Staying in state

For the first 6 months of getting your authority a lot of carriers wont use you, Schneider is one of them. Also, just get normal interstate authority, or you will be missing good loads going right outside of your state line

 

Bad idea. You need the flexibility to also work surrounding states. Local can at times be good and then be bad. As with everything it comes and goes in cycles. Even regional surrounding states can turn into a no longer viable avenue. I have seen both happen in my area. My preference is always to stay local and then regional but in order to keep my head above the water I've had to flex on that. You need to start out willing to go anywhere in a region around your home state. Figure out what works for out and back. Keep an eye on the local runs and dabble in it. That's how you'll figure it out. If you go bullheaded into without real viable customers, as in you are making a go of this off loadboards, you are going to have a huge struggle on your hands being inflexible like that. You're going to be at the mercy of others setting rates. As for SNI yes some of us have worked with them. They are no different from any other large carrier/broker out here. I most certainly wouldn't count on a plan of independence that relied and depended on them. They will basically be just one of several thousands out here, nothing special. Power only from them never heard of any.

 

And pick a trailer that you know. Stick with it. If you're going to do reefer it's only sometimes a benefit that it can haul dry freight. You're in the middle of the auto industry. OH would be a great area to do what you want to do. I'd get a dry van and try to score all the time critical expedite loads I could. Those loads are light weight and easy. And they will only rarely load into a reefer trailer. Focus on one freight or the other. That you can sometimes take advantage of a cheap dry load less than 43,000 lbs with a reefer is really only a marginal benefit imo.

 

$2 what? There's lots of cheap $2 freight everywhere right now. There's even more that doesn't pay $2. Have you ever worked with brokers before? You probably won't average anywhere near $2 a mile especially so if you have other financial obligations on your back. What do you mean how does MC and DOT work? You get your numbers and you go to work. They're just arbitrary numbers assigned by a government agency like a social security number.

 

Not exactly. Load might be 50 miles, but you can spend a whole day on it