Hot Shotting

[Southern Fried]

Just a curious question.

Looking around at the 1ton guys with the goosenecks and all, I just wonder why? Dang trucks are ridiculously expensive for what you get, those small engines don't last but a year or two, likewise the rest of the drivetrain and resale on a high mileage 1ton is peanuts. Add in no sleeper despite many of them running interstate runs.

Myself, a $50 to $60K used highway tractor with a 2nd hand dropdeck makes more sense.

So educate me please...... what's the attraction/advantage to the smaller stuff?

 

[Injun]

@revelation1911

I believe this is your area.

 

[revelation1911]

Just a curious question.

Looking around at the 1ton guys with the goosenecks and all, I just wonder why? Dang trucks are ridiculously expensive for what you get, those small engines don't last but a year or two, likewise the rest of the drivetrain and resale on a high mileage 1ton is peanuts. Add in no sleeper despite many of them running interstate runs.

Myself, a $50 to $60K used highway tractor with a 2nd hand dropdeck makes more sense.

So educate me please...... what's the attraction/advantage to the smaller stuff?

One word ACROPHOBIA ie irrational fear of heights. If you ever see a little trailer trying to swat everyone off the tall bridges
that's me. I had to go over the coolusie bridge on I 10 at lake Charles last night in the rain was near shear panic and the baton rouge isn't much better. Now imagine if I was way up there looking over in areal big truck? Probably saves lives me in my little one. I clipped mirrors on the coolusie one before.

Second thing is a new 1 ton is near 50-60,000 and those guys who do that are setting themselves up for failure as most don't last 2 years.
I shop for good deals on used trucks. the parked one has 568,000 on it and the trailer was 7 years old and still passing level 1's.
I spec'd my stuff out to last and properly maintain it.
Most these guys think they're going to gross 40,000 and the trucks last yeah right.
I stay under 26,000 most of the time. I shop for particular things to haul and have established good contacts over the past 8 years. I try and only go out 1 or 2 days and back the same that way sleeping in the truck doesn't bother me.
Those who buy an expensive sleeper or hotels everyday are going broke a day at a time.
Unlike most I know my truck isn't a class 8 and never pretend to be. I make the most of the market I can haul in.
With the style trailer I have I can haul light weight equipment needing ramps, Tall loads up to 10'6 , OD light loads and regular freight up to 41 foot in length. I make the most of what I have and take advantage of all the available tax deductions so life is ok from where I'm sitting.

 

[Blood]

Just a curious question.

Looking around at the 1ton guys with the goosenecks and all, I just wonder why? Dang trucks are ridiculously expensive for what you get, those small engines don't last but a year or two, likewise the rest of the drivetrain and resale on a high mileage 1ton is peanuts. Add in no sleeper despite many of them running interstate runs.

Myself, a $50 to $60K used highway tractor with a 2nd hand dropdeck makes more sense.

So educate me please...... what's the attraction/advantage to the smaller stuff?

I always thought that an old single axle with a drop deck would be a good fit...
You can buy old daycabs for under $5K.
Or S/A sleepers for half of what a tandem costs.

 

[Duck]

I shop for good deals on used trucks. the parked one has 568,000 on it and the trailer was 7 years old and still passing level 1's.
I spec'd my stuff out to last and properly maintain it.

How do you spec a used truck?
Just lots & lots & lots & lots of browsing the auto traders til you find one set up the way you want, then drive to Timbuktu to pick it up?

 

[revelation1911]

How do you spec a used truck?
Just lots & lots & lots & lots of browsing the auto traders til you find one set up the way you want, then drive to Timbuktu to pick it up?

What's the difference on a new one you go to the dealer and look for one or order one.
You're doing the same thing with a used one except the market is more limited.
Diesel one tons are getting hard to find due to the high price of new ones and the dismal failures
of some prior year models. The one good thing about a used one is all the problems are pretty much worked out.

 

[Duck]

What's the difference on a new one you go to the dealer and look for one or order one.
You're doing the same thing with a used one except the market is more limited.
Diesel one tons are getting hard to find due to the high price of new ones and the dismal failures
of some prior year models. The one good thing about a used one is all the problems are pretty much worked out.

That's not really "specing" though. It's just being picky. Spec'ing a truck is done before it's even built. You say you want this engine, this axle ratio, this trans, A/C, power this, power that, cloth or leather seats, etc.

If this happened to be the year 2003 & it was still legal to manufacture a good reliable diesel truck, and I wanted to get into camper totin' I'd probably have started with an old beater 1 ton until it broke, just to get a feel for that segment of "trucking" before deciding to buy a new one. I'd buy a new one so I know how it's been driven & maintained since day one.

But by then I'd know what kind of gearing I'd want, & would have formed an opinion on the age-old "PowerStroke, Duramax or Cummins" debate, blah blah blah.

That can't be done today though. Buying a new diesel truck of any size is totally out of the question for anybody who wants to make money with it though.

 

[revelation1911]

That's not really "specing" though. It's just being picky. Spec'ing a truck is done before it's even built. You say you want this engine, this axle ratio, this trans, A/C, power this, power that, cloth or leather seats, etc.

If this happened to be the year 2003 & it was still legal to manufacture a good reliable diesel truck, and I wanted to get into camper totin' I'd probably have started with an old beater 1 ton until it broke, just to get a feel for that segment of "trucking" before deciding to buy a new one. I'd buy a new one so I know how it's been driven & maintained since day one.

But by then I'd know what kind of gearing I'd want, & would have formed an opinion on the age-old "PowerStroke, Duramax or Cummins" debate, blah blah blah.

