850 University
Get your authority, insurance and compliance in order, buy or lease the right truck, hire drivers, find loads and know your cost per mile.
Learn the four common ways into trucking, why revenue per mile is not take-home pay, what leasing on and your own authority involve, the box truck and hotshot license basics, startup costs, timelines, and why new carriers struggle.
Learn the usual order for getting your trucking authority: business and EIN, USDOT number, operating authority, the Motus system, the BOC-3 and insurance filings, the 10-day protest period, UCR, why aged authorities are off limits, and the new entrant period.
Learn the core compliance checklist for a one-truck carrier: federal liability minimums, other coverage, IFTA and IRP, the heavy vehicle use tax (Form 2290), hours of service and ELDs, the medical card, and drug and alcohol testing.
Is Start a Trucking Business free on 850 University?
Yes — 8 of 8 lessons in this course are free with an 850ai account. Watch on YouTube anytime; create a free account to take quizzes and track progress.
How many lessons are in Start a Trucking Business?
This course includes 8 short video lessons, each followed by a quiz when you learn inside the 850ai app.
Can I dispute errors on my credit report after this course?
850 University teaches the concepts; 850ai can analyze your credit report and generate dispute letters when you are ready. Start free at my850.ai/landing.
Learn the strategy here, then let 850ai analyze your credit report and generate dispute letters tailored to your accounts.
Learn how to get a truck: match equipment to your freight, weigh new against used, inspect before buying, see how credit changes the cost of a loan, compare buying, leasing, and lease-purchase, and what to ask before signing.
Learn what a carrier needs before a new driver's first shift: the right CDL class, the application and three-year history checks, the drug test and Clearinghouse query, the road test and medical card, the driver qualification file, worker classification, and pay models.
Learn where freight comes from, how to check a broker before you haul, how to spot double brokering and fake brokers, how payment terms and quick pay work, what factoring costs and how recourse differs from non-recourse, what dispatch services do, and why the biggest rate isn't always the best load.
Learn how to build your own cost per mile from fixed and variable costs, why deadhead miles change your break-even rate, how to add your own pay to set a target rate, how to work out whether one load is worth taking, and why fuel swings mean rechecking your numbers every month. Every number is an example.
Learn what the New Entrant Safety Audit reviews and which problems mean automatic failure, how long to keep logs, inspection reports, and driver files, how roadside inspections feed the CSA program and its seven BASICs, how to challenge a wrong record through DataQs, what changes when you add trucks or move to your own authority, and where credit fits as you grow.