Darin, you don't need to spend all that money for things you can do yourself for little or no cost. If you are a member of OOIDA, they will do your registered agent filings (BOC-3) for FREE. (Or at least they did). You are correct about why a process agent is needed in every state in which you do business. You can join OOIDA for $45/year. I believe they have a reduced membership for $25 until the end of the year. Your insurance company will need to file the insurance directly with the Feds. They can usually do it on line the day you pay your premium.

Once you have your authority and DOT number you can file your UCR on line yourself for a minimum $39/yr filing fee. That is for up to 2 or 3 vehicles (as I recall). You can get IFTA at NO CHARGE in Nashville when you apply for your IRP. The IRP is your cab card. You pay a fee for each state in which you do business. I would check with Nashville to see what type of registration you may need. They are just off Murfreesboro Road near I-24. You may want to take a trip to the Motor Carrier Section at 301 Plus Park, Suite 100, Nashville, TN 37217. The IFTA phone number is 615-399-4267. They will be able to tell you exactly what you need to be legal once you have your authority in hand. In fact, you may want to take a trip to talk with them beforehand so you will know what to bring. Kentucky will issue you a KYU number for FREE.

Thanks Gman, I thought I could do most of this . These Guys are pushy, already called back this am . I had talked to a processing agent in Jackson Tn earlier this week and was told they would flie my BOC -3 for 10.00 per state up to five and 2.00 per state after that . I may only need a few states . I am going to call the kentucky office this morn and get the scoop on what I need to do .

Something you need to consider before going to the Motor Vehicle office, is which states do you want to register for.

With what you are planning on doing, I would suggest the following states be put on your IRP and UCR. TN, KY, OH, WV, IN, IL, AL, GA. Those give you a large and decent base to operate in, given the truck you are going to operate.

Thanks Orange, that is a great idea. I went to my local county clerk to get my truck title switched to KY and got my tag certification which is about all I can do now without the authority. In Ky I have to have my authority in effect to apply any further. I did get a processing agent to send my BOC -3 now I need to get the insurance company on the ball , they have been a bit slack this week but I can understand with all that is going on . I know there will be a waiting period but hope not too long.

I seem to recall that there used to be some who would do your registered agents filing for about $35/year. Personally, I would just join OOIDA and have them do it for free. Darin, you mentioned you were going to register your truck in Kentucky? I thought you lived in Tennessee. :?

Nope, I live about 12 miles south of Owensboro KY . Perhaps all my post about Copart in Nashville led some to believe I live in TN or on some post somewhere I mentioned that I had lived in TN at one time ( actually I lived in Cleveland TN and in Dandridge TN when I was very young), anyway sorry .

Not a problem, Darin. Since you live in Kentucky you will probably need to go to Frankfurt.

Now you have the guy going to Germany. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


$170 per car sounds good. I've had guys out here tell me they only get $45 per car. I don't have any details for you to compare it to.

Thanks Gman , thought you might be mad at me :cry: Anyway I was on the phone for hours the last two days getting all the info I could. It seems that everyone you talk to tells something different but Iam now getting a grasp on what I gotta do . Lotsa stuff to get in line. On the Kentucky
DMV site they say thay have a "one stop shop" if you go to Frankfurt.
Bigmon , I hope I was correct in the quote I got . I remember he said
170.00 for my area with a two car minium. Now understand I am 130 or so miles from Nashville and "my area may be as much as 200 miles from
Nashville ( speculation) . When I talked to the Manager Thursday he said and I will quote " You could make as much as 500.00 to 1000.00 on some days with a four car rollback" this was said after I explained that I had bought my truck and owed nothing on it , was financially minded being that I had been in the finance business . He
did not promise these figures but said with hauls from my area and getting hauls back it would be possible . Again these figures were just thrown out and were gross no doubt . I don't expect to do these sorta figures often or maybe never but I feel that I can do well . BTW I had talked to two other Copart haulers from Kentucky, ( thet worked Lexington area) and I both said they did well .

Why would I be mad at you, Darin? :? Most of these states are pretty helpful to those starting out. Many states are requiring you to prove residency. You may want to plan on having a copy of power bills, mortgage invoice, property tax statement, etc., Some will require you to have a telephone for your business before issuing your IRP and IFTA. My state has a check list they send to those who ask.