That can't be done today though. Buying a new diesel truck of any size is totally out of the question for anybody who wants to make money with it though.

Well you're splitting hairs the same end result. You're right on the not being able to make money with a new truck you're feeding the payment continuously. Couple years ago I was looking at getting another truck I found one I thought I liked
the more I looked the more concerned I got. Took the wife to look to she hated the truck and it brokedown in the dealers lot.
I still hear about that one.

 

[krelithous]

How do you spec a used truck?
Just lots & lots & lots & lots of browsing the auto traders til you find one set up the way you want, then drive to Timbuktu to pick it up?

you deal and work around how it's speced out

 

[markchristopher]

Think about it this way. The new truck I bought $50,000, on credit was 0 down, my payments are $936 a month. Fuel cost appx $2,000 a month with a Cummins 6.7L with AISIN tranny, insurance $1,000 a month. Without breakdown costs to affect me for at least a year, and covered by extended warranty, because it is new. I will make between 12-$18,000 per month in revenue. That's between $8-14,000 banked. By the time the wife pays our bills, I can still have room to reinvest, grow the business, and afford a nice home. The main thing with a semi is the cost per month. $6,000 at least in fuel, breakdown costs (who can afford a new rig), and continual OTR life to make a decent living. Working a short haul market earns more per mile, home more often, and you still have the option and independence to go 48 states if you want to.

 

[bullj21]

Good reading on this never ran a hot shot a lot of good advice for a person wanting to do this. good luck to those who do.

 

[mndriver]

Think about it this way. The new truck I bought $50,000, on credit was 0 down, my payments are $936 a month. Fuel cost appx $2,000 a month with a Cummins 6.7L with AISIN tranny, insurance $1,000 a month. Without breakdown costs to affect me for at least a year, and covered by extended warranty, because it is new. I will make between 12-$18,000 per month in revenue. That's between $8-14,000 banked. By the time the wife pays our bills, I can still have room to reinvest, grow the business, and afford a nice home. The main thing with a semi is the cost per month. $6,000 at least in fuel, breakdown costs (who can afford a new rig), and continual OTR life to make a decent living. Working a short haul market earns more per mile, home more often, and you still have the option and independence to go 48 states if you want to.

What's your trailer cost?

 

[markchristopher]

$13,000 or $280 month 25GN BigTex 35' + 5' dovetail. 17,000 payload.

 

[SaddleTramp]

Just a curious question.

Looking around at the 1ton guys with the goosenecks and all, I just wonder why? Dang trucks are ridiculously expensive for what you get, those small engines don't last but a year or two, likewise the rest of the drivetrain and resale on a high mileage 1ton is peanuts. Add in no sleeper despite many of them running interstate runs.

Myself, a $50 to $60K used highway tractor with a 2nd hand dropdeck makes more sense.

So educate me please...... what's the attraction/advantage to the smaller stuff?

My research on class 8 Hot Shotting as of 1/2017:
Specs relating to my state pricing.
Chevy Duramax 3500 Diesel 2013-17: $30,-60,000.
Annual Registration:$100.
Gooseneck 2016: $5,000-15,000.
Registration: permanent $100.
Insurance coverage $750,000-1000000.
Diesel 6.6L: 13-18 mpg
Maintenance: $NA
No sleeper: Hotel $30-120.00
Broker loads: $1.50-2.50 cpm
Based On the little information I rounded up, I am staying with what I have.

 

[SaddleTramp]

The only significant differences would be truck registration, fuel taxes, lower maintenance costs and no sleeper.
Experience with straps, chains, tarps,

 

[Ranger_375]

You'll get the same life out of a pickup that you do a class 8 provided you do the necessary upgrades for commercial longevity necessary for whatever brand you like, as well as keep up on the maintenance.

Prior to some forum shifts elsewhere on the internet, I knew quite a few hotshotters. They did the same kind of mileage we do, just with pickups, goosenecks, and lighter loads. Most of them were on a payoff rotation for a new truck.

 

[SaddleTramp]

I was just unloading last week and was talking to a hot shotter parked at the same staging area and he brought his company $153,000. last year.
I called the owner about leasing on but, their Insurance Co. will not allow out of state drivers on board.

 

[Electric Chicken]

$153,000 gross isn't much really. Not if you want a nice salary for yourself.

I mean not to brag but I make anywhere between $70,000 and $90,000 in my current position depending how hard I run, and I have zero expenses of my own. The company is profiting off me on top of that.

Soooo I dunno if $150k gross is enough. I guess if you have several guys grossing 150 and can use scale it would work but as an individual out there alone I don't see how it computes to a decent lifestyle at home. You know...3 BR house with a white picket fence, 2 and a half kids, and doting housewife.

 

[SaddleTramp]

$153,000 gross isn't much really. Not if you want a nice salary for yourself.

I mean not to brag but I make anywhere between $70,000 and $90,000 in my current position depending how hard I run, and I have zero expenses of my own. The company is profiting off me on top of that.

Soooo I dunno if $150k gross is enough. I guess if you have several guys grossing 150 and can use scale it would work but as an individual out there alone I don't see how it computes to a decent lifestyle at home. You know...3 BR house with a white picket fence, 2 and a half kids, and doting housewife.

It's great! Not everybody has a large overhead. Kids, big home, expensive part of the country, debt up to their eyeballs etc.

 

[Electric Chicken]

It's great! Not everybody has a large overhead. Kids, big home, expensive part of the country, debt up to their eyeballs etc.

That stuff isn't overhead. That's life. Overhead is business expenses.

My entire reason for working the long hours of trucking is to have some or all of those things. I could go back to warehousing 40 hours a week if I didn't want to own anything.