A hot shot dispatch service that checks the clock before it books the run
Hotshot work is long solo legs, short notice and loads that pay because they're urgent. That's exactly where a bad booking hurts most: a 600-mile run quoted to deliver tomorrow morning is only a good load if your hours can legally cover it. Our hotshot dispatchers check every run against what's left on your 11-hour driving limit and 14-hour window before it reaches you, then send it as a rate confirmation for your yes or no. CDL or non-CDL, gooseneck or bumper pull, the clock goes first.
RATE CON · 06:30
OKC -> FTW
$1,250
CONFIRMED
Will this run fit today? The hotshot run calculator
Set the run and your remaining hours. The calculator shows whether it fits your clock today, where the 30-minute break lands, what the rate works out to across all miles including deadhead, and what you keep after the dispatch fee. Every limit is read from the same rule file our dispatchers plan with.
HOTSHOT RUN CALCULATORPLANNING ESTIMATE
Your fee tier
FITS TODAY'S CLOCK
About 9:49 of driving and 11:19 on duty, inside what you have left.
- TOTAL MILES
- 540
- DRIVE TIME
- 9:49
- 30-MIN BREAK
- BY MILE ~440
- RATE / ALL MILES
- $2.31/MI
- FEE 5%
- -$63
- YOU KEEP
- $1,187
Assumes 1 hour on duty for loading and securement. Limits from 49 CFR 395.3(a)(3)(i), 49 CFR 395.3(a)(2), 49 CFR 395.3(a)(3)(ii). Estimate only: your ELD or paper log is the legal record.
This is the check your dispatcher runs on every hotshot load before you ever see it. If a run doesn't fit, it gets re-timed to start after your 10-hour break or it gets passed on. It never gets offered with a wink and a hope.
Need the full-day version? Hours of service calculator
CDL, non-CDL and the log: which rules apply to your hotshot
Start with the part that confuses most new hotshot owners: CDL rules and hours of service rules are two separate questions. Whether you need a CDL depends on weight ratings and licensing rules. Whether you follow hours of service depends on whether your rig is a commercial motor vehicle, and under 49 CFR 390.5 a vehicle or combination rated 10,001 pounds or more used in interstate commerce is one. A one-ton pickup pulling a loaded gooseneck clears 10,001 pounds easily. So almost every interstate hotshot driver follows the 11-hour, 14-hour, 30-minute break and 60/70-hour limits in 49 CFR 395.3, with or without a CDL.
The CDL line itself sits at a gross combination weight rating of 26,001 pounds or more when the trailer is rated over 10,000 pounds. Stay under it and you're running non-CDL; go over it and you need a Class A. That's why so many hotshot setups are rated just under the line, and why it's worth checking the actual ratings on your truck and trailer plates rather than a forum post. Our free GCWR checker does that math with your plate numbers. Hotshot GCWR and non-CDL weight checker
Two differences follow from the CDL question. Non-CDL drivers are not under DOT drug and alcohol testing, which covers CDL drivers under Part 382. And ELD use follows your logging pattern: drivers who qualify for the short-haul exception in 395.1(e) keep time records instead of logs, and drivers who need paper logs no more than 8 days in any 30-day period may use paper. Regular over-the-road hotshot work usually needs an ELD. Everyone needs a DOT medical card for interstate CMV driving. ELD exemptions, explained
The hotshot freight we book
Hotshot rates exist because the freight can't wait for a full truckload. We shop where speed and a smaller deck win:
Construction and equipment
Skid steers, mini excavators, light machinery, building materials and job-site parts. Often one-way and urgent, which makes the reload plan as important as the rate.
Agricultural loads
Implements, parts and seasonal equipment moves. Planting and harvest seasons bring surges where a hotshot that's in the right region with fresh hours earns well.
Oilfield and energy parts
Pipe, valves and replacement parts that keep a site running. Time-critical, sometimes remote, and the kind of run where honest hours math matters most.
Expedited partials
Loads that need to beat a full truckload on time, from a single crate to a few pallets. Good money per mile when the deck and the clock both fit.
Every load is checked against your deck length, your rated capacity and your CDL status before it's offered. If a load needs a Class A and you run non-CDL, you won't see it.
What a hotshot dispatcher does that a load board doesn't
Checks the run against your clock first
Matches the deck, not just the lane
Negotiates the urgency
Plans the reload while you're loaded
Handles the paperwork and the phone
Hotshot setup brokers expect before the first load
Brokers screen hotshots carefully because the segment draws a lot of new carriers. Having these in order is the fastest way past the screening:
- Your own MC and DOT numbers, active and showing the right operation type
- Auto liability and cargo coverage at the limits each broker requires, with the truck and trailer listed
- Accurate truck and trailer ratings, deck length and equipment photos if a broker asks
- A current DOT medical card, CDL or not (49 CFR 391.41)
- CDL drivers: a drug and alcohol testing program and Clearinghouse registration before you drive
We build all of it into one carrier packet so each broker gets the same accurate picture of your rig the first time.
A hotshot week, the planned way
EXAMPLE, one CDL hotshot based near Oklahoma City with a 40 ft gooseneck. Monday: a mini excavator to a job site in north Texas, booked the Friday before so Monday started with a full clock. Tuesday: oilfield parts from Midland back toward the base, found while Monday's load was still on the deck. Wednesday: a short agricultural run, kept short on purpose to protect cycle hours for the back half of the week. Thursday: an expedited partial into Kansas City that paid a premium for next-morning delivery, offered only because Wednesday ended early enough for a full 10-hour break. Friday: a construction load home. Two loads were declined that week because they needed a delivery time that only worked by running past the 14-hour window. That's not lost money. That's a license still clean on Monday.
Deadhead is where hotshot profit hides
Hotshot loads are mostly one-way. A run that pays well into a rural area can leave you 150 miles from the next decent load, and those miles burn fuel and hours alike. That's why the calculator shows rate across all miles, not just loaded ones: a $1,250 run over 480 loaded miles looks like $2.60 a mile, but add 60 miles of deadhead to reach it and another 150 to get back to freight, and the real number drops hard.
We plan the next load before you deliver the current one. Sometimes that means taking a slightly lower rate going into a strong market instead of a higher one going into a dead end. It's the same reason we watch where your 34-hour restart lands: a restart in the middle of nowhere starts next week with a deadhead day.
Run the numbers in the calculator with your real deadhead in it before you judge any posted rate. Then add the miles back to freight in your head. The load that wins on that full math is the one we put on your phone.
What hotshot dispatch costs
The fee follows your authority and fleet size, never your equipment. A hotshot with authority older than 6 months pays the 5% standard rate. A new MC pays 7% for the first 6 months, then drops to 5%. Two or more trucks pay the 4% fleet rate. No setup fee, no minimums, no contract, and nothing on a week you don't haul. All pricing details
Hotshot dispatch questions
Hot loads, legal hours, your call
Apply in about 2 minutes. Every run is checked against your clock before you see it.
Start hotshot dispatch