Hightail Hot Shotting

Typically, Hotshotting takes you on the road overnight, or possibly for a couple of days. Also typical of hot shot work, we don’t have time to stop for a sit-down meal. We also don’t have time to yak with other drivers who are living in their trucks delivering goods across the continent on long-hauls.

Occasionally hotshot delivery involves a few hours in-town driving, but your typical hotshotting involves many miles to and from delivery. To compound the challenge, most customers who book a hot shot service wait until the last minute, and we get dispatched later in the day after having been up all day.

You don’t have to be in hotshotting to deal with oversize loads. We see this all the time with average Joe or contractors pulling out of Home Depot with materials too long for their vehicles. There’s also exterior service contractors with long ladders swinging out the back. I’ve even seen one use a ladies red brassier as a flag on the end.

Typically, hot shotting operators use light duty one-ton pickup trucks. Unlike tractor trucks, they have the option to use snow tires in the winter. If you have a four-wheel drive and carry chains, then why not save some money, and run all season tires all year?

This question is almost irrelevant, because new pickup trucks only come with a manual option with the Ram trucks. Since the truck of choice for hotshotting is a pickup truck, this means those wanting to shift their own gears will be looking at Ram or older models of Ford or GM. Our Hightail Hotshotting fleet includes both automatic transmissions and manual, so we can give you, our impression.

Sometimes customers need their trailer moved from A to B, and this may seem initially a simple task. However, it can be a headache for a hot shot carrier. Why is that? A professional hot shotting carrier maintains their own equipment for safety and reliability. They also must pass an annual Commercial Vehicle Inspection (CVI). A hotshot driver must also pull into truck scales, like the big boys, and be compliant with national safety standards for motor carriers.

We get lots of calls from guys considering starting their own business so a blog post on the subject of hot shot trucking seemed like a perfect idea.

Over ten years ago this was me, I was purchasing a Ford F350 out of Texas and thought it would be cool to make money with it. Having family in the trucking industry I picked their brains and after hiring someone to facilitate obtaining my Canadian and US authorities and leasing my first flat deck I was in business.

You probably already are aware that hot shot services most all use diesel equipment. Can I do hotshot hauling with my gas truck?

What are the benefits and drawbacks of each? And the one question always asked…. Why is diesel sometimes cheaper and other times more expensive??

If you are not a commercial driver you may not be familiar with the term pre-trip.

Professional hot shot drivers as commercial drivers are required to complete a pre trip inspection of their Hotshotting equipment. Besides being required by the transportation regulatory authorities doing a pre trip just makes good sense. Why not take a tip from the pros and make a pre-trip part of your routine as a citizen of the public roadways.

Whether you are looking to book a hot shot service or towing your camping equipment you may at some point come across the acronym GVWR. What does it stand for and what does it mean for you?

GVW mean the Gross Vehicle Weight
GVWR means the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating
GCVWR means the Gross Combined Vehicle Weight Rating

Inexperienced shippers and new freight brokers can quickly be spotted when they call our hot shot emergency line.

• Are you or your client actually looking for hot shot dedicated service?
• What is the dimensions and weight of the freight?

Some of our competitors operate as LTL carriers filling their trailers with freight from various customer outbound and again as a back haul. This works for some, and the customers benefit from the much-reduced cost of sharing the deck with multiple clients. 

What is LTL and FTL and which one best describes hot shot trucking? LTL stands for Less Than Truckload and FTL is Full Truck Load

Recently while waiting for completion of some maintenance on one of our hot shot trucks I listened to the service manager chat with some customers on the phone and in the shop about turbo issues.

As of 2023 is it feasible for a hot shot carrier to switch to electric trucks? Electric trucks have instant power and very high torque. They also are unaffected by elevation changes unlike combustion engines.