The independent truck owner-operator faces a unique and challenging business environment as (s)he conducts business on the open road from a truck that not only serves as an office, but also as a second home. Motivation and hard work alone will not guarantee success. You have to possess business skills, technical knowledge and industry experience to succeed as an owner- operator.

Big Rig Business Startup How to Start, Run & Grow a Successful Trucking Company After losing my corporate job in 2008, I went through the toughest time of my life. At the time my wife pregnant with our third child, and my monthly unemployment check wasn't enough to cover our house and two car notes. In desperation, I decided to go to a local trucking school and get my CDL. I found my first driving job a week after I got out of school. I still remember my first paycheck was just $55 shy of what I was making at my corporate desk job. I was hysteric, I was happy, I knew this was my new found life and freedom, and no one was going to take it away from me. Long story short, after two years of working for other companies, I decided to start my own trucking company, and I started out as an owner-operator. In 2013, I decided it was time for me to grow and time for me to get off the road and spend some time with my kids. This was when I entered the second phase of my business life. I started to buy one tractor every three months as I was hiring great drivers that are professional, family oriented and serious about making money. By 2016 I had 12 trucks on the road, and this is also the year when my net earning passed $350,000 mark. To me, the 350K mark was always a benchmark, why? Because I knew that was the salary of the CEO of the company, I used to work for. Last year, I received a call from a business broker, who asked me for a 10-minute meeting. He had brought an offer from a big trucking company, to buy my company. But I didn't even remotely think about selling my company. Instead, I was talking to the bank and was in the process of finalizing a loan for four new tractors with trailers. Once again, long story short, after I refused their initial offer, they came back with an offer that no reasonable man can refuse, and I consider myself a very reasonable man. The income potential is truly amazing and yes, if you can hire the right people, you will not only see significant growth, high net income but the satisfaction that you don't get from many other jobs and businesses. What I shared in this book, are the steps I went through myself, I wrote from my own experience and shared a step by step process that is easy and simple to follow, and best of all you can get started with very little funding. Here is a Quick View of What I Discussed Inside This Book 5 Factors to Consider Before Starting Your New Trucking Business How to Get CDL, DOT and Carrier Authority Number How to Obtain a Unified Carrier Registration How to Get International Registration Plan tag & Fuel Tax Agreement Decal Filing a BOC-3 Form Obtaining a Carrier Alpha Code (SCAC) Business Plan for Your New Trucking Company Six Legal Business Structures to Choose From How to Get an EIN From IRS A Business Plan That is Specific to Your Trucking Business Finding & Buying the Right Tractors and Rigs How to Find Financing, Grants & Loans for Your Business What and How to Get Business Via the Load Boards Types of Freights You Should Consider Daily Administration and Operation of Your Trucking Business Maintenance of Your Tractors How to Hire and Retain Great Drivers What and How to Reap Benefits of Fuel Cards How to Market and Grow your new Trucking Business And so much More.

Long-haul trucks have been described as sweatshops on wheels. The typical long-haul trucker works the equivalent of two full-time jobs, often for little more than minimum wage. But it wasn’t always this way. Trucking used to be one of the best working-class jobs in the United States. The Big Rig explains how this massive degradation in the quality of work has occurred, and how companies achieve a compliant and dedicated workforce despite it. Drawing on more than 100 in-depth interviews and years of extensive observation, including six months training and working as a long-haul trucker, Viscelli explains in detail how labor is recruited, trained, and used in the industry. He then shows how inexperienced workers are convinced to lease a truck and to work as independent contractors. He explains how deregulation and collective action by employers transformed trucking’s labor markets--once dominated by the largest and most powerful union in US history--into an important example of the costs of contemporary labor markets for workers and the general public.

