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Starting a small business
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<blockquote data-quote="Belthos" data-source="post: 2115099" data-attributes="member: 24944"><p>You may need a commercial drivers license depending on the rated weight of your trailer and truck.</p><p>If you are required to have a CDL you will be required to pass a dot physical, this is if you are working across state lines.</p><p></p><p>You will be required to operate under the hours of service if you are involved in interstate commerce. Look up dot hos.</p><p>If you do intrastate only then you will operate under Oklahoma's dot rules and I can't say much about that.</p><p>All of my experience is Interstate coast-coast CDL in a class 8 truck, almost always pulling a reefer.</p><p></p><p>I know about driving a big truck, I know very little about the rules regarding pickups and hotshots.</p><p></p><p>Because every single state has different laws regarding what you can do, you are probably better off having a CDL. </p><p>At the very least if you try to do without one make certain you research the state laws of every state you may do business in or you can get into serious trouble.</p><p></p><p>There is a cdl defense lawfirm here in oklahoma city that I highly reccomend, because you will find that you are seen as a traveling cash register if you have out of town, out of state plates and the laws in many states make it severely expensive. I had to fight a ticket in Ozark, AR that I won, but I paid $800 in legal fees to avoid a $100 ticket. If you get a ticket it raises your insurance rates and worse if you get pulled over again in the future you are far more likely to get a ticket instead of a warning if you have a history of tickets.</p><p></p><p>Fyi the ozark, ar speed laws allowed them to charge you by the pound of the gross weight of your vehicle for any ticket involving a commercial vehicle traveling over 5 mph over the speed limit.</p><p></p><p>If you are operating under the federal hos and I'm pretty sure you must to be legal, you will find that you cannot legally sleep in your truck unless it has a sleeper berth.</p><p>The dot strictly defines what a sleeper berth is and you cannot fit one into a pickup, what this means is by law you must sleep in a motel and save the receipts for it because they can and will ask for them if you run into a diesel bear, vehicle enforcement. </p><p></p><p>If you are counting on sleeping in the truck to save your money it will put in violation of the hours of service.</p><p>If you are involved in any accident and you have falsified your hours, you are done for. They have cracked down on that with a vengeance and it means that even if a drunken teenager who is high on meth slams into you while you are parked at a red light, you will find that in our legal system the fact that you violated the rules means you could not legally have been there for the addict to run into you, you can literally be made liable for all costs including manslaughter charges for him running into you.</p><p></p><p>The trucking rules have draconian penalties because governments think truckers and trucking companies are made of money.</p><p></p><p>There is a 100 air mile radius rule that allows you to skip keeping a logbook if you start and stop at the same place everyday.</p><p></p><p>It is now illegal for you to use a cell phone while operating a commercial vehicle.</p><p></p><p>Make sure you know the rules on load securement.</p><p>Weigh your load everytime unless you know from experience what it weighs and how it will axle out. Not only must you remain within the legal limit for your vehicle, you must make sure you do not violate axle weight, they love giving you ticket for this and if you cannot get the load legal, they will hold you and your vehicle until you can hire someone to come out and fix it, failing that they like to impound things.</p><p></p><p>If you start your own company you will still have to be subject to random drug testing, you can join a group that will handle that for you for a price.</p><p></p><p>If you aren't familiar with the hours of service you should look them up and research it. It's not rocket science but it causes trouble for many truck drivers and can be difficult for many people to grasp.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Belthos, post: 2115099, member: 24944"] You may need a commercial drivers license depending on the rated weight of your trailer and truck. If you are required to have a CDL you will be required to pass a dot physical, this is if you are working across state lines. You will be required to operate under the hours of service if you are involved in interstate commerce. Look up dot hos. If you do intrastate only then you will operate under Oklahoma's dot rules and I can't say much about that. All of my experience is Interstate coast-coast CDL in a class 8 truck, almost always pulling a reefer. I know about driving a big truck, I know very little about the rules regarding pickups and hotshots. Because every single state has different laws regarding what you can do, you are probably better off having a CDL. At the very least if you try to do without one make certain you research the state laws of every state you may do business in or you can get into serious trouble. There is a cdl defense lawfirm here in oklahoma city that I highly reccomend, because you will find that you are seen as a traveling cash register if you have out of town, out of state plates and the laws in many states make it severely expensive. I had to fight a ticket in Ozark, AR that I won, but I paid $800 in legal fees to avoid a $100 ticket. If you get a ticket it raises your insurance rates and worse if you get pulled over again in the future you are far more likely to get a ticket instead of a warning if you have a history of tickets. Fyi the ozark, ar speed laws allowed them to charge you by the pound of the gross weight of your vehicle for any ticket involving a commercial vehicle traveling over 5 mph over the speed limit. If you are operating under the federal hos and I'm pretty sure you must to be legal, you will find that you cannot legally sleep in your truck unless it has a sleeper berth. The dot strictly defines what a sleeper berth is and you cannot fit one into a pickup, what this means is by law you must sleep in a motel and save the receipts for it because they can and will ask for them if you run into a diesel bear, vehicle enforcement. If you are counting on sleeping in the truck to save your money it will put in violation of the hours of service. If you are involved in any accident and you have falsified your hours, you are done for. They have cracked down on that with a vengeance and it means that even if a drunken teenager who is high on meth slams into you while you are parked at a red light, you will find that in our legal system the fact that you violated the rules means you could not legally have been there for the addict to run into you, you can literally be made liable for all costs including manslaughter charges for him running into you. The trucking rules have draconian penalties because governments think truckers and trucking companies are made of money. There is a 100 air mile radius rule that allows you to skip keeping a logbook if you start and stop at the same place everyday. It is now illegal for you to use a cell phone while operating a commercial vehicle. Make sure you know the rules on load securement. Weigh your load everytime unless you know from experience what it weighs and how it will axle out. Not only must you remain within the legal limit for your vehicle, you must make sure you do not violate axle weight, they love giving you ticket for this and if you cannot get the load legal, they will hold you and your vehicle until you can hire someone to come out and fix it, failing that they like to impound things. If you start your own company you will still have to be subject to random drug testing, you can join a group that will handle that for you for a price. If you aren't familiar with the hours of service you should look them up and research it. It's not rocket science but it causes trouble for many truck drivers and can be difficult for many people to grasp. [/QUOTE]
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