Hotshot Weight Limits: How Much Can a Hotshot Haul?

The answer isn't one number. It's the smallest of several limits, and the one that binds changes with the setup. This guide defines the ratings, shows where to read them on your truck and trailer, gives the formula with EXAMPLE setups, and explains how the CDL line changes what you can take.

GCWR, GVWR and payload, defined

• GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating): the most a single vehicle may weigh loaded, set by its manufacturer. The truck has one; the trailer has its own.
• GAWR (gross axle weight rating): the most each axle may carry.
• GCWR (gross combination weight rating): the most the truck, trailer and everything on them may weigh together. For CDL purposes, federal rules use the higher of the manufacturer's GCWR printed on the door label or the two GVWRs added together (49 CFR 383.5).
• Payload: what's left for cargo after the vehicle's own weight. For a trailer, that's its GVWR minus its empty (curb) weight.
• Pin weight: the part of a gooseneck's loaded weight that presses down on the ball in the truck bed. It counts against the truck's payload and rear axle, not the trailer's.

Reading the stickers

Truck · driver's door jamb

MFD BY: EXAMPLE TRUCK CO. · DATE: 05/24

GVWR14,000 LB

GAWR FRT6,000 LB

GAWR RR9,750 LB

GCWR (if printed)30,000 LB

THIS VEHICLE CONFORMS TO ALL APPLICABLE U.S. FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARDS IN EFFECT ON THE DATE OF MANUFACTURE.

VIN 1EXAMPLE0000000000 · TYPE: TRUCK

GVWR is the most the loaded truck may weigh. GAWR is the limit per axle. If a GCWR is printed here, the CDL rule uses it when it is higher than the truck and trailer GVWRs added together. Many pickups list GCWR only in the towing guide, not on this label.

Trailer · VIN plate on the neck or front crossmember

MANUFACTURED BY: EXAMPLE TRAILERS · 03/25

GVWR12,000 LB

GAWR (EACH AXLE)7,000 LB

TIRE / RIM235/80R16 · 16X6

COLD INFL. PRESS.80 PSI

VIN 4EXAMPLE0000000000 · TYPE: TRL

The trailer's GVWR is the number on this plate, even when the axles add up to more. Two 7,000 lb axles on a trailer plated at 12,000 lb means 12,000 lb. That plate is what decides whether the trailer is over 10,000 lb under the CDL rule.

Write down five numbers before you book a load: truck GVWR, front and rear GAWR, any GCWR printed on the label, and the trailer's GVWR from its VIN plate. Then weigh the truck and trailer empty on a certified scale. Those weights, not brochure figures, are what you subtract from.

How much you can haul: the formula

Your freight limit is the smallest of these:

1. Trailer limit = trailer GVWR − trailer empty weight.
2. Truck limit for pin weight = truck GVWR − truck weight (with driver, fuel and gear). The pin weight of the loaded trailer must fit inside this, and inside the rear axle's GAWR.
3. Combination limit = GCWR − (truck weight + trailer empty weight).
4. Non-CDL only: the ratings themselves must add up to 26,000 lb or less, which usually means a derated trailer.

How much pin weight to expect depends on the trailer and where the load sits. Ford's 2026 towing guide uses 15% of loaded trailer weight for fifth-wheel king pin weight (Ford); goosenecks behave similarly, and a load placed forward on the deck raises it. Check your trailer maker's guidance and weigh the truck with the trailer hooked up.

Non-CDL · 14,000 lb truck + 12,000 lb gooseneckEXAMPLE

Trailer GVWR − empty (12,000 − 7,400)4,600 lb

Truck GVWR − truck weight (14,000 − 8,800)5,200 lb

Pin weight at 15% of 12,000 lb loaded1,800 lb (fits)

Ratings combined26,000 lb (non-CDL)

Freight you can carry4,600 lb

CDL · 14,000 lb truck (GCWR 37,000) + 24,000 lb gooseneckEXAMPLE

Trailer GVWR − empty (24,000 − 8,500)15,500 lb

Pin weight at 15% of 24,000 lb loaded3,600 lb

Truck GVWR − truck weight (14,000 − 8,800)5,200 lb (pin fits)

GCWR − empty truck and trailer (37,000 − 17,300)19,700 lb

Freight you can carry15,500 lb

EXAMPLE weights. In the first setup the trailer binds; in the second the trailer still binds, but a heavier trailer or a lower GCWR could make the truck the limit. Run yours in the GCWR and CDL checker.

Non-CDL vs CDL weight limits

The CDL rule (49 CFR 383.91) caps a non-CDL combination at a GCWR of 26,000 lb when the trailer is rated over 10,000 lb. That cap applies to the ratings, so a non-CDL rig's freight capacity is set before any load goes on: a 26,000 lb budget minus the truck's rating minus the trailer's empty weight. Light trailers matter more on non-CDL setups than anywhere else.

With a Class A, the cap goes away and your limits become the equipment's ratings and road limits. The full licensing picture is in the non-CDL hotshot requirements guide, and what the CDL side adds in paperwork is on our CDL hotshot dispatch page.

Axle and tire limits

• Axle ratings. Each axle's GAWR is a hard limit. A load placed too far forward on a gooseneck can overload the truck's rear axle even when the totals look fine.
• Tires. Every tire's sidewall shows a maximum load at a given pressure. Under-inflated or under-rated tires lower what you can carry safely.
• Road limits. On the Interstate System, federal law caps a single axle at 20,000 lb, a tandem at 34,000 lb and gross weight at 80,000 lb, with a bridge formula for axle spacing (23 U.S.C. 127). Hotshots rarely reach these, but states set their own limits on other roads, and some posted bridges are lower.

Scale tickets: prove it

Weigh loaded before you leave the shipper whenever the load is close to a limit. A certified scale ticket gives you each axle group's weight and the gross, which is the only way to know your pin weight and axle loads. Keep tickets with your paperwork; they settle disputes about posted weights and protect you at inspections. If the scale says you're over, the load gets adjusted or refused before you roll, not after a ticket. Logs and the rest of a roadside inspection are covered in ELD for hotshot trucks, and every other federal rule in hotshot trucking requirements.