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Practical guides for owner-operators and small carriers.
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Dispatcher Carrier Agreement: What a Truck Dispatcher Contract Should Include (+ Free Checklist)
A dispatcher carrier agreement is the written contract between a truck dispatch service and the motor carrier it books loads for. If you’re learning how to start a dispatch business, it’s the first document you need, and it does more than set your fee. FMCSA’s 2023 guidance on br
Box Truck Business Plan: How to Start a Box Trucking Business (Start Up Costs + Checklist)
A box truck business plan answers three questions before you spend real money: does your truck need a CDL, which federal registrations apply, and what does it cost to start and keep running? If you’re figuring out how to start a box trucking business, the answers depend mostly on
Trucking Invoice Template: What to Include (Detention, Lumper & TONU)
A clean trucking invoice template gets you paid faster and with fewer short-pays. Brokers and shippers pay from paperwork, and an invoice that’s missing a load number, a signed POD or the receipt for a lumper fee usually sits in a pile. This guide covers every line your trucking
Driver Qualification File Checklist: Everything 49 CFR 391.51 Requires
A driver qualification file (DQ file) is the folder FMCSA expects you to keep on every driver who runs a commercial motor vehicle for your company, and that includes you if you’re an owner-operator with your own authority. It’s one of the first things checked at a new entrant saf
IFTA Calculator: How to Calculate IFTA Fuel Tax (With Example)
You don’t need fancy software to file IFTA. An IFTA calculator only does four things: it works out your fleet MPG, splits your fuel by state based on miles, applies each state’s tax rate, and credits the fuel tax you already paid at the pump. This guide walks you through that mat
CDL Study Guide: How to Pass the CDL General Knowledge Test
This CDL study guide is for first-time drivers going for a Class A CDL. It covers what’s on the CDL general knowledge test, the steps from permit to license in the right order, a simple 4-week study plan, and the facts that trip people up. You need 80% to pass each knowledge test
Pre-Trip Inspection Checklist for CDL Drivers (Step by Step)
A good pre-trip inspection checklist keeps you out of the shop, off the side of the road and out of trouble at a roadside inspection. This step-by-step pre-trip inspection checklist walks a CDL driver around a tractor-trailer the same way every time, explains what the federal rul
How to Write a Trucking Business Plan (Free Outline + Startup Cost Checklist)
A trucking business plan is just your game plan on paper: what you’ll haul, where, with what truck, what it costs to get rolling, and what rate per mile keeps you in business. You don’t need an MBA to write one. Below is a free trucking business plan outline in the same 9-section
How to Calculate Your Trucking Cost Per Mile (With Example)
Your trucking cost per mile is the one number that tells you whether a load makes you money or just keeps the wheels turning. Brokers quote you a rate per mile, so you need to know your cost per mile to answer back. This guide shows the simple formula, walks through a full exampl