Thanks, Gman I was just kiddin :lol: . Yes they have been helpful but nevertheless I have run into several folks that are confused. I talked to one lady that said I do not need to fill out a TC95-1 application ( Kentucky
supposedly requires this ) and later was told by another lady that I do infact have to fill it out .
The TC95-1 application has to be mailed in but only after my authorization is in effect which will not happen until my Insurance is filed .
Being this is the end of the year I will have to wait till at least the 2nd
to call and get more accurate info. I hope to be in operation sometime in Jan . I have been reading Steve Booths ( from desk to own authority part 1) since last night, what a great bunch of post. He has guts no doubt,and it gave me some more confidence even though I will be doing something
a bit different .
BTW , I have driven the truck around a bit more and now
have a better average on my mpg. I am getting aroung 12 mpg empty( actually I did haul my own car 270 plus miles ). This seems high
and surely will drop whenI get it fully loaded. If I get even 8 mpgs loaded
I will be fine. I am working on a cost per mile formula , Fuel , ins, maintance and soforth and with the fugures I am getting I will do good
I believe. I will post more on this when I get all cost figured .

Darin..something you might consider while planning your business, is that while you are planning to haul "wrecked" vehicles into Nashville or another city, to Copart or whomever, you should also consider checking with Dealerships in those areas, to see if you could haul a vehicle or 2 out for them. The only thing they would not want you doing, is dragging one on the stinger I would think.

That way..you could be making $$$ both directions, or into an area where you have pick ups to make.

Thanks Orangetxguy, I have been thinking of all sorts of different schemes. I hope that copart will keep me busy, but the thought of limiting my deadhead with the dealers may be the answer.What would be the best way in you opinion to handle this on a daily basis? Should I keep in touch with them on a daily basis somehow? I will get some cards made up as soon as I get authority in effect. This will be good for all sorts of different things. I have also thought of hauling junk cars to the
scrap yard in Owensboro, I understand they pay pretty good fo junk cars
and other certain steel such as old farm machinery. My biggest concern is the place in Ownesboro is real crappy looking and I wonder if it might be rough on tires and truck in and out of there . I can easly check this out though. Anyway, thanks again for the advise .

Knocking on the doors is always the best way. Go in and talk with sales managers, dressed as a businessman, with cards and rate sheets. having a photo of your unit on the card will help..and be ready to leave a handful of cards...so sales persons and customers alike can see that you are available. Lot's of inter-dealership moves get down, where a wrecker or a guy with a pickup and a trailer moves the cars.
Doing what you are planning is no different on the business side, than flatbedding or van. You gotta let them know (whether it is an insurance company, a wrecking yard, or new car dealership) you are out there ready to do business, to get the work.

Thanks a million. I have sorta gotten hung up on the Copart thing as of lately and put the local dealers in the back of my mind. I gotta keep all these idea fresh in my mind . I was in the small loan business for 22 or so years and at one time supervised 10 offices . We really pushed the referral card business and would leave cards everywhere, Ins companies,
auto parts stores , grocery stores and saw lots of results . You are
also correct in making a professional appearance. My Dad who was Vice
President of Security Finance Corp and later was Ceo and owner of another company always stressed this very thing . People really do take notice of your overall appearance be it dress, attitude or whatever. I need to apply my former experience,s in the business world in this new venture, just sorta got caught up in all the filings and so forth . Glad you reminded me . We had an old saying in the loan business , "persistance
wears out resistance" this mostly applied to deliquent accounts but really
it applies to promoting a business as well . Sorry to ramble but you
got me even more excited about his business. I remember when I was 11 I wanted to buy a horse. I went to a local packing shed ( we lived in a small town in SC where peaches were grown ) and asked for a job . I was told by this grumpy old man that they don't need any more help. I went home disappointed and told dad , he said go back everyday and ask this man for a job , finally after several weeks , My brother who did work at the packing shed came home one day and said " Mr Watson ( the grumpy old man ) said to tell that little Worry Wart to get up here and sweep this packing shed " I worked till the end of the season which was only about three weeks but made $75.00and with a little help from my dad I bought my first horse . :D

I just thought of something else, actully I posted this on another thread
trying to give another guy a tip .


"I am a newbie but will throw this out there. I have on occasion been to heavy equipment auctions , Ritchie Bros, Anderson Auction and Kissimmee Auction . I have seen single axel trucks with flatbed or lowboy trailers hauling all sorts of stuff, not necessarly heavy , yet ,tractors, lawn mowers, small track hoes trenchers, skid steers and on and on . Some of the buyers get pretty desperate to get their new toy home and are not as picky with whom they get to haul it so someone starting out might get some pretty good loads . As I recall the haulers would walk around and hand out cards , they all seemed to be really busy during and after the auction. I may even go to some auctions like these and scrounge around for some loads as well . I just bought a 4 car rollback and am in the process of getting my own authority ".

Well I got Ins today so getting closer to hitting road . I checked my status on the SAFER site but no record yet of my coverage. I believe Progressive said they would file immediatly but would take 24-48 hours for it to show up .

