I have been looking into hotsot trucking with my 2001 F250. I have a V10 and 4.30`s or 4.10`s or whatever they are. ( I cant remember which ones for sure..... I just remember that it was the lowest gears available at time of order.) The trailer I am looking at is a 40` tri axle lowboy with a 21,000 GVWR. Combined with my trucks 8800 GVWR. I was just wondering if anyone does similar kind of work with their F250. If so, How it`s working for you. Thanks.

 

You have the wrong truck for hot shoting, sorry.

Points against you:

1) V10 fuel mileage
2) SRW
3) Tow Rating

As a hot shot trucker you will want to carry as much as you can at once. There goes your fuel mileage. However you cannot exceed ANY of your trucks weight ratings at ANY time, and with a 250, you would be surprised how quickly it gets chewed up.

According to the spec sheet the following are your numbers:
In the BEST case scenario (reg cab, 4x2) your limits are..

GCWR: 20,000
Curb Weight: ~5,500 Unladen (Real world is closer to 7,000)
Max Tow Rating 5th Wheel: 14,400
Max Tow Rating Conventional: 12,500

So BEST case scenerio you are looking at 14,400lbs for your trailer and cargo. That is if its 5th wheel/GN and you are driving a Reg Cab 4x2. Add fuel, your gear and your body and expect that to knock into your GCWR and that will probably become your limiting factor, making 14,400lbs look more like 13,000lbs. Now this number will get even smaller if you have a super cab or crew cab, 4x4, etc.

When all is said and done, you are looking at only a few thousand pounds of cargo space on your trailer. Also, mind your pin weight. Pick ups are relatively new to hot shoting and you can see this in the new trucks' weight ratings. If you are serious about this, get the right truck. A F350, 450, or 550 DRW truck. Each will be more expensive than the last, but will let you haul more at once. With trucking you have a LOT of eyes on you and they will all be nit picking, so you have to obey the rules.

 

I was planning on going to a 3 or 450, I just wanted to try and see if it looks to be profitable enough to even go and buy another truck. If it doesn`t make any money, its not going to do me any good to have a high truck payment. I`ve hotshotted cattle in a 32` gooseneck with this setup before. usually grossing somewhere around 25-30k lbs. So believe me, I know that big V10 is a revving, gas drinking monster. It usually got around 7-8mpg. Where I am located, we just ran that under farm tags. I figured its better to run with no 700-1000 dollar a month truck payment to start off with for the first few months, then upgrade.

 

The V-10 gas mileage will kill you. If you plan on doing that type of hauling with a pickup, it needs to be a crew cab, diesel, and DRW.