How limiting is my setup?

You are correct, the LLY’s do run hot. I’ve known a lot of guys getting head gaskets and that is a $5K bill all day. Here’s a bit of info I copy & pasted.

1. the turbo mouthpiece is an abomination. Garrett redesigned it for GM for the 06 trucks and the part actually says Garrett on it. this is worth changing as I, and others have picked up mpg's by changing it and the airbox assy. I picked up 2 to 2.5 mpg by changing this and the hotside tube mentioned in nbr 4

2. the airbox assy sucks air from under the hood and when it gets hot from work, is creating a thermal feedback loop

3. the radiator is too small for the changes done to the truck for emissions purposes, GM increased the radiator 33% for the 06 model trucks and increased the fan fron 18" to 23" in dia

4. GM decreased the size of the hot side intercooler tube to try and overcome turbo lag due to the new for the LLY VVT turbocharger

5. it has been speculated that the trucks are too aerodynamic and don't shove enough air through the cooling stack. I have experienced this with simply increasing speed 4 mph and the resulting drop in engine temp and the fan not running. if all notice, GM increased the frontal area of the hoods.

6. as mentioned above, the tranny cooler might be too small here is a DIY for a tranny cooler, available from Summit Racing

All the above plus a new freer flowing intercooler will be going in our truck this summer. We are also going to remove the cat in such a way that it can go back on due to living in an EPA inspection county here in Ohio. Every other yr our vehicles get inspected.

7. There is a possibility (speculation and thoughts on some folks that know more than I) that the turbo charger might actually be too small and is creating some of the heat issues itself. Garrett makes a drop in one that is bigger, but it is the priciest of the modifications.

 

I like your situation and your attitude and your age and everything. I think that's awesome. Here's what I say you should do.

First of all, you've got to realize you're 18 years old. You've got an entire lifetime ahead of you to build a business. And you have people willing to help you so that's great.

Honestly the trucking business is so so. If you have equipment that's paid for and you're not a big spender or have a wife with big diamond rings or that sort of thing, you can do okay.

The towing business is a whole other stratosphere. Take a look around you. Anywhere that you see a big tow company that has big rigs and all that sort of thing, they have more money than all the trucking companies added up together.

When you go to these guys yards that have these Towing companies, they have bigger garages than the dealerships. They have bigger yards than the dealership. They get vehicles for free because people don't pay them. So as a towing operator you may find out you end up with a 40 or $50,000 truck for absolutely nothing because you went out on the tow and they won't pay it.

And then you have two of them and five of them and 10 of them and 30 of them and all of the sudden money is everywhere. Like an explosion.

And if they do pay it it's going to be insane colossal gigantic fees for the tow, for the cleanup, for the storage, and for everything else.

And besides all of that these big tow companies can charge thousands of dollars an hour when they land on a scene. It's completely obscene the amount of money that they can make and they do their best to charge every penny they can to rape the insurance companies.

The towing business, if you can afford to build a business like that, and you can afford to get the real estate that you need and build it and hire people, at your age by the time you're 40 or 50 years old you could probably retire on an island somewhere in that frigging tow business.

I don't think there's anything remotely close to that in trucking that nearly makes what those towing companies make.

I wouldn't even think about any kind of car hauling or regular kind of a trucking business unless it was a means to an end to get you into that business.

So here's what you need to do.

First of all any bills pay them off. If your credit isn't right get that in order right now. You're going to need credit to buy equipment.

You have a few years before you can go full blast with your CDL. If you buy a trailer or some piece of equipment, try to buy one and pay it off. Do not go into debt. Business debt is something you have to very very carefully tread lightly with especially until you really have a very established business.

A lot of people go under because the debt sinks them.

If it were me I would take these couple of years and try to find some other way that you can hustle. You can run some loads with your trailer or do whatever you can do to make money but buy and sell stuff, fix stuff, do whatever you can do to get you into the position you need to be in so that you can spread your wings and fly.

There are plenty of businesses out there that make millions of dollars a year that were started by one guy in one truck or with one lawn mower or whatever the hell it is.

If that's what you want to do you can entirely do it.

 

I think you are mistaken, you can't take the truck across the state lines no matter if it is loaded or not.

I think you should start looking for a flatbed to replace the box and a gooseneck trailer to make any good money.

 

I applaud your enthusiasm and drive, I was just like you at your age. I am not trying to discourage you at all, however there are some rules you are not understanding correctly that will lead to you being out of business before you can even start.