I got my 2290 filed today and supposedly the ins will file with the FMCSA
soon :roll: so I can get the rest of my filings done . I was told on the day I purchased the ins they would file within 48 hours but after checking today they had yet to file . I called them and they said they usually take 3 to 5 days , I said " not a problem but was told within 48 hours". Anyway getting ever closer to becoming a "HOBBY TRUCKER" :wink:

reply
 

Sometimes you see car haulers all loaded to the max, and they have a car lodged right up above the cab.. that's a little scary.. hopefully those metal bars will hold it there. Not to mention the clearance up above... it probably goes upwards of 13ft.. like if you got a big SUV car up there

Re: reply
 

I have also seen them ripped right off the hauler smashed by overpasses and laying on the ground,with drivers standing around with a befuddled look on their faces..... 8) ,happens almost weekley in Detroit (mostly new cars too).

This truck has a headrack , it is built like a tank so no problem with it breaking . As far as height , yep its up there , gotta make a measure pole to check load height. Lady at ins told me just a week or so ago they had to pay for a new audi I believe.

Finally got all ins . Cargo was a bugger to get being that I am new . Now I can see the light at the end of the tunnel ( still dim though) :) I know I posted about getting ins before was not clear on all needed . I have both
general liability and Cargo which will run 6600.00 per year . This figure
is suppose to be correct after being told several other figures. The reason for the difference's was amount of coverage was not fully decided on till now . I had gotten General Liability first and they ( Progressive) filed with the FMCSA as of this am. My cargo is supposed to be filed within 48 hours but I bet with the weekend , it will be pushed back till wed or so .

Do you have auto liability or general liability? There is a difference. I believe you mean auto liability.

Sorry it took so long to get back to you. Well this may sound like I am uninformed somewhat but I applied over the phone and wrote down ( scribbled ) what the agent told me. We talked about liability, on hook, garagekeepers and a bunch of otherstuff. She fully understood that I was hauling cars and we talked in great depth about coverage on the cars I would haul . The ins company also filed on the Safer web site a filing under BIPD and showed my coverage to be 1000000.00 . I know that the threshold for commercial coverage is usually 750000.00 but the price was not much different so I got 1000000.00. Now without sounding stupid what is the difference between auto and general . Now I am a bit worried!

re
 

Once I saw a car hauler doing his thing.. it seemed like a fairly demanding job.. you have to actually walk along that tiny-narrow cat walk and hook the car's axles with chains. I suppose there's also a lot of planning involved, because if you take off all the cars in the back, you've got a load that's over-weight on your drives; or if you do the reverse, there's too much weight sitting on the trailer axles :? But they certainly are compensated for their work :arrow: :wink:

Auto liability would cover you for accidents that happen in or near your truck.

General liability would cover for things at your place of business like if someone slips and falls, false advertising, accidently burning down your neighbors office, etc.

LT,no doubt this will ba a demanding job. This truck is a rollback with headrack 28 ft bed and wheelift. I have three winches , but will also carry wheelstraps for some applications I hope your are right in that
compensation will be worth it . I am not greedy but like anyone else would nice to make a decent living . Thanks Bigmon, I am sure that I have the correct coverage I need just a bit mixed up on the lingo .

I just checked my status on the SAFERWEB site and all filings are in and accepted ( was expecting the Cargo to be filed no earlier than MON but it was filed today) and my status is pending . Any predictions on how long till I am active? Thanks in advance for any replies. Darin :)

It usually takes a few weeks to get your authority back. The Feds need to advertise that you have applied for authority and see if anyone objects. At one time your potential competitors could prevent you from obtaining authority. In recent years it is merely a formality. I believe it took about 6-8 weeks for me to get mine back, but that was a number of years ago. I believe Steve Booth got his back in a shorter time.

Thanks GMAN, Hope it is a bit sooner . I checked several sites that said
anywhere from 30 to 45 days. The FMCSA site says 4 to 6 weeks . and went on to say the biggest delay was with the BOC-3 and insurance not being filed correctly.I have both of those and hopefully they are correct
so maybe it wont be so long. I had one filing service call me and said for a 60.00 fee ( which was a part of a 990.00 fee ) they could have my authority expideted. I wonder about this.

It took I think less than 3 weeks for mine to get approved. You get a heads up the day it is approved, your phone starts ringing non stop with companies trying to sell you stuff!

Phones already started ringing. The day I applied I disconnected from the net ( dialup :sad: ) and already had 5 calls on my message service. One Guy calls everyday . I looked back on some threads and found where Merrick4 was posting about getting his authority and someone ( I forget who) posted that they got theirs in 22 days and also said something about getting a copy of the authority even quicker thru OOIDA for $20.00. Thanks Darin