Hotshotting

[Ranger]

I would like to know, from guys actually in the business now..

What all do I need, to get started hotshotting.

I have a 35' gooseneck, 30' deck with an 8x6 platform over the hitch. 12,000lb load capacity, trailer's titled for 15,999lbs and weighs about 3500 lbs.

Truck's the truck, 04 crew shortbed diesel silverado, MA450 tranny kit, recently serviced everything so it's reliable. Also have a 40 gallon transfer tank.

From everything I have read, I'd need a DOT #, MC # ($300), commercial truck/cargo insurance (haven't quoted yet) and then I've got a list of a metric pile of equipment I'd want to have on-hand for strapping/chaining/tarping anything I carried that required it.

I also don't know about the log requirements, but if there's no good online resource to read how to do it, I'd get a class on that from my cousin who drives OTR.

I'm not looking to get rich, but make some money with what I have on-hand, do some road-tripping of various sorts with the wife and kid and have someone else fund it.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[3500GMC]

Former OTR Flatbed here.

Have a friend that pulled a 3 car wedge. Hauled to-fro auto auctions. He was too close to 26k gross to tag it under because vehicle weights vary. Under 26k no IFTA tax.

With 2 cars or light trucks you'll be without that extra few dollars per mile BUT your flat decks open you up for hauling LTL misc. open freight. Keep paying freight on you wagon! Factor in GOOD tarps and securement.

Free up the truck, exhaust and intake mods add to the MPG. Better MPG helps the bottom line. Tuners sometimes cause you grief.. Set it and forget it.

Log 5mph under posted speeds for the states you are going through. Do fuels, tolls, stops close together in the middle of your run. Pickups have no sleeper... Never use line 2. Never use line 2. Use line 1 for any/all time not driving except for PTI and load/unload which would be line 4.

It's a good thing you don't wanna get rich. :thumbsup:

malibu795 may chime in here. He pulls a big gooseneck.

 

[Ranger]

Yeah, I got a good list of tarps/straps/chains/etc for securing just about anything to the trailer... honestly looking at getting that stuff and a couple boxes up front of the deck just because it'd make it much more handy for my purposes plus "hookin a bruddah up" if someone needs something moved locally and has the beer to fund it.

I just remembered something that is probably a big hangup... the trailer's data plate is buggered and painted over. It's titled for 15,999 but I'm sure that any enforcement agents that end up stopping me to "make contact" will have a heyday. I have the VIN on the neck, do you know of any place that manufactures data plates going off of data from a VIN? I'd like to have that plate just because, even if I don't get into the business.

 

[ak diesel driver]

probably have to go to the trailer manuf to get a new data plate

 

[WarWagon]

Well first off the best advice is DO NOT DO IT!!!

Mainly because it is a black hole with little income due to high fuel prices and lack of backhauls. You got a way to be loaded both ways makes it different. The DOT hours and days of service and related paperwork is a real PIA and very expensive fines when they are FUBAR. Then you have your business paperwork, DOT number paperwork, taxes and IRS audits, expense receipts to keep... Running for/under a broker can help you break into the paperwork as they will audit you and help train you on that. Required by law the paperwork training is of the brokers.

You will need to know your CPM, cost per mile, both unloaded and loaded with and without your trailer. This way you can bid a job with a profit to pay you more than minimum wage after the truck eats fuel and tires. Your CPM changes almost every day because fuel is 50% or more of your cost and fuel prices change every day and at different locations. Example: loads pay the same but fuel going one way for a load is cheaper... If the other load has a backhaul available it would be more profitable though.

Your first problem is the shortbed that limits what loads you can haul. No 5th wheels - it isn't smart even with a slider to try after being tired driving all day to wham the cab on the way to a hotel. Hotshot means haul ANYTHING not just what will go on a trailer. So RV's, boats, FEMA trailers, cars, cargo containers, Fire department trailer to forest fires...

