I'm leased to this carrier with my own truck but all the permits, plates, insurance are in their name. I only own the truck. How do I get my authority with least amount of hassle? Do I apply for it while still running the truck with the current plate or do I have to get my own plate and insurance? I plan to do this in a few months, but I want to keep working for the carrier (with their plate) while all the authority papers are getting processed by those s-s-s-l-l-l-o-o-w government bureaucrats I'll also need to get a trailer of course ... I'm thinking a steel flatbed with a quickdraw tarp system...

You can apply for authority at any time. It costs $300. You will need to have insurance and registered agents in place before it will be granted. I would allow about 6 weeks from the time you apply until you get your authority back. Your biggest obstacle will be insurance. I just renewed my insurance and got a fairly substantial increase, even though I have not had any claims. In checking with other insurance companies, mine is still less expensive. There are a lot of smaller carriers who are going out of business and insurance companies seem to want to make up their lost revenue on the rest of us. Your options will be somewhat limited until you get at least 2 years driving experience. Before proceeding, I suggest you check with some insurance companies to get rates. You don't need to have your base plates until you start running under your own authority, but will need your insurance. I would not go to that expense until I was ready to roll under my own banner.

T, ask the company your leased with if they will assist you in getting your own authority. Some do, some don't. One thing to ask is if they have insurance avalible to current drivers.
Some carriers insurance companies will have a consordium of drivers that qualify for cheap rates.
They will sometimes make your down payment and take it out of your settlement. This will make the transition easier. I registered online and obtained my own Authority, permits, IFTA, HUT, etc. I sent for my plates and used their plates until mine were ready.
It really was a painless process in my opinion. I am free from the company I was leased to, but still run under a new contract with less obligations to them. I don't have to give them any % of any money I make outside of the carriers loads. I am much happier this way.
Ask anything as I am familar with this process. I am in Daytona right now on Vacation. When I get home I will check the post again.
Just to make Tootie jealous. Dale Jr kicked some butt. (This message was written before the 500) :cry:
Some great racing goin on down here

Thanks, Sidman82. My situation is a bit different from yours since I'm in Ontario Canada and my DOT is called ... "MTO" I appreciate the tip about trying to get the authority through the carrier I'm leased to currently. I haven't thought of that.

It's easy to get started. Just go into your current bosses office and tell him you just had sex with his wife. Everything else will fall into place very quickly.

Sometimes the carrier is for it because they will make more money. Less insurance, registration, permits, and fuel taxes for them to pay. It becomes your bill. You must justify the extra cost factor by doing other work that will benifit you. Otherwise, it is sometimes not worth it depending on your situation.

But then I'd have a backup (loads from this carrier). If they don't have loads or have short-range loads (per mile pay), I could go a load board and find a load myself. I guess?

Yes. Example, I have a dedicated run for a carrier. I finish quite early everyday. I go to another outfit for my second half of the day when I choose to and when this outfit has work availible for me. If I was still leased to the carrier that provides me with the dedicated run, I would have to report to them, when, where, and whom I was hauling for on the side and they would have to ok it. If they did, I would then have to cut them in 25% of any money I made. That doesn't work for me. This is why I got my own authority. One day working for this other outfit will pay for my extra costs running on my own. I try to run 3 or 4 days for the second company. If I did not do the extra work, the added cost is not worth it.

That's a great idea. I guess you can also get a load directly from a load board like getloaded.com or internettruckstop.com right - since you have your own authority...

10/4, anything, anywhere.