Should I go "For Hire"?

[RRothenberger]

I'm looking into going "for hire". I own the truck and have a flat deck gooseneck. I have a 9-5 job, but I HATE having a boss on my back all day. I'm mostly looking for info on where to start, insurance, costs..... stuff like that. Personal experiences would be great. Thanks.

 

[DHayden]

Have a look in this thread:



http://turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?t=142537

 

[RRothenberger]

Thanks, there is a lot of good info in that thread. I should have an advantage in the fact that I'm 23 and dont have any family to support, or a house payment. I'm trying to get something started where I can work for myself and save for a house. I'm pretty clear on everything involved, except for setting up the loads.

 

[MMeier]

What are looking to haul? Cars, general freight, household goods? Watch out for those brokers, just as bad as a used car salesman!! Some of them take forever to pay up too!!

 

[RRothenberger]

I was thinking about a 3 car wedge... . but not sure. Thats why I started this thread, to find the best way to start. I would be using a 2002 1-ton 6-speed 4x4 dually. If I was hauling only 2 cars I could stay under 26,000lbs. I'm just not very clear on setting up loads, I dont want to put out the money for a wedge and drive around 1/2 the time empty. ANY info/experience would be great.

 

[JoshPeters]

Get ahold of CSnyder here on the TDR. He hauls all sorts of stuff all over IA, MN, and I believe parts of IL. He'd probably have a good way of getting you up and running.



JP

 

[MMeier]

RR, when I started running legit... . ... I was informed to take the GVWR of both truck and trailer and add together. Naturally it was way over 26k. 12k for truck and 22. 4k for trailer, 35+5 dual tandem GN. But at least now when I run through NM and AZ and flash them my IRP and IFTA BS I get waved through, I take they are of the mindset that I must be monitoring my miles for those states and they can't get anything off of me! As for Cali. , the way I see it if you have a tailgate on your "CMV", they still think it is a pick up, read the signs by the scalehouses... " NO PICK UPS" , been months since I was in a Cali scalehouse, even with 8. 5' of container hanging off the back of my trailer !!

 

[RRothenberger]

I was under the impression you needed to stay under 26k, or you need a CDL. I understand that everyone is going to want liability and cargo insurance($1,000,000 + $250,000). But what I'm not clear is if I have all the insurance & stay under 26k, I should be legal? Is that all most people want? Today I got laid off from work, I knew it was coming, thats why I have been looking into this. I really do appreciate all the help your giving me.

 

[wtfd6]

in ohio if you pull a trailer with a gvw over 10k you need a cdl. the scales in ohio read "any combination vehicle over 5k needs to cross scales. I have heard that they are really cracking down on "hot shotter" type vehicles. I have never had a problem. "knock on wood". but then again I dont do it very often.


mark

 

[R C Cola]

What to haul ?

Sounds as if you are not married, if you are and you care about her-bad plan.

I hauled freight for a year before what I am doing now. 40 ft. flat deck.

I was losing my shorts till I figured out that I could get some ramps to load, then look for cars or trucks to get back to the freight. No matter where I was in the country there was always a car or 2 close by with which to get out of "dodge". Never had to wait for freight after that. Within 2 hours I had found my load and 2 or 3 more hrs was loaded and gone. Sitting in a truck stop waiting for a load will kill your business. If you need to make $$$ then RV's are not the best choice. I do like the loads and the freedom allowed. Just my personal experience. R C

 

[RRothenberger]

Yeah, not married..... thanks for the info, but still wondering where/how you found those cars?

 

[MMeier]

Yeah, not married..... thanks for the info, but still wondering where/how you found those cars?

I use Central Dispatch, McNutts, and a couple of others out there!

 

[PatrickCampbell]

RRoth you have the right idea. check out http://xj.cdevco.net under "To Do". Dunno about California but FMCSA rules say no CDL requires if your truck+trailer GVWR is 26,000 or under. I had my trailer "Derated" so I equal exactly 26000. I can carry 3 cars and stay under but my truck only weighs 7 and trailer only 6. That is with fuel, tools and all. Leaves 13,000 for 3 cars. Of course, I still have not gotten around to going for hire. I too have a full time job and some very time consuming hobbies. I am basically waiting to get laid off and hopefully at that time I will be ready to roll.

 

[KennethS]

If the wages are good stay where you are at

As far as your boss you got to learn to deal with him. Don't fight the system. If you fight the system you will not win. You can think what you want but what you say can have a lot to do what your boss thinks of you. Like playing cards. :-laf You don't have any overhead there just your boss.

 

[RRothenberger]

I wasn't fighting my boss at all... ... If you read my 4th post, you will see that I was just laid off along with 4 other employees. I was planing on working while I got everything together, but plans change.

 

[R C Cola]

Cars

I used Central Dispatch because I had about 20 other pro drivers tell me that it was the only board they needed. In 8 months time I used them for backhauls because the freight co. could not get me loaded and back to our regular freight. In that time I never had to go over 225 miles to get a load and usually it was over 1000 miles for the trip. As noted above you can set up your own authority (very expensive) or lease on with a company for a % of the load. The easy way in is to lease on w/an existing co. and get busy making dough. That way after 6 mo to a year if you are lovin it and want to keep going you can justify the investment. I can't count all the guys I've known who got in and 3 to 8 months down the road got out for any number of reasons. Then you have all those big bucks you spent setting up spent and no return when you leave the bus. That said, I plan to go back to hauling cars shortly by leasing on at first, then after building up some cash get set up to have own authority. Best of Luck R C

 

[PatrickCampbell]

Does central do cars only or all sorts of freight?

 

[MMeier]

Does central do cars only or all sorts of freight?

Central is vehicles only. For general freight try www.DirectFreight.com

 

[PatrickCampbell]

Thanks for the site.



One of the ideas I have been tossing around lately is scrapping the car hauler, getting a 9 or 11 foot flatbed and possibly running that way, if only part time (???). Tons less overhead, but not sure if there would be any money...



It has advantages--for me being able to run straight from my house, not drive 15-20 minutes to where my trailer is parked and hook up=Lots of time saved, not pay for trailer parking, insurance is TONS cheaper (it is practically the same as my personal insurance to run just a flatbed truck vs 3 car trailer), and of course having truck that is usable for personal use is nice (I took my bed off because of overlength issues with the 48 foot trailer other people have had resulting in $1000 fines).



I am pretty confident in finding lots of work with the car hauler but I don't know much about flatbed loads...

 

[MMeier]

Patrick, not trying to be a smart***** or anything here, but what could you possibly haul on a 9 or 11' flatbed??? I have my 40' GN flatbed and at times I wish i went bigger. (50') Did haul several 48' hi cube containers with it though, just made up a lightbar and hung it out back on the box, wasn't hassled once, even when going straight on by the open scalehouses in Cali. And, how does removing the bed make the overall combination any shorter?? AND. . when I got my insurance the agent said since we needed the minimum amounts it did not matter what we were using at the time. Cars, trucks, equipment, containers, it would be the same. (100,000 cargo insurance) even though in about 2 hours I'm putting a $400,000 H2 :--) up on mine for a trip across town, then pick it up tonite and take back home!!