I checked out everything I could find in the previous posts and found some very helpful info. , now I was hoping you guys could give me some more help. I currently work for an LTL company that is getting very close to laying me off. I went and bought a truck 2 months ago hoping to put it too work for a friend of mine. I only paid 5k for the truck and me and a mechanic checked everything out and it has new tires, new batteries, 80% brakes etc. 800,000 miles.1995. I am sure lots of luck will have to be involved., but it appears to have been a good deal. Ok, my friend has a manure application business and he will hire me to pull his tanker and pay the truck $65 dollars an hour. An average day consists of 15 minutes to load the tank, run 4 miles , 15 minutes to unload the tank, repeat , repeat repeat. Probably be 12 hr days. 30 days in the spring, 10 days in the summer, and 60 days in the fall. I have quite a few questions. 1. Should I get my own authority or lease on with someone else and pay them accordingly, everything hauled would be within the state of Iowa, so I would need Intrastate auth. is this cheaper or would I be better off obtaining interstate auth. just in case I want to put my truck to work in the off season.? Will any of this be simpler because I am hauling something that is agricultural and of little or no value? I assume I can get by with no cargo insurance, and carry just liability on the truck because it isnt worth much? Is all this going to be alot more complicated than I think? Thanks in advance.

 

The rules are a little different when it comes to exclusive use for agriculture products. You will need a minimum of $5,000 cargo insurance and $750,000 liability to get interstate motor carrier authority. Contract authority doesn't require cargo insurance but I don't believe the Feds differentiate between common and contract any longer. I don't know what state you live in but you should give them a call to see what you will need if you only haul agri products and stay intrastate. Most states will not even sell you a cab card or tag unless you can prove you have motor carrier authority. You might also give OODIA a call. They can be a good resource.