Long hours, low wages, and unsafe workplaces characterized sweatshops a hundred years ago. These same conditions plague American trucking today. Sweatshops on Wheels: Winners and Losers in Trucking Deregulation exposes the dark side of government deregulation in America's interstate trucking industry. In the years since deregulation in 1980, median earnings have dropped 30% and most long-haul truckers earn less than half of pre-regulation wages. Work weeks average more than sixty hours. Today, America's long-haul truckers are working harder and earning less than at any time during the last four decades. Written by a former long-haul trucker who now teaches industrial relations at Wayne State University, Sweatshops on Wheels raises crucial questions about the legacy of trucking deregulation in America and casts provocative new light on the issue of government deregulation in general.

Wit, wisdom, adventure, and revelations from sixty years on the road. They say that only truck drivers experience the true grandeur and landscape of America: the winding mountainsides at sunrise, the first frosts of winter descending on apple orchards, the call of the rising roosters. In A Trucker's Tale, Ed Miller gives an inside look at the allure of the work and the colorful characters who haul our goods on the open road. He shares what it was like to grow up in a boisterous trucking family, his experience as an equipment officer in Vietnam, the wide range of vehicles he's mounted, and the daily trials, tribulations, risks, and exploits that define life as a trucker. Ed's vibrant, no-holds-barred tales are hilarious and heartwarming, sometimes cringeworthy or unbelievable—recollections of heroic feels as well as the “fishing stories” that have stretched and shifted from CB radio to CB radio. Many are the results of what he calls, “just plain stupidity.” Others bring to light the small acts of kindness and grand gestures that these Knights of the Highway perform each day, as well as the safety risks and continual danger that these essential workers endure. Together they paint a compelling portrait of one of the most important, but least-known industries, and reveal why Ed, and so many like him, just kept on truckin’.

This business publication provides all the tools and information an independent Owner Operator needs to successfully dispatch his or her own truck(s). It explains how to set up your mobile office, lists important business contacts, and provides information about laws and regulations as well as required documents. It describes how to provide excellent customer service, build successful business relationships and effectively manage time and stress. It explains freight volume and facts affecting load availability. It guides you through the process of obtaining your own loads and dispatching your own truck(s). And you also learn about proper freight handling and important delivery procedures. Finally, this publication dispels myths and common misconceptions about the trucking industry, provides you with facts to disprove "truck stop" gossip, and makes the process of dispatching transparent.

Contrary to popular belief, there is more than one way to be a trucker and build your own business. Welcome to the world of hotshot trucking!Hotshot trucking is a great way to start your own business without all the cost and regulations of a big rig trucking company. You get to set your own routes and hours, run your own show, and give yourself the money and flexibility you desire.This book covers all you'll need to know to buy your own truck and trailer rig and get out there and start making money. From the basics of how the industry works, this will help take you through buying your first truck and trailer. Breaking down all the options and extras so you can make an informed choice about your rig.You'll learn all the tools of the trade and the equipment you will need to move your loads. Straps, chains, ropes, ramps - you name it! What to look for, how to find them, and where to shop. Plus, a section with maintenance tips on trucks, trailer, and gear! Everything that you are going to need to get that load to its new home.All the information you'll need on what licensing and documents you'll be required to obtain and how and where to file. How to open a business. Do you need an LLC? Office space? Plus information on how to figure out your costs and budget for your business.But, how do you find your loads? It's all explained here as the book opens up the world of the load boards where hotshot truckers find their loads and bid for their next gig. You'll learn how to figure out how much to charge, how to bid properly, plus the other features these sites offer. Not only online, but you'll learn to take advantage of other opportunities to network and advertise your services so you can get every possible load. Sections on advertising, social media, mailings and more.You'll get a peek on the road with topics on health, exercise, entertainment, and ways to stay on top mental and physical condition while driving. And what do in the case of accident, breakdown, injury, or many other situations.The book also addresses numerous mistakes made by owner-operators that can lead to the downfall of their business. Now, you can learn from their mistakes and ensure the future of your company. Also included is a glossary of hotshot and trucking industry terms so you'll be in the know.When you complete this book, you'll have all the information to go out and start your own hotshot trucking company. You'll be able to enjoy the freedom, variety, potential, and fun of this high-growth industry!