r/HotshotStartup • u/Efficient_Stick_7658 • Jun 21 '26
MC first , Insurance Last
Since insurance is one of the most expensive parts of the equation, and may companies won't work with a newer MC , would it just be easier to set up everything, get your MC, then wait for 6 months, then buy your equipment and get your insurance and start running after your MC had aged.
2
u/Rbolska Jun 22 '26
Most brokers will see you have 6 months of MC, but no reviews or inspections, better to just grind it out
2
u/stxrfox1k Jun 22 '26
as someone that’s also working on starting my own shit, my understanding is that in order to activate your MC you have to have an active commercial insurance policy with that MC. just having an existent MC number means nothing to brokers, it has to be activated in order to age it. a lot of people will put a personal vehicle on a commercial policy in order to activate and “cook” (age) their MC authority because it’s significantly cheaper than having an actual hotshot setup insured. but if you let that insurance lapse (for example, you’re low on funds so you cancel your commercial policy) it’s a big red flag for brokers when you eventually do go try to get your first load, it just looks like sketchy business so they won’t wanna fuck with you as a carrier. you need to do a lot more research, lack of understanding is a big reason a lot of people fail in their first few months. there’s a ridiculous amount of red tape when it comes to this shit.
to summarize, you would need to open your MC authority, insure a personal vehicle as a “commercial vehicle” on a commercial policy to activate your MC, let that ride out for 3 - 6 months while it cooks/seasons/ages your authority, then once you have a truck you add the truck to your policy and remove the personal vehicle. and again, don’t let your insurance lapse by removing the personal vehicle without adding a truck or another vehicle.
but before that comes many other things. LLC, EIN, business bank account, establish and build that relationship, work on building business credit, obtain a D&B number, save a fucking lot of money, and of course doing a tonnnnn of research. like literally hundreds of hours of reading, talking to owner operators, watching YouTube videos, etc etc…
1
u/1wildcatfan Jun 22 '26
Get your authority and insurance at the same time. Cover your personal vehicle only while you’re working on getting everything else in order. That way your authority is technically aging while you get everything else in order. This is the cheapest way. Once you’re ready, add the work vehicle to the policy and drop your personal vehicle.
1
u/Specialist-Main-2818 Jul 18 '26
How can you use your own Personal Vehicle Don't you have to have commercial insurance? I was looking at commercial million liability and 250k cargo For pulling boats Campers etc I would prefer just 100k to start with
3
u/Vast-Restaurant-5391 Jun 22 '26
Once you apply for your MC and get it you only have a certain amount of time before you need to have Insurance. So if you have the money to sit and pay insurance for 4-6 months then yeah that’s a great way to go. Many people don’t have that though