hotshot trucking

[okiea&p]

I am thinking of geting into hot shotting, Does anyone have any first hand knowlede / advice that they would be willing to share. I can get a truck and trailer no problem. Do not have a cdl, but can get that no problem. My main concern is getting loads .Thanks for any advice .

 

[Biggsly]

I owned a Hotshot truck for awhile. You will have to have a CDL. Most locations are going to want you to carry $2 million in liability. If you are getting started, find someone with a DOT that you can run under. Just be ready for long hours and 7 days a week. Once you turn down a couple of loads, they wont call you again. Get a good truck. You are going to put alot of miles on it. I ran a Ford F350 crew cab with a 40 foot goose neck. Spend the money to get a good trailer with heavy axles. You want something that is going to pull good going down the road. I really enjoyed it, but did not have time to keep up with it, so I sold out.

 

[internetscout]

Be prepared to spend a lot of time shaking hands and buying lunches. Go hit the oil field yards once a week and bring food. Never turn a job down and they will keep calling. If you follow through with it, contact me. I know plenty of people who use hotshot services daily.

 

[Dave70968]

Okay, I have to ask, because I've been wondering for years: what is hotshotting?

 

[okietool]

I don't want to be a downer, but, I don't think this is the time to start a new hotshot company. It's getting extremely difficult to get on anyone's vendor list and I get a feeling a downturn is coming. Natural gas prices are low and it's getting close to the time oil companies alot the budget money for next year a lot of the owner/operators are leased to bigger trucking companies if you don't have a customer base it may be a real struggle for the next few years.


That's my two cents.

I have been OT for 39 years

 

[okietool]

Okay, I have to ask, because I've been wondering for years: what is hotshotting?

Moving stuff from point A to point B as fast as possible. It may weigh 10# or 20000#.

 

[Jeff405]

Okay, I have to ask, because I've been wondering for years: what is hotshotting?

Watch the show "Shipping Wars" on TV, that will give you a good idea.
Pretty much what okie tool said.

For example, I used to work in the shipping dept for a commercial/residential heat n air factory. If there was a load that had too much to fit on a flat bed semi, they would call the hotshot people to haul the rest of the load so it would all get there on time.

 

[Biggsly]

I don't want to be a downer, but, I don't think this is the time to start a new hotshot company. It's getting extremely difficult to get on anyone's vendor list and I get a feeling a downturn is coming.

This is a good point. You need alot of contacts.

 

[Jamie_s_72]

I know a lot of guys who do this, Biggsly is giving you some good advice. I wouldn't spend any time shaking hands or buying lunches though. Get in with a good company and they will keep you hooked up. Be prepared for having 5mil in insurance, 2mil use to be the norm but over the past year weve had to increase to 5 due to requests from the oil companies. It's a tough life and your time is not your own, even when your supposed to be off you'll still get calls. If your a single guy then I'd say go for it but if your married with little ones I'll tell you it will be hard on you and your family.

 

[kd5rjz]

As with any freight company, you will need ex-strippers for rep's and be prepared to buy a lot of lunches and get your truck destroyed by forks.