The biggest issue is your age, 18, and the interstate commerce restrictions under Federal law. The CDL has nothing to do with your being able to engage in interstate commerce, even a non-cdl commercial vehicle requires you to be at least 21 to legally operate it. I ran into the same exact issue at 18 and it was very frustrating because I lived in a tri-state area where every driving job crossed the river from PA into either NY or NJ. Even more frustrating, I had a CDL and was a school bus driver at 18 which meant I could legally do school bus trips out of state (weird quirk in the law that exempts school buses from the interstate age restriction) but I could not drive my tow truck (part time job) 8 miles away into NY or NJ!

Here is where your problem lies, even for running local in hot shot freight. Interstate freight is defined by the intent of the shipment, so even if you never leave the State of Washington but your freight either came from or is heading out of state or country then it is federally regulated interstate commerce and you must be 21 even to haul the WA only portion of the trip. Think about the UPS or Amazon package delivery guy, they are required to be interstate qualified even if they never leave the city their terminal is in.

See the definition of interstate commerce below taken from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, available at this link Federal Register :: Request Access

Interstate commerce means trade, traffic, or transportation in the United States—
(1)
(1) Between a place in a State and a place outside of such State (including a place outside of the United States);
(2)
(2) Between two places in a State through another State or a place outside of the United States; or
(3)
(3) Between two places in a State as part of trade, traffic, or transportation originating or terminating outside the State or the United States.

Intrastate commerce means any trade, traffic, or transportation in any State which is not described in the term “interstate commerce.​

Also, see the definition of commercial motor vehicle below

Commercial motor vehicle means any self-propelled or towed motor vehicle used on a highway in interstate commerce to transport passengers or property when the vehicle—
(1)
(1) Has a gross vehicle weight rating or gross combination weight rating, or gross vehicle weight or gross combination weight, of 4,536 kg (10,001 pounds) or more, whichever is greater; or
(2)
(2) Is designed or used to transport more than 8 passengers (including the driver) for compensation; or
(3)
(3) Is designed or used to transport more than 15 passengers, including the driver, and is not used to transport passengers for compensation; or
(4)
(4) Is used in transporting material found by the Secretary of Transportation to be hazardous under 49 U.S.C. 5103 and transported in a quantity requiring placarding under regulations prescribed by the Secretary under 49 CFR, subtitle B, chapter I, subchapter C.​

And finally, see the qualifications of a driver for interstate commerce

391.11 General qualifications of drivers.
(a) A person shall not drive a commercial motor vehicle unless he/she is qualified to drive a commercial motor vehicle. Except as provided in § 391.63, a motor carrier shall not require or permit a person to drive a commercial motor vehicle unless that person is qualified to drive a commercial motor vehicle.
(b)
(b) Except as provided in subpart G of this part, a person is qualified to drive a motor vehicle if he/she—
(1)
(1) Is at least 21 years old;
(2)
(2) Can read and speak the English language sufficiently to converse with the general public, to understand highway traffic signs and signals in the English language, to respond to official inquiries, and to make entries on reports and records;
(3)
(3) Can, by reason of experience, training, or both, safely operate the type of commercial motor vehicle he/she drives;
(4)
(4) Is physically qualified to drive a commercial motor vehicle in accordance with subpart E—Physical Qualifications and Examinations of this part;
(5)
(5) Has a currently valid commercial motor vehicle operator's license issued only by one State or jurisdiction;
(6)
(6) Is not disqualified to drive a commercial motor vehicle under the rules in § 391.15; and
(7)
(7) Has successfully completed a driver's road test and has been issued a certificate of driver's road test in accordance with § 391.31, or has presented an operator's license or a certificate of road test which the motor carrier that employs him/her has accepted as equivalent to a road test in accordance with § 391.33.​

Again, I am not trying to discourage you however you can't legally haul much freight until you are 21, even as an owner operator with your own authority. Getting caught in the beginning will mark your company and lead to many problems. It is important to note that even hauling your own property, such as a car or truck, if you are making money with that property such as buying a car to repair and sell, you are engaging in commerce and all the driver qualification and other motor carrier compliance rules apply. So please be sure when going out of state you are not doing anything business or work related with your truck or trailer.

Washington State adopts most of 49 CFR Parts 300-399, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, mostly unchanged, which means your state rules are very similar to the federal rules including the definition of interstate and intrastate commerce, commercial motor vehicle and so on. The biggest exception is they exclude vehicles between 10,000 and 26,000 pounds when used exclusively in intrastate commerce from driver qualifications, so that will allow you to operate intrastate only until 21 if you have the right class of drivers license for whatever truck and trailer you wind up using. See the WA Rules latest update at this link for more info. https://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/law/wsr/2021/18/21-18-114.htm