So you want to "own " your own company

u can accomplish anything u put your blood sweat and tears into

 

My advice would be to stay where you are until you retire and then consider getting your authority after you gain some experience pulling a flatbed for another carrier. Hauling fuel is much different than flatbed freight. Unless I missed something, you don't have any flatbed experience. It isn't all that difficult, but one mistake could cause someone to get hurt or lose their life. You need to know what you are doing when you put something on a flat. Working for someone with experience for at least a few months could help you learn what you are doing.

You don't need to spend $40,000 on a truck and trailer to start. There are some good deals around if you are patient. I would suggest that before doing anything that you sit down and calculate all of your start up and monthly expenses in running your equipment.

Lexington is a good freight lane, but that doesn't necessarily mean that basing out of there will be able to consistently guarantee that you can do what you want while working part time. Pulling fuel is more of a routine and is more local. Flats and most other types of freight is more inconsistent and unpredictable as to where you will need to run. If you can nail down a contract with a broker or shipper for their products where you can deliver and pick up at the same facility and come back, it might work. Experience tells me that it will be difficult to run part time, stay within 100-200 miles from home, and be back on certain days. I think that you will find that freight will be more unpredictable. Some of the short runs don't pay as well as you might think.

To give you an idea of what most short flatbed freight will pay you, most of the rates that I have seen will pay $150-400 or perhaps $500 for the miles you mentioned. It would be fine if you could reload and come right back. It sound simple. The problem is the time spent waiting to load and unload. Then there is a matter of tarping. Most flatbed loads will need to be tarped. So, you will need to spend time rolling out tarps, tarp the load and on the other end you will need to untarp and pack everything up. It is difficult to get more than one of the short runs and reload in the same day. That is the big problem with hauling short loads on a flat bed. With a van you open the doors, back into a dock, load, pull out, shut the doors and repeat on the other end. It can take 2-4 hours or longer to tarp a load, depending on the type of freight.

My advice would be to wait until you have retired from your other job until you can devote more time to your own business. If you want to continue driving, it sounds to me as though you have a pretty good situation hauling fuel. I think that when you calculate all of your actual expenses and income doing this part time that you can make as much or more hauling fuel for someone else.

 

This is killing me! I have done this before, but it has been a few years since I had my own truck. Can anyone point me to a good place to get a fee schedule for florida. Also form what I was reading that I have to have my own or someone elses authority before I can get setup with IRP. Is that true? WOW i am lost I don't remember it being this tuff, but maybe I just forgot. I really have a tight budget and need to see which way is more beneficial. One company offers everything except the bobtail, but I had an accident back in 08 pullin cattle, and laid it over. Didn't hurt anything other than the truck, and lost a few head but drove the truck home. And I had 2 tickets from that time as well so i took some time off to relax spend sometime with the family, and let the license cool off. I don't have any clue what my USIS looks like, and that was the first thing that they asked. Now I never did anything criminal or left any loads or trucks anywhere. I had a run in with one company back in 2005 that was bad, but I don't know how far they go back or the affect it will have. I guess there are more places to go try and get my truck leased on so thats why I ask about a fee schedule for all this stuff. If I have to get my plate, insurance, etc. I need a good idea what I will be looking at as far as money.

Thanks for looking....

stiffride...

 

Here's a link to some of the stuff you will need.

Here is the Florida DMV. Do you need to check with your county too? If I remember right, personal vehicle at least is done through the county tax assessor, but not sure if it's the same for CMV.

 

Thanks for the link I have that link book marked. Yeah thats what I can't figure out whether or not I can plate the truck with or without a DOT number. And they also have listed fitting my circumstance 3 different amounts for the plate, but for the 2290 I can't find a thing except pdf files to print the stupid form out. I went to branch by my house and they were as much help as the daggon website! I don't know what to say besides I have to get my insurace tomorrow which I'm sure will be cheap...LOL...LOL And I'm not sure if the county fees are their either, but I heard a rumor about a $200 wheel tax coming to a florida dmv near you..

Thanks...

Stiffride

 

Based on the few states I have actually looked at the registration for, you need the DOT number first. That can be done online as long as you have a credit card.

I haven't looked at Florida's process yet, which is why I don't know too much about it.

If there is an IRS office near where you live, you should be able to go in and pay that right there.

 

Most states won't give you an exact fee for your base plates and cab card until you fill out all the paperwork and submit it. I would expect they would run $1500-1,800/yr. The first thing you will need to do is pay your 2290. It is prorated from July 31 until you pay the fee. It costs $550, but will be prorated when you pay it. You should find the form and schedule of fees online at www.irsforms.com or at your local IRS office. When you go to get your IRP/base plates, etc., you will need to show proof that this fee has been paid. Your best bet would be to go by your local IRS office and get it stamped. It will save time. If you mail it in it could take several weeks to get a stamped copy back.

You will also need proof of insurance, proof of authority and a dot number before you can get your base plates and insurance. There is also a UCR or Unified Carrier Registration that will need to be paid. I believe the fee for one truck is now $39. If you lease to a carrier they should pay that for you. It is a sliding scale based upon the number of trucks in the fleet. Even if you lease to a carrier you can still get your own base plates and permits yourself. Unless you want to get your own authority you will need to have a copy of a lease in order to get your base plates and permits. Some states may have a form you could fill out in lieu of the actual lease.

I think that all states now want you to prove residency. Be prepared to take a property tax receipt, telephone or other utility bill that proves that you are a resident in your state. They may also ask for your drivers license. You should be able to get a list of everything you will need online. If not, call your state commercial registration office. Most states require you to go to the capital, so I would expect that you will need to go to Tallahassee to get your plates and permits. It can usually be done by mail. If you go in person I would expect to spend the day. Personally, I find it better to go in person. If not, they will need to send you a bill once it is put into their computer and then you will need to submit payment before your plates will be sent.

 

If you do a search for "florida IRP" you should find what you need.

 

Sooooooooooo, I spent alot of time on the phone with florida IRP and here's FYI for everyone. First, the TOP (temporary operating authority) is $8 at the local tax collector. It is good for 60 days, but within 10 you HAVE to apply for your IRP. Now the IRP office told me that for all 48 states it costs between 1500 and 200o depending on truck age, miles driven in each state, ect. Now if you go regional the cost is between 1000 to 1200. Now you can get the TOP without a DOT number, and when you lease for the IRP you send the leasing company DOT to them. Now I asked about the DOT number at startup. They told me that if you only plan to lease the truck and not run your own business, and freight that the DOT number wasn't mandatory. Now I guess that this had changed recently not sure about that, but that is what I was told. Now for the UCR they said that georgia or Indiana were the states to go through to pay the $150 registration to. The IRP site was kinda bland when it came to the info that I got from the actual person. And I might add that I was on hold for over an hour...... My ear went numb lol..... But if anyone had a question about the process its pretty simple here and of you have to have everything but the IFTA and such thats ok too. And they also told me that while the application is going through the TOP was good for all 48 states.

Thanks,

stiffride...

 

And yes you have to have all of your personal info and proof of residence when you go to do it all. They won't even talk to you unless you have it. Now if you have already went and renewed you had to give all that info anyway so the way I understood was that you didn't have to go through all that again. That's what I was told?

Thanks,

stifffride.....