Hotshot car hauling: what you need, when you need a CDL, and whether it pays.

What hotshot car hauling is

A hotshot car hauler runs a heavy-duty pickup with a wedge or gooseneck car trailer instead of a semi with a stinger. The trade is simple:

• Lower cost to start. A pickup and a trailer cost a fraction of a semi and a seven-car rig.
• Easier access. Dealer lots, residential streets and auctions that a 75-foot rig struggles with.
• Fewer cars per mile. Two to four cars carry the cost of the trip instead of seven to nine, so each load has to be picked more carefully.

What you need before the first load

A hotshot car hauler is a for-hire interstate motor carrier like any other. The paperwork is the same:

• USDOT number, free, required once the truck or the combination is rated 10,001 lb or more. Almost every pickup with a car trailer is.
• Operating authority (MC number), $300 per type, plus a BOC-3 process agent filing.
• UCR, $46 for 0 to 2 power units in 2026.
• Liability insurance on file: $750,000 minimum at 10,001 lb GVWR and up, which is where a dually and trailer land.
• DOT medical card for the driver, and logs on an ELD if you are required to keep logs, CDL or not.
• Markings: your legal name and USDOT number on both sides of the truck.

The full checklist, with timelines and the new entrant audit, is in how to start a car hauling business.

CDL or non-CDL: do the arithmetic

A Class A CDL is required when two things are both true: the combination is rated (or actually weighs) 26,001 lb or more, and the trailer is rated over 10,000 lb. So a hotshot setup stays non-CDL in one of two ways:

• The trailer is rated 10,000 lb or less. Then no Class A, whatever the truck. That usually means one car, or two light ones.
• The truck and trailer ratings add up to 26,000 lb or less, and the real weight stays under that too.

An example with round numbers: a dually rated 11,500 lb pulling a trailer rated 14,000 lb has a combined rating of 25,500 lb, so it is non-CDL as long as it is never actually heavier than that. Swap in a trailer rated 16,000 lb and the combination is 27,500 lb: Class A, even when you haul one car.

The ratings are on the truck's door sticker and the trailer's VIN plate. Read those, not the listing. The real weight matters too: a midsize sedan is roughly 3,000 to 3,500 lb and a full-size pickup or large SUV 4,500 lb and up, so a third car is often what pushes a non-CDL setup over. Weigh the loaded rig on a certified truck scale once and you will know where you stand.

Non-CDL is a weight rating, not a truck size. One trailer swap can change it.

A summary, not legal advice. The rule is 49 CFR 383.91; check it and your state before you buy equipment.

The setup

• Truck: a one-ton dually is the usual choice for weight and stability. Its GVWR sets your non-CDL headroom, so compare ratings, not horsepower.
• Trailer: a wedge (lighter, lower loading angle) or a gooseneck. Two-car and three-car trailers are the common sizes. Its GVWR decides the CDL question above.
• Winch: for inoperable cars. Inop loads pay more and many hotshot haulers skip them, which is an opening.
• Securement: wheel straps or nets rated for the cars you carry, and the photos at pickup and delivery that settle damage questions.

Insurance

The legal floor is the $750,000 liability above. Cargo insurance has no federal minimum, but boards, auctions and brokers ask for it: ACV's carrier page, for example, asks for $1 million liability and $100,000 cargo. Quote at those numbers before you buy the truck; for a new authority, insurance is usually the biggest bill of the first year.

Is hotshot car hauling worth it?

It depends on the loads you take, not on the setup. A worked example on round, labelled assumptions, not market data:

• A two-car load paying $1,100 for 650 loaded miles, with 80 empty miles to the pickup.
• Diesel at $4.75 a gallon, the figure in our worked example, 10 mpg loaded and 14 mpg empty: about $309 of fuel loaded and $27 empty.
• Factoring at 3% because the broker pays net 30: $33.
• You drive it yourself, so no driver pay and no tolls on this route.

That leaves about $731, or $1.00 for every mile driven, against the $1.69 per loaded mile the posting shows. Out of the $731 come the truck payment, insurance, tires and maintenance, which this page does not guess for you. Change any line and the answer moves: 300 empty miles instead of 80, or a third car on the same trip, swings it more than the rate does.

The net-profit calculator runs this arithmetic on your own load, and the worked example there shows the full method.

Finding hotshot car hauling loads

Hotshot haulers use the same sources as everyone else: load boards, auction networks and brokers who call back. Single-car and two-car loads, dealer trades and short regional runs fit a hotshot rig better than a stinger. The guide to finding car hauling loads covers each source.

Running a hotshot business on loadez

loadez is free for one truck, forever: its own load board where brokers and shippers post free, dispatch, and a driver app in the phone's browser for inspection photos, the BOL and the receiver's signature. On Growth, every load is ranked by what it nets your truck at your truck's mileage, so the two-car load around the corner shows up above the bigger one 300 miles away. Pricing.

Common questions

Do you need a CDL for hotshot car hauling?

Only if the combination is rated or actually weighs 26,001 lb or more and the trailer is rated over 10,000 lb. A pickup with a trailer rated 10,000 lb or less, or a truck and trailer whose ratings add up to 26,000 lb or less and that stays under it, can run without a CDL. It is still a commercial vehicle: it needs a USDOT number, the driver needs a medical card and logs usually go on an ELD.

Is hotshot car hauling worth it?

It can be, if you pick loads by what they leave you. On round assumptions, a two-car load paying $1,100 for 650 loaded miles with 80 empty miles leaves about $731 after fuel and 3% factoring, before the truck payment, insurance and maintenance. Long empty runs to the pickup and half-empty trailers are what make hotshot car hauling lose money.

How many cars can a hotshot car hauler carry?

Most hotshot car trailers carry two to four cars. The real limit is the weight ratings: staying non-CDL usually means two cars, and three heavy vehicles can put the combination over its rating even when they fit on the deck.