Take the book value of that nice truck of yours and write it off. The truck well be high miles and have zero value after 1-2 years. 115K miles per year or more adds up fast. Wear and tear from the road tears up trucks, paint, rock chips, windshields. You get 300K to play with on the Dmax with only injectors, front end work and water pumps. You had better be able to do 90% of this yourself or your profit goes to a mechanic.

Tires go about 50K per set. Trailer tires go 30K if you are lucky. Get the best Goodyear GSA commercial trailer tires you can. Made in China almost means they won't make their treadlife without blowing out or spitting off the tread. Esp out here where it is hot I have been known to arrive with sidewalls only remaining on some tandem axle trailers. Sometimes a sudden trans temp spike tells me I blew a trailer tire, sometimes not. After dark it is hard to see one let go. You will need tire change equipment and most spares are bad. Figure tire cost, oil changes, trans oil changes, etc. into your CPM.

You got a big RV auction site in Vegas. And a car auction. Lots of business to be had there.

Change the oil at 10K miles but, pay the $12 to get a grease job every 3K or so so the front end will last. Your bottom line will not let you waste the engine oil at 3K miles. Yeah margins are that tight. However the oil is really good for 10K miles from my towing and samples on a 2008. Fuel filters 15K miles.

Add a CAT water separator fuel filter for protection from a bad fill up. Also run biocide in the fuel. This will protect the fuel system better than the cr@p filter GM gave you. The rig that didn't get injector and IP water damage from bad fuel I ran into had a CAT water separator on it.

You will need every hitch including pintle hook. DOT triangles and a list of equipment on sites like Horizon Transport's RV website.

The AUX tank will help if you have a laptop and internet service to plan fuel stops at the cheapest stations. Or just get in and out of Commiefornia without buying diesel. Same for Canada runs. But you are 20 Gal short of a longbed tank and the 50 gal aux tank I run. This is ~200 miles towing difference.

What is the plan if you drop a valve, pop an injector that eats a piston, hit an elk, or otherwise have a bad breakdown?

 

[3500GMC]

Eventually a medium duty comes into play and ends up being too late. This is after guys wear out a perfectly good pickup.

Even buying into the class eight owner operator gig. Nowadays it's a quick way to blow through a hundred grand.

It's has to, and is going to come to a head. You cannot compete with a 'mega carrier'. It's up to you to find your own gravy- a niche market.

You can make a living hauling cars/ LTL freight if you are very resourceful. You must be a jack of all trades.

Its a business.. WW points out the numbers, this is fundamental business practice. Make or break.

 

[GM Guy]

I run very part time (10K-15K miles a year? ), low roller un-incorporated type of operation with a niche market of farm equipment. SRW pickup and single tire tandem gooseneck, so well under 26K. no paperwork whatsoever (its just for the farm officer!) it has worked so far, but I am treading on thin ice legally. I travel at night to avoid the ports in case I am too far into the gray area and they are tempted to say hi.

I make fairly good money (in the process of lining up a deal for 1500 miles and 5 grand gross! :O obviously this isnt the norm), but blow it all back into the pickups! definitely not a overall money maker, but you get off the farm once in a while, lets the pickup stretch its legs, and tests the limits of the cooling system!

I run plenty of chains and straps, carry a set of road triangles, plenty of tools, all oils, carry a grease gun with some spendy ass grease (oilfield spec, made in texas!) 5 gal jug of diesel for emergency fuel, two spares, star wrench, need to get a better tow rope or strap, need to quit bumming dad's hi-lift and buy my own...etc. got to balance being prepared without throwing in too much extra weight.

after the california run, new bilsteins are on the list, poor pickup got beat on by california. need to crawl around underneath to make sure I didnt hurt anything, but it seems okay.

IMO, it is all fun and games till the DOT gets involved. I am paranoid as **** putting the aux. tank that came with the truck back in, as its over 100 gal, drains out of a pipe at the bottom, etc. not very DOT approved, and likely ticket worthy if caught.

