How to Start Hotshot Trucking

Hotshot trucking means hauling smaller, often urgent loads with a heavy-duty pickup and a flatbed trailer. It costs less to start than a tractor-trailer, and it can pay well when you stay busy. The catch is that the truck and trailer you buy decide your licensing, your insurance and which loads you can legally haul. Here's how to set it up in the right order.

Is hotshot right for you?

Hotshot tends to work well if you:

• Want to run your own authority without the cost of a tractor and 53 foot trailer
• Live within reach of construction, energy, agriculture or industrial freight
• Like shorter, regional runs and don't mind loading and securing freight yourself
• Can be available on short notice, since much hotshot freight is expedited

It's a harder fit if the nearest freight is hours away, or if you want steady, predictable lanes. Hotshot volume follows construction and energy activity, so it can swing more than van freight.

Step 1: Choose the truck and trailer

The truck. Most hotshot carriers run a one-ton or heavier pickup: F-350, Ram 3500 or Silverado 3500 class and up, often a dually for stability with heavy loads. Many go bigger, to Class 4 or 5 trucks, for more capacity.

Check the GVWR on the door jamb label before you buy. The CDL rule in 49 CFR 383.91 is based on it, and it drives everything below.

The trailer.

• Gooseneck flatbeds are the most common: the hitch sits over the rear axle, so they carry more weight and tow steadier. 30 to 40 feet is typical.
• Dovetail with ramps makes drive-on equipment easier to load.
• Bumper pull trailers are lighter and cheaper, and suit smaller loads.

Deck length and the trailer's GVWR decide which loads fit. A longer, heavier trailer opens up more freight, but it can also push you over the CDL line. Our hotshot CDL calculator checks a truck and trailer pair.

Step 2: Decide CDL or non-CDL

You need a Class A CDL when your truck and trailer's combined weight rating (GCWR) is 26,001 lbs or more and the trailer alone is rated over 10,000 lbs. Trailer length doesn't matter. Most one-ton pickups pulling a working gooseneck cross both lines.

A non-CDL setup is possible with a lighter or de-rated trailer, but it caps how much you can haul per load. Decide this before you buy the trailer, not after. Our hotshot CDL guide walks through five example rigs and when non-CDL makes sense.

If you need the CDL, first-time Class A applicants must complete entry-level driver training from a provider on FMCSA's Training Provider Registry before the skills test.

Step 3: Business, authority and insurance

1. Form your business (many use an LLC), get an EIN and open a business bank account.
2. Register with FMCSA for a USDOT number and operating authority (MC number). The authority filing fee is $300. Registration runs through FMCSA's Motus system, with Login.gov identity verification.
3. File a BOC-3 through a process agent company.
4. Buy insurance that meets what brokers expect: usually $1,000,000 liability and $100,000 cargo, above the $750,000 federal minimum. Your insurer files proof with FMCSA. See our new authority insurance guide.
5. Handle the rest: UCR, a DOT medical card, a driver qualification file, an ELD unless you qualify for an exception, and IFTA and IRP if your combination is over 26,000 lbs and runs in more than one state.

Your authority goes active after a 10-day protest period, once your insurance and BOC-3 are on file. Our first 90 days guide covers the compliance checklist and the new entrant safety audit.

Step 4: Gear and securement

Hotshot freight is open-deck freight, so securement is on you. Budget for:

• Straps and chains with binders, rated for the loads you'll haul
• Edge protectors and corner protectors
• Tarps, if you'll haul freight that needs them
• Ramps, if your trailer doesn't have them and you'll haul equipment
• A toolbox, spare tire, safety triangles and a fire extinguisher

FMCSA's cargo securement rules set the minimum number of tiedowns and their working load limits. Learn them before your first load. A roadside inspection that finds bad securement can put you out of service on the spot.

What it costs to start

Plan for the truck and trailer (financed or cash), the insurance down payment, the $300 authority fee and other filings, securement gear, an ELD, and at least a month of fuel and expenses while you wait for the first broker payments.

Then work out your cost per mile. Hotshot loads pay less per load than a full truckload, so knowing your floor is how you avoid staying busy and losing money.

Step 5: Finding hotshot freight

Most hotshot loads come from brokers: construction equipment, oilfield parts, building materials, machinery and expedited partials. Load boards are where most new carriers start. Repeat business with brokers who know your rig is what makes it steady.

• Know your numbers by heart: deck length, trailer and truck GVWR, and your realistic payload. Brokers ask first thing.
• Check every load's weight and dimensions against your ratings before you accept.
• Set a radius that lets you stack short runs without long empty drives.

Hotshot freight also has its own rhythm. Construction and energy work slow in deep winter in many regions, and pick up in spring. Line up brokers across a few freight types, such as equipment, building materials and expedited parts, so one slow sector doesn't park your truck.

As a new authority, expect some brokers to want 90 days or more of history. Our guide to getting loads with a new MC helps with that.

Mistakes new hotshot carriers make

• Buying the trailer first and finding out it needs a CDL you don't have
• Overloading. An overweight hotshot load isn't a good rate, it's a ticket and a liability
• Underinsuring cargo for equipment loads worth more than the policy limit
• Chasing high rates far from home and eating the profit in deadhead
• Skipping securement training, then getting placed out of service

Our hotshot dispatch service checks every load against your truck and trailer ratings before booking and keeps short runs connected inside your radius, for a flat 8% of the gross.