What's new
Ram Heavy Duty Forum

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Observation

GBB

Well-Known Member
Messages
337
Reaction score
425
Points
63
Started out in south Texas currently in Nevada. I’ve seen a lot of hot shotters on the road especially in Texas and New Mexico due to oil boom going on there. I would say 98% of them are driving Ram 3500 duallys. Not bad mouthing other brands…just saying
 
I see a lot more hot shotters all the time on Missouri interstates, I was kinda thinking the same, more dodges out there.
 
Rams are the flashiest trucks out there. At any red light there will ALWAYS be at least 1 Ram (not including mine).

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 
Started out in south Texas currently in Nevada. I’ve seen a lot of hot shotters on the road especially in Texas and New Mexico due to oil boom going on there. I would say 98% of them are driving Ram 3500 duallys. Not bad mouthing other brands…just saying
Agreed. Most hot shots I see are RAMs
 
I see a lot of Rams also - not sure if its because I own one and that's all I see now kind of thing...I do see an occasional Ford..never Chevy tho?
 
Best bang for the buck … buying it for the Cummins, it’s cheaper than GM or Ford as tradesman gives you pretty much all you “need”

most hot shot trucks are either tradesman level (because it’s cheaper) or it’s Laramie and up so they can write more of…don’t think I ve ever seen a BH hot shot truck

Wonder how the HD sales compare…even pre-pandemic a GM lot may have one dually and a couple 2500s and same with Fords…but the Ram dealer would have 20+ on the lot with the cummins in it
 
Could be that the MPG are better with the inline 6 than the V8 from Ford and GM.
MPG matter when you drive for a profit.
 
I'd imagine that the inline 6 is just more pleasant to haul with than the v8 is part of the reason, lower initial cost is another likely.
 
Ok - here's the dumb question...."what does hot shotter mean?"....ducking....
 
I think it refers to pickup trucks hauling gooseneck flatbed trailers vs tractor-trailer setups.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Ok - here's the dumb question...."what does hot shotter mean?"....ducking....
In the early days of JIT (just in time) manufacturing there was a transfer from storing large quantities of parts you needed to make your widget, to only keeping a few days worth on hand, and generally a few days worth in trucks on the road coming to you. Theoretically, in a perfect world you always had parts coming in the back door and widgets going out the front door. If there was a hiccup in that supply chain, parts would have to be expedited to fill that gap.

In comes the 'hot shot' drivers that had smaller trucks capable of holding generally half or less than an over the road truck, considered LTL or less-than-truckload freight. The smaller trucks were easier to find drivers for as they didn't require quite the classification requirements for drivers licenses. There was a boon of them in the late 90's to fill the JIT needs for expediters of freight. Now the name applies to any small time operator, usually with a single truck and a gooseneck trailer hauling the stuff that wouldn't necessarily fill an over the road semi, or generally doesn't pay enough to be worth their time.

Anyone that was driving over the road in the mid to late 90's should remember the explosion in the numbers of Panther 24' LTL trucks that happened seemingly overnight. That was the primary company at the time filling the LTL gap for JIT trucking.
 
Last edited:
In the early days of JIT (just in time) manufacturing there was a transfer from storing large quantities of parts you needed to make your widget, to only keeping a few days worth on hand, and generally a few days worth in trucks on the road coming to you. Theoretically, in a perfect world you always had parts coming in the back door and widgets going out the front door. If there was a hiccup in that supply chain, parts would have to be expedited to fill that gap.

In comes the 'hot shot' drivers that had smaller trucks capable of holding generally half or less than an over the road truck, considered LTL or less-than-truckload freight. The smaller trucks were easier to find drivers for as they didn't require quite the classification requirements for drivers licenses. There was a boon of them in the late 90's to fill the JIT needs for expediters of freight. Now the name applies to any small time operator, usually with a single truck and a gooseneck trailer hauling the stuff that wouldn't necessarily fill an over the road semi, or generally doesn't pay enough to be worth their time.

Anyone that was driving over the road in the mid to late 90's should remember the explosion in the numbers of Panther 24' LTL trucks that happened seemingly overnight. That was the primary company at the time filling the LTL gap for JIT trucking.
I’m not a truck driver, but I remember seeing a lot of those Panther trucks. Seems like they all had sleeper cabs on them that kind of caught your eye.
 
When we are camping, the majority of the tow rigs are almost always Ram's
 
I’m not a truck driver, but I remember seeing a lot of those Panther trucks. Seems like they all had sleeper cabs on them that kind of caught your eye.
Yep. They usually ran team drivers so the truck could go nonstop.
 
I see a lot more hot shotters all the time on Missouri interstates, I was kinda thinking the same, more dodges out there.
I see your from Wentzville, my brother lives there. I'm closer to Jeff City, but we drive that way all the time, and you're right, there are a ton of dodges running around. Usually trying to race me to get onto 64 :)
 
Could be that the MPG are better with the inline 6 than the V8 from Ford and GM.
MPG matter when you drive for a profit.

If's doubt it's that. Ford power stroke gets better mpg by about 2mpg towing similar loads.

I think its more price like mentioned above. You get more for your money on the Ram.
 
If's doubt it's that. Ford power stroke gets better mpg by about 2mpg towing similar loads.

I think its more price like mentioned above. You get more for your money on the Ram.
Source on that? I wouldn't be surprised if the Ford got better MPG unloaded, but I'd be pretty surprised if it got better MPG loaded down. I know it's a pretty extreme example but when the TFL truck guys tested the SO vs the GM and Ford trucks the Cummins got 2.6MPG uphill vs the Ford and GM with 2.4MPG.
 
I would have no technical explaination why the GM or Ford V8 has better MPG than an Inline 6 cylinder Cummins.
The friction of a 6 cylinder is typically better than on a V8.
The thermal losses of a 6 cylinder is typically better than with a V8. There is less area in the combustion chamber dissipating heat.
V8 is mostly a marketing reason and maybe engine package.
 
Back
Top