My brother and I have team driven for a few years now. I am looking at getting my own truck. I dont know if I should r4un under my own authority or try to run under someone elses. My concerns with the larger companies is I have a lead foot when it comes to my Harleyand have four tickets in the last three years. No class D or CDL violations though. Just looking for some advice on starting up as an oo team. Just want to run miles. Any feedback/advice would be appreciated. My brother is good at this end but I wanted to get some info myself as its my money.

My guess is that you will have a problem finding a carrier or insurance company who will cover you with 4 moving violations. Most restrict you to 2 tickets in the last 3 years. I don't know if any of them look at tickets on a motorcycle any differently than a 4 wheeler or big truck. My guess is that they will look at them the same. Before you spend the money getting a CDL you may want to check around with some carriers and tell them about the tickets and see what they say. You could get a copy of your mvr and send it to them.

I have to agree with Gman. My insurance won't accept any drivers with under 2 years of verifiable OTR experience and can't have any DUI's or no more than 2 moving violations. Buddy, my suggestion to you is to stay at the current company that you're driving team with your brother. If you leave there you might not even have the chance to come back. Clean up your drivers license and treat it like it's GOLD. Just my $.02

I am afraid that I misread part of your post. I didn't realize that you already had your CDL and were driving team with your broker. I am surprised that you still have a job with 4 moving violations. Most carriers will pull a copy of your MVR every year. If those show up on your MVR with most companies you won't have a job if you have more than 2 moving violations. If you hold a CDL you are also required to tell your carrier about any tickets received each year. Unless your state reports tickets received on a motorcycle differently than in a 4 wheeler or big truck, they should show up on your MVR. At one time unless you received a ticket in an 18 wheeler it didn't appear on your MVR if a carrier or insurance company checked. Bush changed that and now any ticket you receive, regardless of what you are driving, is supposed to be reported by the issuing state. If you received the tickets in another state, perhaps it has not had time to get on your MVR. In any case, you should consider yourself very lucky that you are still able to drive. I would still suggest getting a copy of your MVR to see what is on it. If you still want to get your authority you could call around. If 4 moving violations show up on your MVR, you better sit where you are until at least 2 of them drop off your record. They won't disappear, but most insurance companies and carriers only consider 3 years. In the mean time, you may want to consider selling that bike if you can't control your speed. Moving violations can kill a driving career.

I appreciate the feedback. Ill check my MVR i think two drop off in the next three months. I found a few insurance companies willing to put us on but still wondering if carriers will let us run even under our own authority or will they still be hesitant?

Just be glad that you don't live in massachusetts, nothing ever comes off your driving record if you have a c.d.l...

Well if you can get insured get your own authority and find your own loads.

Every carrier makes their own decisions concerning minimum hiring requirements for their drivers and owner operators. When you say that you found a few insurance companies who are willing to put you on, I assume that you mean that they will sell you liability and cargo insurance so that you can get your own authority? Most of the major carriers have their own brokerage departments and there are also a lot of freight brokers. Both will book loads with those who have authority and valid insurance. A few have restrictions on new carriers time in business. They may require you to have your authority for 6 months to 1 year. Most don't have time restrictions. If you have insurance and authority you can start booking loads the next day.

If you want to lease to another carrier then you will need to start making phone calls.