@@neiljackson8313 Look online for a good trucking school around your area and they’ll help you with your cdl permit, It is 3 tests that you have to pass at the DMV. The trucking school of your choice will then start driver training, they will train you for the truck inspection test and behind the wheel test.
@@neiljackson8313 If you have your own equipment you can just test locally at the DMV, thats what I did. Failed once, passed the 2nd time. Class A CDL with automatic restriction only $85!
Alex, great video as always! Glad to see you’re able to get loads In this winter! I had to stop driving for now especially with this weather, couldn’t bare seeing anymore accidents and risking myself to be involved in one, especially driving through I22 mostly, and decided to head back to FL from MO last week! I also wanted to mention thanks for showing how you use different techniques on strapping because not all learn or have been taught how to properly secure and strap the right way or even yet save time on certain parts of strapping! I’m one who’s also still learning different techniques because one of my challenges or weak point I should say, are the individual 2 inch straps!! Ohh man I get soooo much excess strap after ratcheting that I sometimes won’t know where to put the excess amount! I definitely need to try out your method ASAP where you put it under the tight part itself and strap that excess strap with the load great advice! Again wanted to say great content, hope everything is doing well with you and your family, and God bless man!! 🙏🏽
Thank you! Really appreciate your support. It definitely is dangerous driving in the winter but the bills still have to be paid so can’t stop working. I try to avoid going to areas that have bad weather but sometimes that’s impossible. If the roads get bad I’ll stop and will not risk getting into an accident. The 2” strap usually does have a lot of excess left over and for me the easiest is to roll it up and use a bungee to secure it. Some people told me there are better ways to store excess strap but I have to visually see that. Take care and be safe.
Anytime there’s an upload I’m THERE! Thank you for these vids man really helps push me more into getting my hotshot business started. Hope your doing well man
Thank you! Really appreciate it. This week was awful just because I had to be in a certain place to catch my flight. Next time should be better motivation 😁👍🏻
I stayed parked the whole week myself lol! Everything was too dangerous, ppl driving too slow, and all stores shut down. Was a no brainer to me on this weather. Glad u stayed safe!
Ya the weather is crazy. I ran a load from home here in Southern Oregon down to LA and then grabbed a reload back up here. I tried to stay south so I didn’t have to deal with the snow and ice, but it was really windy on my way back up I-5.
I don’t know how cold it was in Oregon but Midwest was ridiculously cold. Cali was great weather though. Winter time is the worst. Soon it’ll be warm again though. Stay safe.
Enjoy the securement 👍Hope the flight went well and enjoy that fam time! Pretty shotty of them to back out of the load. Of this whole business that's the thing I think would really set me off. Have you ever had them tell you to take the load back? Hopefully the dealer gets that dpf right for you bud. Stay warm and safe👍
Thank you! The flight was great and warm weather is amazing. Yeah it suck’s when you drive to 2-3 hours to get a load and they cancel the last minute. Once I drove 3 hours in Cali traffic and when I got to a shipper they said someone took that load. These idiot brokers double brokering. At least I ended up taking this load at a bit of a reduction in price but it’s better than nothing because I had to catch my flight. I’ve never had anyone tell me to return a load. They would have to pay for that. Still waiting to hear from the dealer about the DPF. They had bad weather in St. Louis today. Freezing rain so some mechanics didn’t show up.
Good job man, I’m glad u still making, we recently just shut down out two trucks and trailers, rates are so bad, not enough loads going out, especially on our area and that’s us dead heading almost 200 miles to start the week, tried and tried to get direct customers but we keep losing them cause of people who would do it for cheaper, insurance is crazy for no good reason, we just keep having to loan more and more money just to keep going as long as possible but this time there’s no more money to loan, selling the trucks and trailers and switching back to regular 9-5, me and my brother love doing this job, but it’s just almost impossible with these market.
Thank you for the video, was curious how you were doing out here because it's been rough. I encourage anyone looking to get into this to know there "CPM" cost per mile. Mine is $1.44 alot of the the loads i'm looking at CDL hot shot the rates are 0.78 cents a mile alot under a dollar, so your partial game must be strong If i was non cdl I would be even more nervous. The good thing about Alex is he gives it to you straight and will provide receipts if you challenge him. I was really hoping this video was gonna be a he made money video to erase my fears of how bad it is out here.
Thank you for the support. Unfortunately this video showed a bad week but again this is specifically because I had to be in St. Louis to catch a flight and I was short on time. There were other loads going different directions that would have made me more money but sometimes unfortunately we have to take a cut to make it to where we need to be.
Great videos. Ive always wanted to get into doing this type of business. Currently have a class b with air brakes and passenger endorsements. I love driving everywhere and i hate working with other people😂😂😂
about to start my own hotshot business next month, you’re videos get me exicted bought a 3500 gmc dully and a 40ft gooseneck big trex flat bed thank you Alex 🙌
I’m new to your channel thank you for your videos. I’m thinking of doing some hotshot, I keep wondering why you twist your straps? I’m new to all of this and still/want to learn thank dude 👍🏼
Thank you for your support! I twist the straps to keep them from vibrating while driving. If you have a long stretch of a strap you need a twist there. Only if it’s open to where the wind will hit it.
appreciate your videos Alex... I actually just p[icked up a 40' GN last night and getting my equipment together ... Q. How much is your average weight on the trailer at any given time?... I know one of your videos you were at 12k, and you mentioned you don't like to be too heavy, whats the average?
Alex, any chance you would be willing to walk me through the process of how you find the jobs? I’m 29 years old with a class A CDL & I would like to learn more on the trade. I’ve drove tractor trailers for almost 5 years now. 😊
My dispatcher does most of my load booking. You can sign up for a load board. A popular one is Truckstop and there’s also DAT. You can search for loads on the load boards. When you find one and are able to get through to a broker than you’ll need to do a setup with them via email. They will also tell you what paperwork they need from you. I suggest getting a dispatcher to do all that for you.
Hey brother I’ve been watching your videos I’m interested on doing this for a living do you have any advice of how to get started not as an owner operator. I would like to learn the profession first before doing the investment
Hey what’s up! There really isn’t any advice on how to get started working for someone. You have to find someone who’s hiring that seems like a trustworthy person to work for and make sure they offer to pay enough. 30% of the gross is normal and you should have no expenses besides food for yourself.
Do you call the receiver beforehand to confirm the address and make sure you have room for your trailer to maneuver around? Seems like rolling around with a 40 ft deck in unfamiliar areas would be really stressful.
Thank you! It is a tough time right now. Definitely worse than it was a few years ago so I can’t give any advice if it’s worth getting into right now. There will be good weeks and bad weeks but overall I’m doing ok but my authority isn’t new anymore. New authority will be much harder to get loads.
I really enjoy watching your videos I used to be a truck driver owner operator when I was 19-24 I had 3 Kenworth trucks but now I have a small excavation company for the past 17 years but I would love to get back on the road with a setup like you have. Best of luck to you and keep up the great work and videos
@@tristanhernandez7261 But if a carrier does it to them because the carrier found a better paying load then all hell breaks loose and they want to ban you from working with them and the whole nine yards. 😂
Alex on your 2 inch ratchet strap it has a pocket on the slack of it and the rest of the strap that’s left after straping your load down, you fold it and put it inside that pocket and torque that ratchet once or twice so it can stay in there tight and you avoid doing all that rest work you did there at min 7:12