker is not likely to look into your background. He will check your insurance and your company's score and such.

However if you have DUI, wreckless driving, accidents or drug related offenses on your record insurance will be hard to get and/or expensive as ****.

 

The first week is tough. You have to hustle and say what you have to, to get the broker comfortable that their load will get delivered safe and on time. Any positive news will help your case such as describing your equipment and what you are doing to keep maintain it. One even asked if me or my driver had hauled for their shipper before (we hadn't, but got the load anyway). If you find one that is desperate to move a load, they're more likely to cut you a break. After you've hauled (safely and on time I hope) a few loads, you now have a list of references that will unlock some more doors.

About half the brokers I have carrier agreements with asked for references. After the one month mark it gets a lot easier. I have a list of about 5-6 brokers that require 6 months, and have not yet called one asking for a full year.

We've had our authority for 2.5 months now. Frankly, since our first week, I've been far too busy to even notice the ones that ask for more time with an authority. I found another one wanting 6 months yesterday and didn't even write it down this time. By the time I call on them again it won't be an issue anyway.