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

Thanks flatbedcarrier,
Yes I'm a bit skeptical myself and I never like to go into a deal without going over every detail of it, so I'm planning on meeting with him and going over his business and equipment with a fine tooth comb.
Now he is willing to have me ride along with him on some of his normal routes to see how it's all done and he said he is willing to teach me everything that he has done.
If everything is legitimate and looks fair, would it be beneficial for me to take over his routes?
Is the Portland/ Vancouver area here in the Pacific NW easy to get loads out of?
Thanks

 

Try calling me back when you have time, I was on another call and unfortunately didn’t here the beep. Phone numbers don’t show up on my phone unless the call gets answered.

 

The ability to negotiate and get the work.

A lot of guys just don’t seem have the ability, either that, or they’re just to timid to speak up say what they need. Right now fuel is running over $4.00 a gallon here in California and it’s steadily rising all over the west. The guys that are still running for the same rates as they did a month or two ago, they may go under unless they speak up. I’ve seen this happen over and over again throughout the years. It’s like a never ending cycle, guys buy equipment and then sell it within the first year because they couldn’t make it, mostly do to their lack of experience.

Here’s a for instance, yesterday I was talking to a guy that just sold his new truck, it had less than 10,000 miles on it, and he was also selling his trailer. Why did he call me? To get a quote to move the trailer that he is selling. It was going approx 374 miles and I quoted $1,250.00. I asked him why he was getting out of business, he had a lot of excuses, one of which was the pay. He was running from SoCal to the Bay Area, doing round trips for less than I charge going one way. If I can get better than double the money, why can’t he? Instead of speaking up he chose to shut his new business down and sell off his equipment, taking a huge loss, we’re talking thousands of dollars lost.

Yesterday morning I kept getting calls to move empty 40’ containers 282 miles. The Brokers who had them were offering $1,000.00 and $1,100.00. I kept telling them no thanks because they delivered in a area where there was practically zero chance for a reload. A lot of you might say man that was $3.90 per loaded mile. Yes it was but forced to deadhead back it cut the rate to $1.95 per mile on the round trip. Some may say that’s still not bad, and I would agree if fuel prices were what they were several months ago. Anyways I came back at one of these Brokers at $1,500.00 per load and the truck would bounce back and reload until they were all moved. There were 5 of them to move. The Broker jumped right on my offer and sent me 5 load confirmations for this Owner Operator that I work for. Now the Owner Operator is getting $2.65 for all miles instead of $1.95 for all miles, and this Owner Operator is busy for the entire week. That’s a total of $7,500.00 for the week. All because I wasn’t afraid to speak up. The really sad thing is, every truck stop in the area was full up with guys needing loads.

You own the truck, you should know better than anyone else what you need to make before you ever turn a wheel Just because you may be new to this industry, that doesn’t mean you should be taken advantage of. If you don’t have the ability to negotiate for yourself, either find someone that can help you with that part of the business, or do yourself a favor and don’t get into this business. The classified ads and auction yards are full of late model equipment that belong/belonged to guys that let Brokers and Shippers dictate what they should earn.

 

There you go!!! Brokers need you more than you need brokers

 

Well some do anyways. Lol. I work with several Brokers and Shippers on a regular basis that voluntarily pay a good rate to move their loads. It’s when they don’t have a load, that’s when I need to put on my negotiating hat.

 

Is there any money in hot shot trucking;

 

The answer to your question, yes, if you know what you’re doing, and have the right equipment. Our trucks run 1500 to 2000 miles a week and they grossing from $5,000.00 to $7,500.00 a week consistently. Our trucks have been earning pretty much the same thing now for the last 15/16 years that we’ve been running hotshots.

 

Gary,
Do you have any drivers running out of the Pacific NW? I located out here in SW Washington and am getting everything filed and ready to start working as my own operator here with hot shot trucking. Any suggestions or advice for this area?

 

Yes I do, besides having Independent Owner Operators based in that area, I also have multiple Independent owner operators unloading and reloading in the PNW every week as well.

 

Silver Star, last time we talked you were thinking about buying somebody else's business in you area. You still going that route, or are you re thinking it?