Your carrier packet is the same document every other carrier sends. Same MC number, same USDOT number, same COI, same W-9, same broker-carrier agreement. What changes is the equipment section, and for a hotshot rig that section carries more weight than it does for a semi, because a broker looking at a 53-foot van already knows what it holds. Looking at your pickup and gooseneck, they know nothing until you tell them.
New to hotshot entirely? Start with the getting started guide, which covers equipment, authority, insurance costs, and where the loads are. This page is about the paperwork only.
The equipment section
| Field | What to put |
|---|---|
| Truck | Make, model, year, and GVWR |
| Trailer type | Gooseneck flatbed, bumper pull flatbed, or dovetail equipment |
| Trailer length | 20, 30, or 40 ft |
| GCWR | Combined rating, truck plus trailer |
| Max payload | Your real usable number, see below |
If you run a winch, say so in the equipment notes. Non-running equipment and inoperable vehicles pay a premium precisely because most carriers cannot take them. That is a line that earns you phone calls.
The insurance section
Same limits as any other carrier: $750,000 auto liability minimum with most brokers wanting $1,000,000, and cargo typically at $100,000 minimum. See FMCSA insurance requirements.
Why your GCWR matters twice
Once commercially: it sets your payload, which sets which loads you can take.
Once legally: over 26,001 lbs combined and you need a CDL Class A. Over 10,001 lbs combined and you are in scope for ELD and hours of service, regardless of whether you hold a CDL. Plenty of hotshot operators keep the combination under 26,001 to skip the CDL and then assume they skipped the ELD too. They did not. See ELD requirements.
What actually gets hotshot packets rejected
- Personal insurance instead of commercial
- Cargo coverage under the broker's threshold
- A payload figure that does not square with the equipment listed
- Company name not matching FMCSA registration exactly
- Expired COI
Notice none of these are judgment calls about you as a carrier. They are paperwork. See how to fill out a carrier packet for the field-by-field walkthrough, and which brokers work with new carriers if you are still inside your first 90 days.