Ok Its official my Dad is a O/O

iternet truckstop,getloaded.com., make sure you have auth# tax id and w-9 ready to fax to the broker!!!! know what your bottom line is ..dont haul cheap freight...work your number for cost per mile.....

 

He really should have had at least one company that he can run loads out of the house for, under contract and set up, before buying a truck. Then the load boards would just be for fillers and to get back to his home contract/ contracts.
Start talking to company's in your area that have freight he can possibly haul. And to some smaller flatbed fleets in the area to see if they broker any freight out.
Some of those company's will give out excess freight at better rates than boards.

 

wow, this is gonna be an uphill battle to make it in this market with no knowledge of the industry.
first off, get a good accountant. they will get you taken care of on the tax side of things.
your best bet will be to lease the rig on to another company and let them find you work. everyone bashes brokers, but at the end of the day, there's a reason the middleman is in business.
one very good thing you did right was pay cash for the truck. at least if it's slow starting out, you don't have a truck payment to make.

 

W9 is an IRS form that has his business name, address, and EIN# on it. If you google "W9" the IRS has one as a PDF that you can fill out online, then print so you can sign it. They'll also want a copy of your operating authority from the FMCSA, and usually a copy of your insurance, although a lot of them want it faxed directly from the insurance company. Yes, you will have to send this to everyone you do business with, in addition to filling out a contract which they will fax to you. I would get set up packets from the big guys, Landstar, Mercer, CH Robinson, etc TODAY, Landstar especially seems to take a while to get set up with, and they have a lot of flatbed freight right now. Since you're in Houston, I'd also look up ACME trucking and get set up with them. I use Internet Truckstop for my load board, it does me pretty well.

So you don't have any experience in trucking? This is going to be a steep learning curve, but don't let it grind you down. When you're calling a broker, have your stuff together. You need to know the real miles on the load (do not trust the miles on the load board) and have a rate in your head before you call. Decide before you call how much more you're going to charge for 4' tarps, 8' tarps, extra stops, extra days, etc, and be ready to negotiate as soon as they quit telling you the details.