Can anybody help me in what I have to do to get my truck DOT certified? and do I have to get commercial license? Any help is much appreciated.

 

Usually you take your truck to a state certified inspection station (truck shop) and they inspect and certify it for you. There is a sticker that is put on showing that you are complying. As far as a CDL I am not sure since you didn't say what truck or how much weight is involved.
Tom

 

You only need to be dot'd if you are hauling for someone,using your truck to haul equipment for commercial purpose,ie dozer for a job. If it is for yourself depending how its interrpitted you do not need dot. he sticker is 50.00 and is done at most inspection stations this is just an inspection sticker your not dot until you have a txdot number. you need a class a license if you are over 26k with the trailer only. under 26k no class a . you can get that license commercial or non commercial. you do need a class a if you are over 26k combined weight with the trailer.ie daul tandem gn is two 10k axles plus the 10k for truck towing equals 30k

 

I did not respond to this earlier because it was not clear what you meant by “DOT certified” Under Federal regulations if you do not have a bathroom on your trailer than it is controlled by USDOT. This is normally not enforced unless you are over 26,000 pounds, but can be. If you are commercial hauling you must have a medical certificate regardless of license class. If you are over a 26,000-pound “rating” you must have a CDL. The fines can get quite bad in violation of this. A straight truck over 26,000 requires a CDL B class license and a truck and trailer over 26,000 requires a class A.

Technically you have to log if you are commercial and it is normally not enforced unless over 26,000. You do not have to log if you are within 100 air miles of home terminal. You do in all cases have to have a record with you of the last 7 days duty hours regardless of the log. A simple written form with you hours worked for the last seven days is legal.

All commercial vehicles regardless of size must display the company name or DBA on the door, hometown and state and a USDOT number that is obtained free, application is obtained from the Internet. If you are commercial you will need authority from any state where you pickup freight and drop off within the state. In your case TXDOT. If you cross state lines you must have an MC number for federal authority. Federal authority costs a $350.00 filing fee. State only insurance is usually $300,000 liability where federal is $750,000. If you have more than three axles you must have an IFTA permit, which is not normally enforced less than 26,000 pounds.

If you are commercial you must have an annual DOT inspection and either display a sticker or carry the long form in the truck. This is normally purchased as mentioned in an earlier thread but can be done by any Class A licensed mechanic that can prove the experience on the various systems. I have never seen one questioned regardless of who signed it, just so you have it in your possession. The form may be obtained from the Internet. I have been through many DOT inspections in several states with the long form that I filled out myself and certified that I have the experience. This is fully legal.

Best thing you can do is get a green USDOT manual from any truck stop for about $5.00 and everything will be laid out for you. If you are in compliance with USDOT you will be just about legal in all states. There are some variances from state to state, but you will have 99% of it. I would then get a Texas DOT manual or printout of the code and then you will have all you need. I have given you the law, can you cheat, sure. Will you get caught, don’t know, sooner or later you will. I ran a year illegal and many run all the time illegal, sooner or later you will pay a fine if not legal. Worst case is like the little used car lot up the road, he flipped the truck, had no authority and is now out of business completely. What comes down is no insurance, (not enough) and other offenses. He was carrying cars owned by him personally. The law looks at it as a truck is a truck, regardless of what it is carrying or who owns it. RV's are exempt as defined by a bathroom on the trailer or on the straight truck.

 

Haulin Dixie you seem to know a lot about this. Where do you get your loads(... as in how do you get them set up, not literally where you physically get them)? And how much does insurance run you? Aside from the MC and DOT and insurance, what else are the essentials before diving into hauling commercially? Will insurance prices change state to state (i.e. getting insured in NJ vs. in FL) if youre traveling interstate or nah?

 

So far as loads go, the first year we did this, we went to auctions every night, passed out cards, made contact with used car lots and a customer following went from there. It was almost a month before the first load got on the trailer. After laying out several thousand that is almost heart failure, but others tell me that this is normal when getting started. There are other ways, you can fill out applications with major car haulers and handle loads for them. You can get loads off from Internet if you are qualified for interstate hauling.

Insurance is 5000 to 7000 and it has to cover the area that you will operate in. Your base state is not too important to insurance as it is based on your exposure of the areas that you drive. Use only a bonefied trucking insurance broker or company. License plates are the other major cost, apportioned is 500 to 1000 depending on how many states you register for. Go to your local DOT office and they will fill you in. If you only operate in your state everything is cheaper.

If you get into this, a tip is to get a trailer that you can also haul freight on. The authority is the same and it triples the number of loads that you can get. That is my next move as I can only haul cars or light trucks. Personally I would hate to be based in “toll country” the northeast. Cost me $130 to drop in Delaware and Long Island just for tolls. Most of the rest is laid out in the first post.

 

Thanks for the response from everybody. I am planning on hauling for one of these trucking companies around here like ACE, or ACME trucking and was thinking about hauling mainly in Texas area Beaumont/Houston, of course I don't know how much I would be haulin. Talked to 1 guy he told me to get a 12' foot bed and could make more money than using a float. Anybody heard this is a better way to go I am new to this any help is much appreciated.Also if I go with a GN what size would be best to go with.

 

Talk to the company that you want to work for and they should tell you what they would prefer.

 

Excuse my ignorance but what is GN ?

 

I beleive that would be a goose neck trailer

 

Oh duh ;D ;D ;D ;D

I am not very far along in the process of getting into this business, I was thinking about getting one of these:

http://www.kaufmantrailersinc.com/CarHaulers/CG32.jpg

It is 32 feet long, but it is a car hauler. It comes in extended length too (a few feet longer?), I believe. Could you put treated wood across it to carry cargo also?

It has a 14,000 GVW and the trailer weighs 4000# so that only leaves 10,000# worth of cargo. I do only have a 3/4 ton myself so technically that is right at the recommended max GCW (20,000).

 

Haulin in Dixie thanks for your info. very well laid it out for me in what I need to do. One other thing this medical certificate. Is this a doctors permit saying your are in good shape to drive or is it a certificate saying you have been through one of those CPR classes? It may sound like a dumb question on my part.

 

No its a medical exam. Just go to a doctor and tell him you need a CDL exam, they usually run $50.00 or so. It is good for 2 years and you will have a wallet card and a long form. Any type of commercial driving requires this even if a CDL is not necessary.

 

[quote author=njoverkill link=board=11;threadid=18945;start=0#msg182261 date=1063074648]
Oh duh ;D ;D ;D ;D

I am not very far along in the process of getting into this business, I was thinking about getting one of these:

http://www.kaufmantrailersinc.com/CarHaulers/CG32.jpg

It is 32 feet long, but it is a car hauler. It comes in extended length too (a few feet longer?), I believe. Could you put treated wood across it to carry cargo also?

It has a 14,000 GVW and the trailer weighs 4000# so that only leaves 10,000# worth of cargo. I do only have a 3/4 ton myself so technically that is right at the recommended max GCW (20,000).
[/quote]

I cannot nor can anyone else tell you with to buy or what is right for you, but I can say that if you can only haul two cars I doubt that you can make a living with it. It would be cheaper and you could haul freight with a GN float and you can still haul cars, would just have to get ramps. I really don't think that you can haul cars for a living and stay under 20,000. I am prepairing to go to four cars. That is about all I can offer, I cannot tell you to exceed your weights, but you will if you do it for a business. I tried to keep under 26,000 and could not so plated for 33,000 and may go to 42,000 on the next plates. You do need to look into it more before laying out the money on a trailer.