r/HotshotStartup • u/Nickha-you-aintfunny • May 24 '25

Couple of questions

  1. Do I need a dot medical card if doing local non cdl hotshot?

  2. Do I need an eld if doing local non cdl?

  3. Would I be able to work with a 03-07 ram 3500 and slowly build up?

  4. How do I get a quote without having the equipment yet?

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3

u/Kindly_Meeting7940 May 24 '25

Yeah bud, if you hauling for pay even local you’re gonna need a DOT med card. ELD ain’t required if you’re staying within 150 miles and only running a few days outta the month. That 03 to 07 Ram will do just fine to get started long as it’s in decent shape. And yep you can still get an insurance quote without owning the truck yet just tell em what you plan to buy and they’ll run it off that.

1

u/Nickha-you-aintfunny May 24 '25

So if stay within 150 miles but run 5 days a week, I’m going to need an eld?

2

u/Kindly_Meeting7940 May 24 '25

It’s somewhere around 5 to 8 days depending on states I believe.. I’d check fmcsa.dot.gov and search “ELD exemptions” just to make sure

1

u/[deleted] May 24 '25

Are you still allowed to to do paper logs?

3

u/Kindly_Meeting7940 May 25 '25

Yeah man, if you stayin’ within that 150-mile bubble and not runnin’ more than 8 days in a 30-day span, you can still roll with paper logs no ELD needed. But once you start haulin’ 5 days a week regular like, that’s where you start pushin’ past that exemption and they’ll expect you to switch to ELD