Truck insurance questions!

[henboy1]

I am about to buy a tractor and I do not know much about trucking insurance.
I have an E350 cargo van which I use for expediting.
I have the 300/100/50 commercial insurance and every company I sign up with covers the cargo insurance which they take out either a % or a weekly fee from my settlement.In this case I work for 3 companies at a time.I can turn down any load coming to me from any of these companies since I am an O/O.
I am not sure about the trucking business but I am wondering if I can do the same thing.
I have noticed some few things in the trucking business as an O/O.
It seems bobtail insurance covers the liability insurance on the tractor which is sent to DMV to cover anyone for insurance and this enables you to get plates.I was quoted $106/month for bobtail insurance and this I felt was cheap.This also means when I hook up to any container/trailer, the company will cover their trailer and cargo and takle out the insurance fee from my settlement.This will therefore enable me to work for more than 2 companies at a time and pick which load I want from XYZ company.
In the other case if I also have bobtail insurance(besides the cargo and trailer insurance) with a company I am leased with, my hands will be tied and I wouldn't be able to sign up with other compnaies at a time.
CAN SOMEONE PLEASE ENLIGHTEN ME ON THIS SINCE i MAY BE WRONG IN MY FINDINGS.BTW I am not getting my authority as an O/O.
Thank you!

 

[LDB]

Unless there's something I'm not aware of you will be leased to a specific company. Without your own authority and running on theirs you are limited to freight for that particular company unless they will broker outside loads for you for a percentage of the revenue. Most expedite loads are booked as exclusive use which means Acme Widgets gets the entire truck/trailer even though they only have one 37 pound carton of widgets to ship and you could fit a bunch of skids of other stuff in there. Keep up your research and studying, you are on the right track. Good luck.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 4958, 5447
Highway Watch Participant, Truckerbuddy
EO Forum Moderator
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Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.

 

[henboy1]

This even also applies to cargo van freight although I am not leasing my tractor to a company I am also using my company's (all 3 companies)authority to travel cross country.Which ever company calls me is whose authority I will use.I just do not have the DOT # and MC sticker # on the cargo van.
From what I read above does that mean I can only lease my tractor to one company at a time?From your reading I guess I cannot lease my tracor out to more than 1 company at a time.I just wanted to get some flexibility because I am expecting to see some BS in this business.For ex.... Companies who have their own trucks and who at the same time hire O/O will seem to give the BS loads to the O/O and therefore I can say no to such loads and then call company Y to see if they have better loads.Another compnay who deals with containers and the ports wanted me to come see him rather than talking money on the phone.I just had a bad feeling about that because these container truck companies do not care what yr tractor you have because it is all about dead heading back after you drop off their container at the port.I just had a bad feeling about that company and I wanted to have some flexibilty.

 

[Refer Hauler]

I'am not aware of any DOT regulation that say's you cannot be leased to more than one company at a time. However the carriers you are considering leasing to will probably not allow you to have multiple lease's, due to liability. Get a lawyer to review any lease's.

With your own authority, Basic bobtail,Physical damage,& cargo will run around 9K a year if you have a good driving record, OOIDA can do it all and they are reasonable ( reefer insurance is higher $$$$ )

Please do not take this the wrong way but you have asked a few very basic questions about trucks & trucking. I would suggest you take a look at the web site www.writeuptheroad.com Tim Brady has a good selection of books and info to help you gain more knowledge of the trucking business.

Keep asking questions;You are on the right track

 

[henboy1]

Thank you all for your input and learned a lot from this.I can only haul for another company if they "trip charge" with my primary company to whom I am contracted to.That third party company will be in agreement with my company and will get a cut from the freight.
first:
I made some calculations when comparing my cargo Van and a tractor fuel costs.
On every $20 of fuel my van will go 100 miles while most tractors on the average will go 100 miles on $45 of fuel.Usually when one of those companies I work for call,... for ex.. I haul cargo on a $80 mile trip and I dead head 35 miles to my pick up location. I usually refuse because they pay a flat fee of $75 for any pick and deliver in the metro atlanta location.On a trip like this the fuel will be around $30 and that is about 30/75 X 100=40%.This means the cost to deliver such freight 40% of my settlement and therefore my profit is minimal.
On the other hand with the semi, I see many companies paying 95 cpm/98cpm, 110cpm or even 125cpm and 25-35cpm on FSC.
For example if I deliver a container to savannah which is 250 miles from metro atlanta(my residence or even pick up point)and from the calculations above since 100miles =$45 it will cost $225 to make that delivery and this is only fuel alone.For example if a company will pay me 95cpm and 25cpm for fsc, this comes out to $475fuel+$125fsc=$600settlement(500 miles X 95cpm +25cpm X 500)
I hope I did the math correctly.
My point is I am realising that the way I treat my decision making on the cargo van freight will be totally different from the truck freight.I guess this is because on most truck dispatches 40%-60%and up of the settlemment goes into fuel cost, and on the other hand 30% of the settlement on the cargo van goes into fuel.
Can someone enlighten me on this if I am wrong.
I plan on hauling containers regionally with this truck and this will require 1-2 days on the road.

 

[Refer Hauler]

Your math is correct. The can haulers here that do the best in this area contract with Bridge Terminal Transport or Mason Dixon. There is money in containers but watch the time spent at rail head getting loaded.