How to become a hotshot driver

Becoming a hotshot driver can mean three different jobs: driving someone else's truck, driving your own truck under someone else's authority, or running your own business. The license and medical steps are the same for all three. What changes is how much you invest, how much you keep and how much risk you carry.

Step 1: Decide on the license

• Non-CDL: your truck and trailer ratings add up to 26,000 lb or less and you never load past that or haul placarded hazmat. A regular driver's license works under federal rules.
• Class A CDL: for heavier combinations. Opens more freight, but needs school, testing and the DOT drug and alcohol program.

Read do you need a CDL to hotshot and the non-CDL hotshot guide.

Time and cost: none for non-CDL. For a CDL, 3 to 7 weeks of full-time school is common, and tuition varies widely. Since February 2022, first-time Class A applicants must complete entry-level driver training from a provider on FMCSA's Training Provider Registry. Run the payback with the CDL school cost vs pay calculator.

Step 2: Pass the DOT medical exam

Any driver of a commercial motor vehicle over 10,001 lb in interstate commerce needs a medical examiner's certificate. The exam is done by a certified examiner listed in FMCSA's National Registry and checks vision, hearing, blood pressure and other conditions. Certificates last up to two years.

Time: an appointment of an hour or so.

Step 3: Check your record

Insurers decide whether you can drive commercially at an affordable price. Tickets, accidents and a short driving history all raise the premium or block coverage. Pull your motor vehicle record before you buy anything.

Step 4: Choose how you'll drive

• Company driver. Fewer openings than in semi trucking, but some hotshot outfits hire. You learn the work without the investment.
• Leased on. You own the truck and trailer; the carrier provides authority, insurance and often loads, for a share of the revenue. See hotshot companies to lease on to.
• Own authority. You run the business: USDOT, MC, insurance, compliance and finding loads. See how to start a hotshot business.

Questions to ask before you lease on

• What percentage of each load do I keep, and what's deducted before I'm paid?
• Who pays for insurance, and what deductible do I carry if there's a claim?
• Can I turn down loads? Can I choose my lanes and home time?
• How fast do I get paid, and is there a fuel card or advance?
• What happens to escrow money when I leave, and how much notice is needed?

Get the answers in the lease agreement, not just on the phone.

Step 5: Get the truck and trailer

A one-ton dually or a 4500 or 5500 for most work, and a gooseneck trailer sized to your license plan and the freight near you. Check the ratings, weigh it empty and inspect the frame and hitch before you buy. Details in hotshot setup.

Step 6: Learn the rules

• Hours of service and the ELD
• Load securement under 49 CFR 393
• Vehicle inspections: pre-trip, post-trip and annual
• Weight limits for your rig and the roads

The full list is in DOT regulations for hot shot trucks.

Getting insured as a new driver

Insurers look at your age, driving record, years of commercial experience and the kind of work you'll do. New drivers with no commercial history often pay much more, and some insurers won't write them at all until they have a year or two of experience. That's one reason many new drivers start as company drivers or lease on: the carrier's policy covers them while they build history. If you go straight to your own authority, get quotes before you buy the rig, so you know the real monthly cost. The truck insurance cost estimator gives a rough range first.

Step 7: Learn the paperwork

Rate confirmations, bills of lading, proof of delivery, fuel receipts for IFTA if you need it, and logs. Clean, same-day paperwork gets you paid faster and earns brokers' trust. Learn what each document is for. The rate confirmation is your contract for the load: read every line before you sign, including detention, layover and cancellation terms. The bill of lading is the shipper's record of what you picked up; note any damage or shortages on it before you leave. The proof of delivery is what gets you paid, so get it signed, legible and dated, and send it the same day. Keep copies of everything for at least the time your accountant and FMCSA require.

Step 8: Line up loads

If you're leased on or a company driver, loads come from the carrier. With your own authority, you'll use load boards, broker relationships, direct customers or a dispatcher. Price every load from your own costs with the hotshot rate calculator.

Skills that matter more than you'd think

Driving is only part of the job. The hotshot drivers who last are good at:

• Backing and maneuvering a gooseneck into job sites, yards and tight streets. Practice in an empty lot before your first load.
• Securement. Choosing chain or strap, placing tie-downs, protecting edges, tarping in wind. Shippers and officers notice sloppy work.
• Reading a load. Spotting a weight that doesn't add up, a pickup window that won't work, or a broker who's vague about details.
• Communication. Prompt check calls, honest arrival times, photos at pickup and delivery.
• Keeping records. Fuel, repairs, miles and loads, every week.
• Basic repairs. Changing a trailer tire, adjusting brakes, fixing lights on the roadside.

Driving a hotshot safely

A loaded gooseneck behind a one-ton handles very differently from an empty pickup. Stopping distances are longer, crosswinds push the trailer, and steep grades heat brakes fast. Keep more following distance than you think you need, slow down before curves rather than in them, use engine braking on descents and check tire pressures every morning. Your trailer brake controller should be set for the load you're pulling, which changes from load to load. See hotshot truck safety violations for the problems inspectors find most.

Your first year, month by month

• Months 1 and 2: license, medical card, rig, paperwork. If you're starting your own authority, insurance and filings happen here, and the waiting period runs.
• Month 3: first loads. Expect slower booking while brokers check a new MC; choose loads that fit easily and run them cleanly.
• Months 4 to 6: brokers start calling back. Track your real cost per mile and raise your minimum rate if it was too low.
• Months 7 to 12: build repeat customers, prepare for the new entrant safety audit if you have your own authority, and decide whether your equipment and license still fit the freight you see.

Most of what goes wrong in year one is money, not driving: underpricing, no cash cushion and an unexpected repair. Plan for all three.

Your first broker loads

Brokers take a risk on a new carrier, so make it easy for them to say yes. Have your carrier packet ready to send in minutes: authority letter, insurance certificate, W-9 and payment details. Answer the phone, give clear answers about your truck and when you can pick up, and do exactly what you said. After a clean delivery, ask the broker what else they move on your lanes. Ten good broker relationships are worth more than any load board subscription.

Common mistakes

• Buying the truck before deciding on the license. The trailer rating can force a CDL.
• Skipping the insurance check. A record that can't be insured at a sane price ends the plan.
• No cash cushion. Brokers often pay in 30 days or more.
• Underpricing loads to get started. It sets a pattern that's hard to break.
• Learning securement on the job. Study it before the first load.

Checklist

What hotshot drivers earn

Pay depends on the path. Company drivers earn wages; owner-operators earn what's left after costs. See how much do hot shot drivers make for the full breakdown, and our hotshot guide for what the work looks like day to day.

Dispatch for new hotshot drivers

New authority, first truck? With hotshot dispatch, we send your packet to brokers who work with new MCs, filter every load by your ratings and plan the reload. You approve every load, and the broker sends the rate confirmation straight to you.