Texas only Carrier

1.5 loads a day ? This is theory and I would suggest you try to put this into practice . You may get a load out of Dallas with a 2-4 hr load up time sitting in a dock , you drive that load to Houston on a same day and pray they will unload you in a timely manner . Unfortunately that lane isn't paying as good as it once was for Dryvan . You screw up pickup and deliverie times enough the brokers wont work with you . Hell coming out of Sanantonio is nice and cheap most days . Anytime I plan on staying close to home (Austin) I know off the bat I wont be bringing home close to what I do OTR . It's a give and take , I know this otr will end sooner than later for me .

 

It is.
From 390.5 we have
Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR)
Interstate commerce means trade, traffic, or transportation in the United States—

(1) Between a place in a State and a place outside of such State (including a place outside of the United States);
(2) Between two places in a State through another State or a place outside of the United States; or
(3) Between two places in a State as part of trade, traffic, or transportation originating or terminating outside the State or the United States.

Intrastate commerce means any trade, traffic, or transportation in any State which is not described in the term “interstate commerce.”

And from the guidance:
Regulations Section
Question 6: How does one distinguish between intra- and interstate commerce for the purposes of applicability of the FMCSRs?

Guidance: Interstate commerce is determined by the essential character of the movement, manifested by the shipper’s fixed and persistent intent at the time of shipment, and is ascertained from all of the facts and circumstances surrounding the transportation. When the intent of the transportation being performed is interstate in nature, even when the route is within the boundaries of a single State, the driver and CMV are subject to the FMCSRs.

 

It’s a strange rule. So does that mean that you need to have an inter-state authority if you want to haul shipping containers from a port in CA even if it delivers within CA?

 

That's exactly what it means (among other ways to be interstate without actually driving outside the state.)

I used Laredo as the op was asking about TX, but the same applies to say Port of LA, or any other for that matter.
Here is a fun one. Picking up a container from say San Diego from Mexico and delivering it to a DC in the same city is Interstate. It can be unloaded from the container to a dry van and shipped to say Crescent City 850 miles away and be Intrastate, as it's now a new shipment.

 

Well, now I’m confused because many loads going to Mexico through Laredo will be unloaded in Laredo to then be loaded in a Mexican trailer. Also, in these cases, there is usually a BOL showing only the Mexico address and won’t show the Laredo address.

 

I don't have any proof other then what I stated above, but it seems to me the deciding factor lays in the bills. If the bills state say shipper: AnyCompany, Dallas, Tx and receiver is Crossdock, Inc Laredo, TX it would be Intrastate.
Now if the bills state shipper is AnyCompany, Dallas, Tx and receiver is MexicoMfgCompany, Salio, Mexico even if the shipment is transferred in Laredo it would be Interstate.


P.S. There is literately 100's of years of case law about this if you really want to delve into it. Me, I don't really care enough to.

 

When I was 18 I loaded a load of sunflowers 20 miles from my house and was a mile from home and the portables were setup (anyone that’s been across 90 in South Dakota knows the pull offs out east of exit 192). I wheel in and give him the BOL. I didn’t know any better, but the load was going to Indiana even though I was dropping the trailer for the guy I was working for. I got a lecture about hauling an interstate load and I was under 21. But since it was 1996 and I was a mile from home and working for a local company I got to go home as long as I promised not to do it again. So yes, you can in fact be engaged in interstate commerce without leaving your state.

 

If insurance is the same for what you’re wanting to do then I would opt for the MC#. That way you wouldn’t have to worry about getting in a bind sometime on a paperwork technicality.