New Guy

[sandman192]

Hello to all, my name is Jeff Reed, I live in Southern California and looking into getting into hot shot trucking. I have a Valid Class A license, I obtained the license from United States Truck Driving School. I never went to driving. I decided to open a Private Investigations Business since I am retired Law Enforcement (dont hold that against me).

I have experience in Driving Class A motorhome, 34 foot with 26 foot box trailer( for the toys) and a 5th wheel travel trailer (36 Ft) behind a chevy 2500 duramax. Been towing and driving these things for over 10 years.

I know this business is nothing like what I have driven before, But iam not scared to drive anything, don't misunderstand that, I respect the issue of driving a truck and trailer, and understand weight. It just does not scare me.

Any way my current business does not look like it will make it, to political, just like law enforcement.

As a new guy my ears are wide open, I listen to the experienced drivers and learn. So please if you dont mind give me suggestions or just comment, I hope to see you on the road.

Jeff Reed

[Tony]

Do you have an idea of what aspect of driving you want to pursue?
Any idea's on a truck?

[sandman192]

autos or frieght what ever i can get my hands on, i have been told both work, not sure if you can combine or if you have to stick to one or the other, i was thinking of trying to go for auto, but buy a trailer that i could load other things than a auto incase i could not find autos to haul. not sure if this is reality.

I was looking at the dodge 4500

[sandman192]

if i get into this i will have to commit to going anywhere until i get established this might be tuff on the family but will work out, i collect a retirment so i do not need to make a lot of money

[sandman192]

at the end of the month, i just want to get the hell out of the house and work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Tony]

I would suggest if you are considering the 4500... go ahead and go 5500 as the cost difference is negligible. But locating a 5500 is getting harder.

As far as freight vs. cars... the guys that have had the same idea regarding being able to load both hardly see it happen. It's typically the freight guys that load cars when freight is scarce and not the other way around. Realize that most guys around here actually started with freight but then moved to cars. I have yet to see or even hear of someone successfully getting out of cars and making it into freight.

But the trailer and commodity hauled decision is best left only to you. You should be the one making decisions for your livelyhood and not left to internet forums. Do some research on both subjects and try to speak with people on both sides of that fence first. But as far as talking to them, make sure that you get all of the details since... if the wheels on the truck aren't rolling, you aren't making money.

[sandman192]

your right, i have been on a frieght forum and have found people who say they sit, then i was turned onto autos and so far what i can tell autos are the way to go, but like freight it took a while to find somone who would be completly honest.

I have my eye on two 4500 one is a stick and the other is auto trans, however i can not find a 5500, the dealer looks like these two 4500 have been sitting around for a long time, i wonder if it would be worth it because they would want to deal on it, I was looking at a take 3 trailer, either the step or drop deck model

[Tony]

your right, i have been on a frieght forum and have found people who say they sit, then i was turned onto autos and so far what i can tell autos are the way to go, but like freight it took a while to find somone who would be completly honest.

I have my eye on two 4500 one is a stick and the other is auto trans, however i can not find a 5500, the dealer looks like these two 4500 have been sitting around for a long time, i wonder if it would be worth it because they would want to deal on it, I was looking at a take 3 trailer, either the step or drop deck model

I can help you when it comes to the Take3 as I am able to sell and finance them to guys here. No matter which you decide to go with. But I am not sure you will be happy with a decked version jsut due to the potential limit of 3 cars. There are design changes that can accomodate a 4th car, but it becomes tricky. the wedge trailers either low profile or standard wedge are more apt to handle 4 cars.

A consideration on the 4500/5500 decision will come to rear suspension/ratings capabilities depending on your load. A 4500 will be close to its max rating (or over) at times. I have yet to have my 5500 at its rating back there.

they are scarce, but they are out there... keep looking. If you can't find anything, let me know and I'll point out a few for you.

[SWFLA]

I'll give you my $0.02 on freight........ NO, NO, NO

UNLESS you like either waiting for days or weeks (depending on how you load) or you really enjoy tarping and chaining your freight,

There can be $$ in both, I started last year in freight, spent a lot of $$ getting set up for it and switched to cars, my average per mile went way up, sure you might get that load paying $4-6 mile on that special occasion but add in your down time waiting for "that" special piece and you're not making it IMO,
Now cars, worst case scenario you can most always get one right away and atleast cover your overhead if that gets you out of a bad area, just an FYI, I loaded 3 cars that paid $900 going 100 miles :eek: now thats not the norm but with a 3 car set up you can take stuff the other big haulers can't and it USUALLY pays decent

If you want freight I have some gently used gear if interested I may sell it

[Tony]

If you want freight I have some gently used gear if interested I may sell it

lol, don't we all :)

[sandman192]

if i might ask this stupid question, what is the difference on the 4500 and 5500 are they different rear ends, or a more leafs in the spring pack

[Tony]

The rears are the same 13.5k axles. The difference is the spring packs. The 4500 is maxed at 11.5k while the 5500 is 13.5k max.

[Buster]

Jeff, It was nice talking to you on the phone the other day. Keep asking questions here. You'll get good answers or, if not then someone here will chime in with a call of "bullshit". Lee

[sandman192]

you guys have been a great help, i got the news today i am going to have shut down my business so it looks like i will be asking more questions.