Switching from hotshot to Flatbed

[Redland1]

Hello all.I’m very excited to have found this forum.I have been hotshotting out of San Antonio,Tx with my own authority for the last four years and it has gone well.But more hotshots keep popping up every day and 99.9% don’t know anything about the business and haul for dirt cheap lowering the rates in the area.Its a niche in the market that anyone with a dually and some money or good credit lying around can get into pretty easy with no prior trucking experience and think they can make millions,but they end up failing and dropping the rates along the way.Prior to hotshotting I drove Tri Axle drive vacuum trucks in the North Dakota oilfields and also water tankers.Seeing that there is not much room to expand in hotshotting and the limits I have in weight 18k and in feet 40,I am wanting to step up to a 48’ flatbed.

What I’m looking for is either a 2008 and up Peterbilt,Kenworth,Pro Star,or Freightliner with a Cummins and 13 speed trans and a budget of 40k for truck.I will be hauling loads up to 48k plus truck and trailer which I don’t know their exact weight yet.With the hotshot I run just Texas and I plan to do the same until ELD’s go into effect in December 2019 and then I will reinstate my MC.Right now I’m running just DOT and Texas DOT.

I have a bit of experience with emissions systems problems on semi’s and on diesel pickups.I have performed a lot of parked regens on the side of North Dakota highways since the DPF full warning lights would come on and recommending the parked Regen.On the Vac trucks they had a button for it and you would engage parking brake,depress clutch and then hold the parked Regen button for a set amount of time and it would Regen.On my hotshots when any components of the emissions systems failed I would just delete the whole system with a tuner and straight pipe the exhaust.

Any suggestions on what gearing? What are the problems with deleting a tractor and how much does it usually cost?

[Chamberpains]

What you're describing is the trucking industry all in general. All you're simply doing is switching from a Hotshot operation to a normal 80,000 lbs. operation. if you think Hotshot operations are washed out with idiots that can't run a calculator then wait till you step into the full on trucking Market. be fully prepared to deal with the same crap you did as a Hotshot. Only now it's going to cost you a hell of a lot more.
But with bigger risks come bigger rewards. If you do them properly. This site is chocked-full of people that know exactly how to do that. Don't be afraid to ask a lot of questions. We all learn from each other. You will want to read Rawze's book on the homepage. You may think you don't have to because you've been in the trucking industry for a while, but there is a lot of useful information to give you a general sense on how full truckload operations work. And how to maintain your equipment and things of that nature. It's well worth the read even if you already know it all.
Good luck for your search of the $40K truck. It's a good setup for what you're planning on doing. But your right in the price range we all would love to spend on that set up and not have it be a rundown piece of junk. Or on its way out with major repairs. I'm not telling you this to scare you. But I believe you're going to get a bit of an eye-opening experience (hopefully not) of how big these numbers get and fast.

[smorgan87]

Chamber is 110% correct. Its astonishing how many people (im being nice) haul free freight. I got into ag freight hoping i would have less trouble with that. Wrong! Im back in oilfield! At least they pay my bills. As for a 40k$ truck. Prostar is the best for $ imo. Good luck

[Redland1]

(08-07-2018 )Chamberpains Wrote:  What you're describing is the trucking industry all in general. All you're simply doing is switching from a Hotshot operation to a normal 80,000 lbs. operation. if you think Hotshot operations are washed out with idiots that can't run a calculator then wait till you step into the full on trucking Market. be fully prepared to deal with the same crap you did as a Hotshot. Only now it's going to cost you a hell of a lot more.
But with bigger risks come bigger rewards. If you do them properly. This site is chocked-full of people that know exactly how to do that. Don't be afraid to ask a lot of questions. We all learn from each other. You will want to read Rawze's book on the homepage. You may think you don't have to because you've been in the trucking industry for a while, but there is a lot of useful information to give you a general sense on how full truckload operations work. And how to maintain your equipment and things of that nature. It's well worth the read even if you already know it all.
Good luck for your search of the $40K truck. It's a good setup for what you're planning on doing. But your right in the price range we all would love to spend on that set up and not have it be a rundown piece of junk. Or on its way out with major repairs. I'm not telling you this to scare you. But I believe you're going to get a bit of an eye-opening experience (hopefully not) of how big these numbers get and fast.

What would be a good price range for a good truck? Also how many miles should I stay within? Looking at a 2013 KW T660 13 speed.Has 200k into rebuild with papers.$51,000.

As far as deletes on these trucks.How much do they run?

[Chamberpains]

Quote:What would be a good price range for a good truck? Also how many miles should I stay within? Looking at a 2013 KW T660 13 speed.Has 200k into rebuild with papers.$51,000

There is no set price for a certain quality of used truck. Every piece of equipment needs to be evaluated individually. If your mechanically inclined and have some knowledge of the truck your looking into then search this site for specifics. Ask specific questions about what your looking at or wondering. Other than that you'll need to learn A LOT about what that truck has in it and then learn as much as you can. You can never have to much info. Any problems you don't know about will come out. Because you will be pushing your equipment as close to or past its limits to get every last dime out of it.
Your 2013 KW should have a cm2250 or cm2350 model Cummins. They have some inherent fuel pump problems that will wipe out the entire engine. Being the truck is only 5 years old and already has 200k in to an overhaul. I'd say this truck has already experienced catastrophic failure at a very early age. Abuse? Neglect? Its unknown. Then there is the wild crap world of engine overhauls. This site is slammed full of what you could be potentially in for on the BAD side of things. Just read read read. You'll get the picture of how sketchy it is.

So again, knowledge is power and profit. So take your time and learn everything you can then go shopping. Don't get in a hurry to take this leap until you have a full understanding. It will most definitely run you through the ringer in more ways than you ever imagined. Most of us on here know 1st hand how ugly it gets and have shared our stories on here. So search and continue to ask away.

Quote:As far as deletes on these trucks.How much do they run?

This can't be quantified accurately. If you know or learn everything on how to do them... Maybe a couple hundred $$$ and a couple days of work. If you aren't inclined then probably a couple thousand $$$ and a day or 2 in a great shop if gone to 1 of the recommended shops or tuners on here. Or somewhere in between if you do some work but not all. Or.... if your a bonehead and wanna just do things cheap and halfassed and you go the route of going elsewhere then do yourself a HUGE favor take a glance at the bad deletes collection of this forum.

[Redland1]

How does this Dyno report look?

[smorgan87]

Im no dyno expert but why she aint got no power?

[Redland1]

What’s the typical power loss at the wheels?

[Rawze]

(08-08-2018 )Redland1 Wrote:  What’s the typical power loss at the wheels?

cummins usually says 78% of rated power is acceptable (i disagree though). Most trucks running well will show about 16 - 18% less at the wheels than the flywheel depending on gearing, etc.