firefighter career change into hot shot?

I was a fire fighter for 12 years from 1978 - 1990. I owned a hot shot for 2 years from 2005 - 2007. I wish I was still a fire fighter. Seriously.

We go through this almost daily here... certainly a couple of times a week. People who have no experience in the trucking industry or its regulations etc & want to get in. We try to encourage people to get some experience but few do. Most fail. I was a driver for 11 years locally & thought I knew enough to get into my life long dream of hot shotting.

The biggest mistakes I made was not understanding the industry OTR, not understanding FMCSA as an O/O, not understanding the financials involved & the cut throat industry that it is. This is not like a retail store where you buy a product, put it in the store & people buy the product & you're done. You get to call teh shots because its just you calling the shots. In this industry, you're at the mercy of DOT, the shipper & the receiver (& a broker if you're adding that in). They regulate the industry.. & you're at the mercy of the industry. If you dont understand all of the above & the financials involved, you're going to be right where I was in 2007.... broke & wishing I was back at the fire dept.

I dont think I have to tell you that continuing to be a FF & running a hot shot on the side aint gonna work even close... At least I hope I dont have to tell you that.

Don't do this until you get some physical experience. Hire on as a company driver for a while & get your feet wet.