 

[BIGR]

I would like to know, from guys actually in the business now..

What all do I need, to get started hotshotting.

I have a 35' gooseneck, 30' deck with an 8x6 platform over the hitch. 12,000lb load capacity, trailer's titled for 15,999lbs and weighs about 3500 lbs.

Truck's the truck, 04 crew shortbed diesel silverado, MA450 tranny kit, recently serviced everything so it's reliable. Also have a 40 gallon transfer tank.

From everything I have read, I'd need a DOT #, MC # ($300), commercial truck/cargo insurance (haven't quoted yet) and then I've got a list of a metric pile of equipment I'd want to have on-hand for strapping/chaining/tarping anything I carried that required it.

I also don't know about the log requirements, but if there's no good online resource to read how to do it, I'd get a class on that from my cousin who drives OTR.

I'm not looking to get rich, but make some money with what I have on-hand, do some road-tripping of various sorts with the wife and kid and have someone else fund it.

Any help would be appreciated.

Go to the FMCSA website and read all of the regulations. You will have to meet the same requirements just like the big boys. Log books, dot numbers, CDL, for hire insurance,fuel permits along with apportioned tags if the truck is tagged or weighing over 26,000 pounds.

A lot of people do not realize what is involved in trucking these days.

 

[WarWagon]

CDL may not be required esp. with a pickup and the weight limits of a pickup. Commercial plates may be required depending on your state.

 

[GM Guy]

does anyone know what all is required if strictly UNDER 26K? we run 14K trailers, and so even with the 99 chassis cab, we only get up to 25K GCWR.

I have heard in some states, if its over 10K, you gotta be in compliance with some of the rules.

 

[Ed HD]

Likely the truck and trailer need to be DOT inspected and stickered, as well. I know a few people who run campers out of Indiana, make decent money, but it's a lot of running, especially if you can't get a dedicated region. LOTS of hot-shotters running campers up I-94 (I drive from St. Cloud MN to the Twin Cities Metro twice a week) to Fargo and beyond right now, definitely to supply the Oil Fields.

 

[WarWagon]

Likely the truck and trailer need to be DOT inspected and stickered, as well. I know a few people who run campers out of Indiana, make decent money, but it's a lot of running, especially if you can't get a dedicated region. LOTS of hot-shotters running campers up I-94 (I drive from St. Cloud MN to the Twin Cities Metro twice a week) to Fargo and beyond right now, definitely to supply the Oil Fields.

Bad part of this is your return trips are empty. So the $1.35 a mile gets split in 2. Then there is the miles to get to the loading yard.

Best money we made was when Dad drove a motorhome and I followed pulling a trailer. Dad got a return trip with me. So look for Motorhome drivers to return to the shipping yard for some fuel money on the way back. Uship, getloaded.com, cragslist, etc. all can have return loads or freight. I used the profit from that to replace the worn out front end on the 1993. It goes like that where your truck eats your profit.

 

[BIGR]

does anyone know what all is required if strictly UNDER 26K? we run 14K trailers, and so even with the 99 chassis cab, we only get up to 25K GCWR.

I have heard in some states, if its over 10K, you gotta be in compliance with some of the rules.

In all states and crossing state lines, you are over 10,000 gvwr and in commerce you must follow the federal regulations. Under 26,000 lbs. gross combined gvwr might just require a non-CDL class a, since the trailer is over 10,000 gvwr. Check with your state along with others.

 

[Ed HD]

I think it would be cool to do, but I think driving a big rig would probably pay better...

 

[GM Guy]

well, I am out of lucrative higher profit deals for a while, so I am bumming around hauling small crap locally for dad and his buddies. What do you folks charge per mile? Is my time worth 1.50 a loaded mile, or should I try for a 1.00 a running mile, or would .75 a running mile still pay for everything?

the truck is getting double digit fuel economy all the time, but will obviously need the front end rebuilt, oil cooler lines, etc. list goes on and on.

