Experienced with much more inexperience!

[Wadelton11]

How y’all doing today?! So I been thinking about getting into hotshot trucking…I used to drive big truck I’ve been everywhere and hauled just about everything and have more miles in reverse than most have going forwards! Not saying I know everything but I have a general idea of how to run two paper logs and outlaw my way across the country skipping every chicken coop along the way!

So I have a 2004 ram 3500 Cummins SINGLE rear wheel. Does that limit me to the length trailer I can haul and or weight as I am equipped with airbags as well?

 

[Twisted Steel Performance]

As a CDL driver with a few million miles if I wanted a real answer to that question I would consult the dot...

 

[MrMarty51]

Welcome to the forum 11.

 

[MrMarty51]

As a CDL driver with a few million miles if I wanted a real answer to that question I would consult the dot...

 

[dbrannon79]

best to check with your local DOT. if you plan to cross state lines you also need to look up the regulations in those states as well. IDK about length, but most DOT will tell you do not exceed what the sticker shows on your door. doing it commercially you will be subject to the same scrutiny as big trucks will, so weight per axle will also come into play. that means if you pass up a weigh station the DOT setup up on the freeway, they will chase you down and give big fines. here in Texas this also means every and I mean EVERY light on your truck and trailer must work! if you add any aftermarket lighting to jaz up your rig, it all must work. I won't get started with detailed log books (ELD) and DOT required duty/off-duty hours and whatnot. very strict here in my state.

back when I hauled my 93 truck home from Houston to Seguin (200 miles), both my towing rig and the 94 being the same weight compounded with a heavy 24' trailer, I wasn't very far from being at my states max weight where I would have been required to stop at weigh stations even though I was hauling home what I just bought. I was tipping the scale at around 18k lbs total and iirc 20k was required to be inspected by DOT.

 

[MrMarty51]

YUP

 

[Will L.]

Meh, I say run it and have Jerry Reed playing loud as you go!

I had a few single wheel 1 ton trucks, from 77-99 model years.
The duals really help hold the trailer straight in crosswinds and slick roads.
There are hitch devices now to fight those problems.

The power the trucks have now means it will drag the weight. Stopping power is the limiting factor in actually doing the work. But as mentioned above- what johnny law says you are allowed to do is your immediate answer.
I don’t know many people that one a 3/4 ton or larger that hasn’t exceeded the legal limit at least once. It doesn’t mean the world explodes or small towns go up in flames from it. It means you get red tagged on the hiway and more frequently the truck and trailer gets impounded ending any theory you will be making money at it that year.
Then yes if something goes wrong and you aren’t following the rules and someone gets hurt- you lost everything you own and maybe more money for the future.
Any lawyer these days know how to break the corporate shield so the story of becoming an LLC so you don’t personally loose everything faded away like the black and white tv.

 

[MrMarty51]

And I love seeing the duellies hauling the big loads.
Then You see a duelly with a big over head camper and also dragging one of the big camper/stock trailer combos.
The dually is on the verge of being over loaded then its dragging some rediculesly heavy load and just hoping that they dont do something foolish while You are passing them or they passing You.