Obtaining Class A CDL

You took that completely out of context. By killing each other over rates he means undercutting the hell out of each other. That was actual advice because the more research you do you will see the the hotshot market is probably the most flooded with trucks of any trucking sector. Not saying it can't be done and you won't be successful but you more than likely have a tough row to hoe in front of you. Everyone and their brother can go to the Dodge dealership and get a new ram so that's exactly what a lot of guys did now they need to haul loads for any money they can get to cover those huge truck payments. I would call a few local auto auto auctions and see if you can get any numbers of current haulers. Then call those guys and pose as a customer asking what it would take to get x amount of cars x miles. Then take those numbers and compare them to what a truck is gonna cost (payment, insurance, trailer payment, drug testing fees, eld, ect) and see if it works for you. It's not concrete numbers but may give you a lil insight on the amount of money to be had.

 

Another thing I will add is us truckers are all full of #### lol...we get paid millions to do nothing and everyone else is an idiot lol but hotshotters take this to a new level, they are making billions while the ram is getting repoed lol.

 

Thanks, I’ll be sure to look into it

 

Ok i gotcha. Cause right now I’m taking notes and retaining as much info as I can, but I’m not starting until I have enough money saved up for all the expenses and I know and have practiced enough. But I really do appreciate it cause this is the type of information I’m looking for.

 

I don't think you understand tibbet's point. It has to do with the rates and how they sink face because of the saturation of the market.

And as far as you knowing what danger is, I will say this much, law enforcement is safer then driving on the road, even cops will admit to that,

 

The Hot Shotting was not common once. Now it seems that its regulated.

My forte' is 18 wheeling and I have no complaints here/

 

That's good that you are taking your time and learning as much as you can. If you go to the hotshot forum you will notice that if anyone says anything they don't want to hear such as it's a tough market like I said then they automatically call you and idiot then give you the.....I show you in a year with my tax documents (had this said more than once lol) then a few weeks later you see the same people asking where and how to get loads.....after they had it all figured out and bought a truck lol. You are in law enforcement so maybe this will be a good analogy hot shotters are to truckers as mall security are to police. That's generally how they are looked at because they often know everything even tho they are asking for help and many are just trying to take a easy route (in their mind) to making a bunch of money. There is a lot to learn that they don't think of like securement, what kind of dunnage do you need to carry? I have a Porsche 996, what would you have to do to get it on your trailer since you just can't drive it on without tearing the bumper off of it? If you take the time to figure out the often looked over things like this is will give you a big lead over the fools out there.

 

Exactly!!! I humble myself to the fullest extent. I am always eager to learn and retain knowledge. I’ve been watching YouTube videos for about the past 3-4 weeks, sometimes the same ones over and over, but now it’s just about time to start asking questions. I’ve set a goal of when I wanted to get started, but I’m not in any rush either. I’m glad to know it’s a tough market, it just lets me know that I got a lot of work to do.

 

I have known several successful hotshot operators and been around many others, it is a business like any other. The only very successful ones I have known were either in big oilfield country, or had a niche that there was only a very few of them. One was airplane parts, he did well, sometimes in his half ton pickup and sometimes in a 1 ton pulling a gooseneck.

You mentioned you had family in the business, so you may very well have an in, in the car hauling thing, which has proven to be a hard way to go, with the ability to only haul 3 or 4 at a time. If I was going to do something like this, I would not go with a wedge trailer, I know of several that did and switched as soon as they could afford to or folded up before they could make a go of it. The reason is you are limited to only cars and can't haul lightweight freight when you need to and some light weight freight that needs to get to a rig yesterday pays extremely well.
I personally would not go with a pickup, but something on the lines of s small freight liner single axle and a 53 foot low profile step deck, and this would be rigged with ramps and a winch. non running vehicles and tractors sometimes pays much better than the ones you can drive on and off. I just sold a 50 foot step with 3 foot pullouts on each end and long ramps for the back, pullup ramps in the floor for the deck, one winch on the lower part and another on the top deck, it also had a channel in the center for trailer tongues.

I did not use it for vehicles much, but it was rigged out nice for them. I bought it and used it primarily to haul trailers, which are available in many states at good rates to get you back home if you go out with cars.

 

I would take a pay cut to run a truck with own authority.