Hello, everyone! I am a college student who has been unemployed since graduation and is looking for something to do. I have not found anything that pertains to my education AND is also something that I would really enjoy, so I am looking at other options. I spoke with someone who did hotshotting work, and it sounded like it would be worth a look. I like to drive my pickup, pull trailers, drive truck, travel, I like my freedom and would enjoy being self-employed. With those things in mind, maybe hauling things around would make me happy! However, I need to be educated about all aspects of hotshot work.

Obviously, I need to find work in the first place, but I have no idea about where to look! I suppose that there is a variety of items out there that need to get from one place to another, but how could I advertise myself in a manner that would allow me to find them?

Legal issues (insurance, permits, etc), definitely important and worth taking into consideration. Any thoughts on this? I might take a course to acquire a CDL, whether I need it or not, to learn a bit more about driving and hauling safely.

Equipment. Well, I have some money, so I can afford it right now. My father wants a flatbed trailer, so we might go together and buy one. I would need to buy Chains, boomers, straps, etc. That should'nt be a problem.

With that being said, I welcome any thoughts and advice. If this sounds like a lucrative business and if there is demand for this, I am willing to work and invest money into this to make it work, so no problem there. Anyway, thanks in advance for any help!

Edit: Sorry guys, I read over my post and noticed a number of errors.

 

Just a few quick comments . For serious hotshotting it is best to have a medium duty truck , DOT loves to single out 1 tons on the scales . Shippers are bad about understating weights and if you end up overweight the fines are serious . Go over 26,000 without a CDL and IFTA registration and it's really serious . I'd wait until spring . All freight will be slow the next couple of months . For freight try to find a regular base customer not far from home . Look for manufacturers of plastic products , light machinery , etc . Most fuel stops have free magazines with ads from companies that can give you info on insurance , DOT authority , etc.

 

I can see two major problems for you. One is your age (unless your a 7 year college student), insurance is going to be a huge issue if you are under 23. If you are going out on your own it will be big $$$ and I have not seen any company that will lease on someone under 23 and many say 25. The other would be your truck, unless you are going out on your own nobody is going to lease on that old of a truck. Most companies will only go 4-7 years old.

Now if you decide to go out on your own be prepared to spend someplace in the $10,000 (per year) or so range for insurance (commercial trucking liability and cargo) and all the dot, authority, so on stuff.

 

Well, I was a five year student and I am going to be 25 in February, so that should help! Insurance sounds like a major barrier, as can be expected. This is probably not something that will happen overnight, but if I could find a way to get started with light loads and my current pickup while still making a decent living, awesome! I would be willing to get a dually pickup or a small truck, but I need to A) Be in slightly better financial shape (don't wanna start borrowing $ big-time right away) B) See a relatively low risk opportunity in this line of work.

Anyway, thanks for the advice and keep it coming!

 

I wanted to do this myself. After learning a few things from haulin-RV and the other guys. NOT WORTH IT!

Insurance will be your downfall.

For me, I have the truck, trailer and opportunities. I however can not justify insurance.

 

Were you looking at doing it part-time or full-time?

 

I pay around $6500 a year on my insurance. I really dont see alot of money in LTL, Brokered freight, or r.v's. I stick oil field related freight. On a good week stint I can knock out around $5,000 and never leave the state. I suugest being and independent. Trucking companies are good about charging you for insurance and other bs and keep you just busy enough to keep your head above water. If you dont have a customer base, I suggest go back and get your masters degree.

Thats just my .02

 

I think your best bet is to find some kind of factory close by that consistantly ships within your region. That way you would have constant work. The big problem guys have is in getting the backhaul so you don't make a nice paying delivery and then have to deadhead back. Boat and RV mfrs use pickup truck haulers quite often. There are plenty of guys here doing it but from what I've heard, it's a hard way to go unless you are well established (been around a while)...

BTW, I think everyone of us thinks about doing this if we didn't have a steady job. I made a bunch of money on the weekends over the past couple of years doing household moves in my enclosed trailer. It's harder work than just delivering some pallets from point A to point B but it's easy to get that kind of work for me because I deal with that industry in my daily job...

 

What kind of degree do you have?

 

MJDiesel,

If I were you I would really try to find a way to use your education, or even go back and get a masters if that will help. The Hotshotting industry is a hard way to make a living, believe me if I had things to do all over again I would have continued my education.

Now if you must do it, there are a couple things I would do. Before you go out and spend all kinds of money trying to start up on your own I would either go find a company like Schneider or JB Hunt and use them to get your CDL and try out life on the road. Worst case if you hate it or quit you may have to pay back some money for schooling.

If thats not the way you want to go you may be able to find one of the smaller or lets say less desirable rv transport companies that may lease you on with an older truck. Either way your out of pocket expenses will be much less than starting up on your own.

Anyway if I can help you with trying the RV industry let me know. Best of luck to you.

 

My degree is in Mechanized Agriculture. It is an interesting major, but courses cover so many fields and don't really go into depth in any particular area. I have thought about a master's degree, or possibly pursuing a different major, but I am sick of school for now. Maybe in the future??

Anyway, I think that I may have found a job, so this hotshotting thing might be on the backburner for a while. Thanks for the advice guys, I appreciate it!!