11 days... I guess we scared him off...

or he did not like our answers..

 

What he can and should haul...is pizza.

 

I don't know... that might be a CDL thing too.....



https://www.eater.com/2015/11/18/975...za-dough-crash

 

There are two things he can do. One is to work for an Expediter company, making time-sensitive deliveries. They are usually limited to two pallets of goods that can fit inside a sprinter van or an E250. The other thing that he can do is what they call "Hotshot trucking." Typical rig for that is something comparable to a Ram3500 or F350 pulling a gooseneck trailer, such as a 40 ft flatbed. But as has been mentioned, if you are a non-CDL driver your truck/trailer/payload have to weigh less than 26001 lbs. If you go over that you are into CDL territory. But with either of these types of rigs you will still have to have commercial plates and COMMERCIAL INSURANCE! And that will cost you from $10K to $30K per year, depending on where you live and your driving record.

But the first thing to do is to read those links that Chuck's left above. Such as: https://driving-tests.org/cdl-requirements/ That's the federal requirements and be sure to get the same thing from your state's DMV.
Getting work, you will need to become a member of one of the "load board" companies, be really nice to the dispatcher and they will get you jobs/loads. And that costs you also. So many rules and so many authorities that have to be
paid and obeyed.

 

How does NAFTA (or lack of it) factor into all of this?

Some years ago there was a lot of controversy about letting drivers from old Mehico well into the interior of the US. I've heard, but I don't know, drivers don't have any of that stuff mentioned previously, because it's not required in their country. Hell of a way to run a railroad.

 

I've heard similar but I believe there's more to it. Unfamiliar with all the details in US trucking but it appears there is some consistancy in rules that need to be followed while a Mexican company is running trucks in the US.

https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/internatio...motor-carriers

 

Yeah, "rules" don't seem to matter too much, near as I can tell.

 

Not near the border or a trucker but not suprised. That's pretty much the way things are now with everything it seems.

 

With the rules don't seem to matter much in and this thread in mind simply a link to what occured in NH over the weekend. This is more about a young driver with many, many issues and past problems ( some in Texas ) but this shows what carnage these small haulers can do. Things like this only brings more attention to small truck haulers and another reason to be on the up and up when doing so. This young jerk mowed over several motorcyles killing 7 while hauling an empty gooseneck with a pickup. It was a group of retired Marines on top of it all.


https://www.masslive.com/springfield...ords-show.html

 

I've known people who should know better drive uninsured classic cars, seldom used high performance boats...without proper registrations and/or no insurance! Same for distracted/impaired driving... And they all seem to have similar rationalizations on why it is OK. "I'm not at risk if the accident isn't my fault." "I'm only going a short distance." "I don't do it very often."

Well, the tragic accident referenced in the above post sure should be a wake up call for these folks.

 

I guess that event is as much about no one enforcing rules that should be enforced or someone simply not doing their job as much as it is anything else. I guess the truck driver now has immigration/ICE problems and the director of the Mass RMV has resigned over the incident. Whatever and however this guy has been getting away with things , he has put a big spotlight on small haulers, for now anyway.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/ice-puts-...nh-biker-crash

 

You should see some of the rigs coming in and out of the port here. I swear some of them are held together with duct tape and bailing wire. Kind of scary since they are pulling 40k plus containers. Realistically I believe the DOT could sit at the entrance and write citations all day long. Probably place a lot of them out of service too. My pet peeve is the people who ride down the highway with no operable trailer lights. Usually that's an indicator of the overall attitude towards safety by the operator. Some people just don't give a damn about anybody else until it's too late.

 

I would argue that those kind of people still don't give a damn about anybody else, even after it's too late. Their only regret is how the aftermath affects themselves.

 

If you want to haul and not mess with paperwork stay under 10,000 pounds. Some states start regulations at 26,000 pounds, it depends on how they adopt the federal regulations. Interstate commercial vehicle regulations start at 10,000 pounds.

Under 10, no passengers or hazmat, no regulations.

A pickup, trailer and car on the trailer easily put you over the 10,000 pound range. It is far easier to do the paperwork and “be legal.” When I encounter one of these “soup sandwiches” roadside the fines add up in a hurry. If there is some semblance of an attempt to legal I may be lenient. The whole want to work and make money but not play by the rules that everyone else hold to doesn’t fare with me.

It isn’t the popular answer or the one you’re looking for.

 

I love finding these wrecks and taking them off the road.