Getting my own authority....sick of this crap.

[Waterloo]

Go for it! I think if you are going to do it, now is the time. More and more jobs announced by the day... I had my own authority up until 2009, the economy got me, and the bank when they shut down my line of credit, along with everyone else I knew, we all got the ax. Out of five of us, me and my buddy were the only two not to file bankruptcy. But, I believe those days are behind us now, or at least will be at noon on Friday.

Setting up your authority is easy, you don't have to pay anyone. And stay away from the safety outfits like Foley. They will bug you to no end.

You may need to look into factoring, when I closed the doors, my average time to pay was running 60+ days. That line of credit was very important... If you do not factor, you will need a way to figure out if you are dealing with a legit broker/shipper, still allot of fraud going on out here, I still get emails on that stuff.

IFTA is easy, I had to go in person to sign up and get my stickers and permit. I think that can all be done on-line now depending on your state.

The BCO3 I think I had someone do, a one time fee, like $20, but I believe that filing can now be done on-line now too...

Insurance, shop around. Last time I checked, it was very very expensive, triple what I was paying in the past, I about fell over! So really call around. And make sure you get the proper coverage, some freight like I haul requires 3 million in liability.

Brokers are fun, CH Robinson has quick pay, along with LandStar and others, I forget the percentage. I would forge a relationship with CHR, I did and it paid off, not all of their freight is $1.10 a mile... ;-)

Stay away from that one outfit, TQL or whatever it is called. Bunch of crooks that should not be in business, and dumber than a bag of rocks. I had dealings with them once, I never looked back. All of the stories are TRUE.

Fuel card, if you are factoring, shop around, many have fuel cards with pretty good discounts. Give APEX a call, I had good luck with them when things went tits up.

Oh, if things have not changed, you will need to have your cargo insurance in hand when you register for your DOT/MC number.

I would also make up some Pro sheets with your company name, shipper, consignee, etc., sheets in duplicate for your records, triplicate if you factor.

Oh, I would carry a printer in the truck, and a solid sheet feed scanner, unless you don't mind taking a hundred photos with your phone when you set up a new account on the road. A good laptop too, make sure all of the bugs are off of it. The reason I like my Macs, damn PCs always failed on me. The Macbook Pro I am typing on right now is seven years old and still going strong, multiple dents and all. It does Windows and Unix. I Run my Insite software on it too, hooks right up to the ISX...

Here is a good scanner, Fujitsu ScanSnap Portable. I have an older model, probably ten+ years old, it still works and produces fantastic scans. https://amzn.to/2PSIBJn

Good Luck and Happy Motoring!