War wagon, how do you figure cost per mile in regards to repairs, as in how do you incorporate parts and upkeep into a so many $ per mile?

 

[WarWagon]

I went bankrupt doing this, so what do I know? :mad2:

If I had to do it over again:
Start with a newer used truck, not new and not a 6.5. No DPF for sure!!! 4 wheel disk brakes and solid diesel engine.

With a 6.5 first thing I would do is buy, beg, borrow, or steal an ATT turbo. Because fuel is your biggest expense. MPG working anything over DD power levels to maintain 65 MPH with 4.10's may as well be a gas engine with a factory turbo. A larger turbo makes a night and day on your fuel expense. For example almost 50% of the $1.35 a mile is fuel. GM3 1 gal goes 7 miles at a cost of $4.00 earning $9.45. ATT 1 gal goes 10 miles at a cost of $4.00 earning $13.50. (10 MPG 6.5 GPH $26 in fuel alone, gross earning $87.75 an hour at 65MPH - minus downtime loading, hooking up, rest stops...) Unloaded return trip takes it to $43.88 an hour gross minus fuel. 4.3 gal at 15 MPG unloaded is $17 an hour unloaded fuel cost. So $87.75 - loaded fuel $26 - unloaded fuel $17 leaves you $44.75 and costs 2 hours. $22 bucks an hour minus tires, oil, parts, ins...

The Best MPG I got with the GM3 was 11MPG flat out WOT at 62 MPH on the most level roads in AZ going west of PHX and back. Likely like the roads you have. A bigger turbo and I would not have had to run WOT and at least made 10 under the 75 limit. Again to work a 6.5 you are money and time ahead to get a bigger turbo. Also less fan use from heat trapped in the engine by the restricted exaust.

What you charge is dependent on loaded both ways or not. No less than the $1.15 a mile RV transporters get paid with trailers in tow. You can also do a flat rate not biased on miles, but, you need to know the miles to calculate your profit. Return/backhaul loads are $0.85-1.15 a mile. So if you are loaded round trip you charge for 100% of your miles you can run lower rates than if the return trip is on you.

I would figure fuel, tires rated at 50K and 30K per set, engine oil, and other CPM expenses. Then I would add fixed expenses like insurance to it. Parts would run $300 a week on up. Blow a hydrobooster one week, engine another week, front end, total the truck... parts are a variable as both time and miles use them up. I ran at a loss because I was getting 7MPG vs the route figured at Duramax 10-11 MPG and high parts cost for an old worn out truck. Figure your total miles per month, guess, and then add the fixed expenses in. Parts are a black art but I would figure at least $1K a month at 550 miles a weekday to start with anyway.

With drum brakes you will need to adjust them every 3K oil change. I can't stress enough to keep the rear and trailer brakes working. Wires, trailer light bulbs... Even LED lights get smacked off by trees.

I now have an ugly truck that has mostly new lifetime warranty running gear. I will never get the sunk cost back out of this old truck. The wheels have already fallen off and been bolted back on...

 

[GM Guy]

now the one thing I dont seem to have a problem with is brakes, I drive like a grandma and engine brake with the 5 speed, so brakes last a while on my stuff.

I would think as far as a return on investment perspective it would be cheaper to ATT a DB2 truck that doesnt require a computer tune, correct?

I definitely dont put as many miles on as a full timer, I am lucky if I can get more than one 3K oil change in per month, and I dont do HOS, nor follow the speed limit, so I cant really calculate per hour, its more per mile.

so you would figure as long as I can get a backhaul that pays anything, 1.25 a loaded mile one way on the main haul is a good rate? I would try for 1.50, but there has been guys running a semi only charging 2.00 a loaded mile, so I think that if I get too close to that, they would rather haul a professional trucker who could get more delivered there for less.

thanks for the info.