Short answer
Hot shot trucking is hauling smaller, time-sensitive loads on a flatbed or gooseneck trailer pulled by a medium-duty pickup, in place of a full-size tractor-trailer. The trailers usually run 30 to 40 feet and carry roughly 16,000 pounds. A hot shot hauling for hire across state lines at 10,001 pounds or more is a regulated motor carrier, with a USDOT number, operating authority and insurance to match.
A broker meets hot shots when a customer has one machine, one pallet of parts or a few joints of pipe that have to be there tomorrow. A 48-foot flatbed would run mostly empty, and LTL would take too long. This post covers the equipment, what it can carry, and the rules a hot shot carrier has to meet before you put freight on it.
What hot shot trucking is
Anderson Trucking Service defines it as “a type of trucking service that uses medium-duty pickup trucks and flatbed or gooseneck trailers to haul urgent, time-sensitive freight.”
Truckstop adds who does the work: hot shot loads are “time-sensitive, partial loads on flatbed trailers pulled by Class 3 to 5 medium-duty trucks, typically by owner-operators who find loads through online load boards.”
So the term describes two things together: the equipment, which is a pickup and a trailer, and the job, which is a small load in a hurry.
Hot shot equipment and payload
| Spec | Hot shot | Standard flatbed |
|---|---|---|
| Truck | Class 3, 4 or 5 pickup or cab-chassis truck, rated 10,001 to 19,500 lb | Class 8 tractor |
| Trailer length | 30 to 40 ft. A gooseneck is commonly 40 ft | 48 or 53 ft |
| Freight weight | About 16,500 lb on a 40 ft trailer (ATS). 16,000 to 20,000 lb (Gebrüder Weiss) | 48,000 lb (DSV) |
| Hitch | Gooseneck for heavier loads. ATS says bumper-pull trailers are limited to 10,000 lb | Fifth wheel |
Sources: ATS, Truckstop, Gebrüder Weiss and DSV.
The weight limit is the number to remember. ATS says a 40-foot hot shot trailer “isn’t suited to haul any freight that weighs greater than 16,500 pounds.” That’s about a third of what a full-size flatbed carries.
The deck is open, so the freight gets strapped or chained down and tarped if it needs to stay dry. If the load has to ride covered and it’s too big for a pickup, see our post on Conestoga trailers.
The rules: when a pickup becomes a motor carrier
A pickup looks like a personal vehicle. Federal rules go by weight rating and by what the truck is doing.
| When the rig | It needs | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Is rated or weighs 10,001 lb or more, truck and trailer combined, and crosses state lines | A USDOT number, and it has to follow the federal safety rules as a commercial motor vehicle | 49 CFR 390.5T and 390.19T |
| Hauls other people’s freight for pay across state lines | Operating authority (an MC number) | 49 CFR 392.9a |
| Is rated 26,001 lb or more combined, with a trailer rated over 10,000 lb | A driver with a Class A CDL | 49 CFR 383.91 |
| Hauls for hire across state lines in a truck rated 10,001 lb or more | At least $750,000 of liability insurance | 49 CFR 387.9 |
Sources: 49 CFR 390.5T, 392.9a, 383.91 and 387.9, and FMCSA’s USDOT number and operating authority pages.
The first line catches nearly every hot shot. A Class 3 pickup is rated over 10,000 pounds before a trailer is hooked to it.
Does a hot shot driver need a CDL?
It depends on two ratings added together. Federal rules define the combined rating as the truck’s weight rating plus the trailer’s, or their actual weights if those are higher (49 CFR 383.5). A Class A CDL is required when that total is 26,001 pounds or more and the trailer is rated over 10,000 pounds.
Two examples with round numbers:
- A pickup rated at 14,000 pounds pulling a trailer rated at 12,000 pounds totals 26,000. No CDL is required.
- The same pickup pulling a trailer rated at 16,000 pounds totals 30,000. The driver needs a Class A CDL.
You’ll see articles say hot shot drivers don’t need a CDL. That’s true only below the line. A heavy pickup with a 40-foot gooseneck can easily be above it.
Hours of service and ELDs
Once the rig is a commercial motor vehicle, its driver is on the same clock as a tractor-trailer driver. Under 49 CFR 395.3, that means up to 11 hours of driving inside a 14-hour window, after 10 consecutive hours off duty. A 30-minute break is required after 8 hours of driving, and the weekly limits of 60 hours in 7 days or 70 hours in 8 days apply.
An electronic logging device is required for drivers who have to keep records of duty status. The rule lists exceptions, including drivers who need those records on no more than 8 days in any 30-day period and trucks built before model year 2000.
There’s also a short-haul exception for trucks that don’t require a CDL. It covers drivers who stay within 150 air-miles and return to the same reporting location. A hot shot running three states away doesn’t qualify.
This matters when you promise a delivery time. One driver in a pickup can’t legally cover 1,000 miles overnight. Do the math on the miles before you commit to a time.
What a broker should verify before booking a hot shot
Vet a hot shot carrier the way you’d vet any carrier. The truck is smaller. The liability if something goes wrong is the same.
- Active operating authority. Our MC number entry explains what you’re looking at.
- Liability insurance of at least $750,000. Your own carrier agreement can set the bar higher than the federal minimum.
- Cargo coverage. Check the limit on the certificate against the value of the load. Our cargo insurance entry covers the exclusions to read for.
- The trailer’s length and rated capacity, and whether the driver holds a CDL if the combination needs one.
- Unified Carrier Registration. A hot shot over 10,000 pounds in interstate commerce owes it every year. See UCR registration.
Run the full checks in our carrier onboarding guide and read the freight fraud guide before you tender.
When a hot shot is the right call
A hot shot fits a load that’s small, open-deck friendly and urgent.
- The freight weighs under about 16,000 pounds and fits on 30 to 40 feet of deck.
- It has to deliver faster than an LTL carrier’s terminal network will move it.
- It’s going to a job site, a yard or a farm, where there’s a forklift and no dock.
Pick something else when the freight is heavy, when it has to ride enclosed, or when it needs a liftgate. A straight truck covers the last two. Ask where the truck is coming from as well, because the deadhead miles to your pickup end up in the rate.
Four mistakes when booking a hot shot
- Booking on deck length and ignoring weight. Forty feet of deck doesn’t mean 40 feet of steel.
- Treating a pickup as if it weren’t a regulated truck. Check authority and insurance on every one.
- Promising a transit time a single driver can’t legally run.
- Leaving tarping and securement off the rate confirmation, then arguing about it at the pickup.
Where FreightVero fits
FreightVero keeps carriers, their compliance status, drivers and trucks in one place, and a load can’t reach Alerted without an approved carrier. That check runs the same for a one-truck hot shot as for a 200-truck fleet. See carrier management.
Final thoughts
A hot shot is a small flatbed that moves fast: 30 to 40 feet of deck, about eight tons of freight, and the same federal rulebook as a big truck once the ratings cross 10,000 pounds. Use it for the urgent load that doesn’t justify a full trailer, and vet the carrier as carefully as you would any other.