The Industrial CapitalistHot shot trucking is the oilfield’s courier service. When a pad needs a part, a tool, a pump, or a skid, and it needs it now, a hot shot hauls it: a heavy-duty pickup pulling a flatbed or gooseneck trailer, driven by someone who knows the lease roads and can be there at three in the morning.
Why it exists
A rig or a frac fleet on standby costs the operator a great deal every hour. A part that takes a day to arrive by freight can cost far more than the part. Hot shot exists to close that gap, and it is paid accordingly, on a per-mile or per-load basis that reflects urgency rather than tonnage.
The business
- Equipment: a one-ton or larger pickup and a trailer, usually financed by the driver. Whether the combination needs a commercial driver’s license depends on the combined weight rating, and the honest answer for most oilfield hot shot rigs is that it does.
- Work: comes through relationships with service companies and operators, through load boards, and through dispatchers who take a share.
- Costs: fuel, tires, insurance, and the truck itself. The margin is made on utilization and on being the person who answers the phone.
- Growth: a second truck and a driver is the first hard step. It is where a driver becomes an owner.
Related terms: the well pad, oilfield services and rentals.