Sorry-more RV hauler questions

I may be wrong here but being under 26,000 does not exclude you from Hours of Service rules if your running interstate over 150 miles from your home base. If you have a DOT or MC number HOS applies to you the same as over 26,000 I run under 26,000 but I am interstate and DOT/MC authority of my own I have to have a log and it's been checked a couple times. And yes just like the class 8 trucks I am under the mandatory ELD placement in my truck. Good Luck with your new company and hope all goes well for you

 

I do not know the answers to all of your questions, but answering one of them will answer many of the others.

The HOS apply to any vehicle engaged in interstate commerce and having a GCRVW weight of 10,100 lbs or more. Drive away operations are usually exempt from ELOGS because the equipment belongs to the vehicle, not the carrier. Although CDL drivers are not exempt from running logs, non commercial vehicles, those under a certain gvrw, are not required to have them.

 

The sleeper must have a mattress of a certain size and unabated access from front seat. This applies to all trucks, including 1 tons, used as commercial vehicle. There is a company making kits for crew cabs that involves replacing door panels and includes a mattress of proper size. Rear door windows become inoperable as length of mattress intrudes almost to outer door skins, that's why door panels are replaced with custom ones. Also, front passenger seat is removed for that unabated access.

 

This only applies if you log sleeper on your HOS.

 

As a kid, I used to ride with my dad. Conventionals up to early 80s, they took out the window, and put a boot to seal the entrance. You climbed through to get into the sleeper.

Now, you can't just climb over the seat?

 

Nope.

 

I know. It was a rhetorical question.

 

I'm pretty sure they don't care what you do out there since you're an owner-op as long as you're doing the job they need done. But yes most of those guys are sleeping on the back seats of their crew cab trucks. I don't think any of them try to run team like that and I don't think you should either for safety and legal reasons. You're not allowed to log sleeper berth in a truck that doesn't have a DOT legal bunk so having a co-driver do that while you work would most definitely be asking for trouble. If you're a solo guy you can log Off-Duty and sleep in the back with the truck parked. Some guys sleep in the trailers too while they have them hooked on.

Some of them...the bigger ones I believe have started to require e-logs but not full on ELD's that they have to hack your truck up to install like the big fleet trucks use. Many of them still use paper and I believe Driveaway/towaway are exempt from the ELD mandate in December anyway. It's up to you to decide how you want to run your truck. Sometimes I'm sure they have units that are hot for delivery and you need to run to get it there, and sometimes you can slow down. You can dawdle too much doing this though because the margins aren't great.

I have heard of some guys doing that. The guy pulling the flatbed would still probably want something for allowing you to use his trailer to backhaul your truck. Unless you and him are personal buddies and he's just doing you a favor, the economics of that may favor just burning the fuel to drive your own truck back empty.

How fast you should drive is always going to be a compromise between competing factors. A truck will have a sweet spot where you're making decent time and getting good mpg. You have to play around with that based on the gearing, engine, and terrain. Get some gauges. An EGT & Transmission temp gauge will tell you when its time to slow down and back off the throttle so you don't cook your motor or trans. A turbo boost gauge can also be a helpful tool for determining how much load you're putting on the engine at more of an instantaneous/snapshot level.

No matter what you're driving you'd be subject to HOS if you've got your truck leased on with some transport company's name plastered on the side and you're working for hire. They will all expect that paperwork be turned in with the rest of the trip envelope for compliance reasons.

Most of these places will not want you to plate your truck for more than 26,000 lbs unless you're pulling a low-boy trailer or doing haul-and-tow with a bigger truck to haul 2 or 3 RV's at a time. A lot of the guys running a 1 ton dually doing single pull deliveries don't have a Class A license to operate above 26,000 legally, and also the paperwork and expense gets much more complicated when you go above 26,000 since you have to sign up for IRP and IFTA, which is not worth doing if you're just running a truck doing single pull. You can go up to 17,400 on the trailer and still be legal. Having a bigger and heavier truck is not necessarily helpful if you're trying to stay below 26,000 since the weight of the truck itself will start to cut into how much trailer you can pull. Some of the outfits if you call them may not like a 4500/5500 size truck for single pull. They like 2500 and 3500 size trucks.

I'm going to give you the standard "consult a tax professional" non-answer on this one. I think most guys just file as sole proprietors and yes you can write a lot of things off. The company will give you a 1099-K at the end of the year and then it's up to you to play nice with uncle Sam. It's not like a regular W-2 job where they take the taxes out for you.

Thankyou guys and I might have more questions depending on these answers. Hopefully my questions will help someone else.[/QUOTE]