So you want to hot-shot? (Will be updated/edited frequently)

Florida has Military bases and the freight goes thru brokers, you will need load boards to establish relationships with them. I am suggesting direct freight as the biggest part of you base. The 20 percent they are referring to is normally associated with leasing onto a carrier. If the carrier has enough of their own freight that could be a viable option. In Florida if a carrier had that much direct freight they would have their own trucks and hire their own drivers. Just my opinion. Fab shops, small manufacturing, moving campers, or cars for snowbirds, maybe boats anything to get you started and stay busy until you find your nitch.

 

Thanks so much for that info Lite bug! You are so correct on the interesting things that we've seen hotshotters running throughout FL. Everything from port containers, military equipment, boats, RV's, cars...even palm trees! xD We figure to make ourselves business/DOT official, hand out flyers and business cards, get on the databases (ITS) and speak with brokers. We know until we're "in the know", we'll probably make some brokers really happy by not making much money on our end due to ignorance, but we'll live and learn. Again, boards like this one are really great for at least not starting out with a bag over our heads! Stay safe out there

 

.. book marked .. great thread .. read through the whole two years .. lol .. ton of great info ..

 

Well I read through most of this and sometimes things I read discouraged me but I won't let it stop me. I have always wanted to be in trucking and I think in about 6 or 7 months I along with a good friend of mine are going to start up a hotshot company. We are military vets and we have a good head on our shoulders. I currently hold a Class B CDL, he is working on getting his so we can, if need be, go over the 26,001 lbs limit.

We are both doing research and bouncing ideas off each other's heads. We are working on a business plan, going to look at a few load boards and get as much of a market analysis as we can and from there use that as our funding projections. Anywhere else we could go to look at this info? Kinda want to get our ducks in a row before applying for any sort of small business loan. That's just 2 parts of a business plan, most of the rest of it is straight forward and we have that nailed.

As far as equipment goes we are going to be looking for a 40' gooseneck wood decked trailer like some of y'all suggested and the only truck I will consider is an HD Dually Dodge/Ram. There are literally millions of Cummins diesels on the road, and that is no accident. They are super reliable and parts are cheap and plentiful. It helps my Dad is a diesel mechanic and I know my way around the engine bay so maintenance wouldn't be too bad. I hear the 4500/5500s don't go through transmissions and rearends nearly as quick as 3500s, can anyone shed some truth on that?

Another thing I have as far as questions go, I do not think I have seen anyone touch on hours the truck can be operated. Since we are doing team driving can one drive 10 hours, hop in the back and sleep while the other drives 10? We plan on staying busy and I feel like as long as we stay busy and keep our eyes peeled and watch those boards we should do just fine. That and stick to our budget. We will be setting up an accountant to help balance the books and help us with filing taxes. Lawyer and insurance still needs to be looked into but we still have a little bit of time to figure all that out. We would be operating out of NC, and we will go anywhere the load boards take us.

Thanks for any feedback or suggestions. As my Dad always says, keep the sunny side up and the greasy side down and keep it between the ditches.

 

You will need a class A cdl if your going over 26,001.

 

And you can't team without a DOT legal sleeper.

 

This is the kind of info we are looking for! Thanks

 

Why hotshot anyway? Its decent work but, from my experience anyway, nothing to get overly excited about. If you want to stay on the light side of open deck, another possibility to consider is an older single axle tractor with a sleeper. The downside to that plan being, its easier to get financing on a new Dodge than an older class 8 unless you have plenty of cash. It'd be more comfortable though, cheaper, last longer, give you more options and it sounds like you have access to the mechanical aptitude necessary to deal with an older vehicle.

 

Just much easier to get into something and be my own boss and own my own company. An older tractor with a single screw has been tossed around as well but the financing is the problem. I mean if we get a business loan of around 50-60 grand then it'd be a non-issue and we would have more room, a bigger and more capable truck and the possibility of being able to grab Class 8 loads too. It is a great thought that hadn't had much looking into but now I just may.

 

The other problem is, neither one of us have driven a tractor. I have driven airbraked straight trucks haulin fuel but nothing like an actual Class 8, so that is the other other reason why a pickup is the main thing we are looking at.