You'll be fine. Present yourself in a professional manner when in person or over the phone and you'll be fine. It's all in how you talk to people. Be friendly. yes, no, thank you etc.....

 

And don't forget, credit check, credit check, credit check...

 

I you can afford it you could get your authority and not even use it for 6 months. Then get signed up now that you've had it for 6 months. This is extreme, of course. Like others have said, there are plenty of brokers that will sign you up being new.

 

And while looking at trailers keep in mind, a lot of shippers will not load anything over 10 years old

 

What type of trailer are you referring to? I have only been asked the age of my trailer 4 or 5 times in 3.5 years.

Thanks!

-scott

 

That's a new one on me also. I guess I should check into that more. I almost bought a trailer in Memphis last Thursday. It was a 99 year model. I have pulled lots of trailers that are older and in much worse shape. I didn't think the trailer year made a difference.

BTW what is meant by a 36" or 42" kingpin setting? I am showing my rookie colors here I guess but anyway......

 

Here's a quote from my Mac's Dictionary:

kingpin |ˈki ng ˌpin|
noun
a main or large bolt in a central position.
• a vertical bolt used as a pivot.
• a person or thing that is essential to the success of an organization or operation : the kingpins of the television industry.

A "kingpin setting" is the distance from the front of the trailer to the kingpin, in inches. A 42" setting would mean that a kingpin sits 6" farther away from the truck than with a 36" setting. This affects how much of the trailer's load will be distributed onto the truck and also where the center of the rear axles on the trailer is. Because the maximum "kingpin to center of axles" distance is 41 feet, the larger your kingpin setting is, the farther away your trailer axles will be from the truck.

Here's a quote from Wilson trailers web site regarding specs of their NEW dropdeck and flatbed trailers:

"King Pin: Standard setting is 30", Others available as option"

When I was spec'ing my 48 ft dropdeck, I chose a 24" kingpin setting to "move" the truck farther away from the trailer.

 

Steve is a broker now?

I'm a bit late to this party...been runnin' my tail off for the last few weeks.

When I started pulling broker freight the only one that gave me a hard time was Landstar. I only had my MC # a week or so and that wasn't enough. I said "Look at the DOT number......we've been a private carrier since '82". She said that was OK then. Lots of brokers will load you, but yeah......you can just let your auth sit idle for 6 months and voila!

 

I have run into that, mainly automotive. They used to, may still in some plants, check the age of the trailer. And yes they would look at the trailer registration, even with my conestoga/flat bed.

 

Vans and reefers mainly, because of the age the floors deteriorate, thats why they break in half