Hotshot trucking how to#
Hotshot trucking free#

The insurance is going upДЄside from this, they donвЂ™t usually take hotshots less than a year old. Very few people just go out there and become semi-truck owner-operators with zero experience in the business. A lot of people who want to become semi-truck owner-operators have worked at a company driving job for 3-5 years before they became semi-truck owner-operators. But youвЂ™re gaining all this experience, which is ultimately priceless. True, the load sucks and the rates are cheap. When is it easier to learn - when you have a $3,500 semi-truck payment or when you have a $900 hot shot truck payment? Obviously itвЂ™s much easier when you have a cheap truck payment.

So getting good at this stuff is crucial for your success in trucking. All this knowledge transitions well into the semi. All of that experience like dispatching and booking freight is so important when you know nothing about CDL or when you know nothing about the trucking industry and how freight moves.

Hotshot trucking how to#

For example: knowing what a carrier packet is, knowing how to fill one out, knowing how to get insurance, knowing how to haul and secure a load, how to talk to brokers and sales and customer service people, how to dial loads, how to use apps, etc. But the experience you will gain in non-CDL is priceless. So we strongly encourage everyone to get a CDL if they can. But if you donвЂ™t have a CDL, then this is a good way to test the waters, to see if itвЂ™s worth putting the time and effort going to school, getting your CDL - stuff like that. Hotshot trucking is enjoyable but it might not be for everyone. But the question is, can hotshot trucking still be a career? Some hotshot truckers believe you should start non-CDL, but eventually transition to a big truck because hotshot trucking is just a stepping stone. It seems pretty easy to transition from hotshot to semi. There are now several YouTube channels documenting the transition from hotshot to semi-truck. So it pays to wait until the opportunities are better. Rates are like a rollercoaster, a wave that goes up and down. But remember that cheap rates come and go. So if the rates are really cheap, maybe go to an area where there are a lot of loads but not a lot of trucks. The solution to cheap rates is just to wait until supply and demand is right.

Hotshot trucking free#

ThatвЂ™s how you level out the supply and demand - the free market figuring itself out.

Once the barrier to entry is higher, the rates go up. Those three things will raise the barrier to entry. How can the government help fix cheap rates? Here are some recommendations by some experienced hotshot owner-operators: So is it over? Is it done? Is it still worth it? Here are the pros and cons of hotshot trucking: But towards the end of winter, right before the spring, it starts to pick back up. Perhaps itвЂ™s because itвЂ™s the beginning of the year. Freight on the load board is like a roller coaster.