Practical tools and templates for new trucking companies running 1 to 5 trucks under their own authority. Built around the work the rest of the industry doesn’t write down: heavy-haul accessorials, drayage documentation, broker-carrier rate alignment.
Built by operators who scaled a trucking company from one truck to six. Five years running heavy-haul.
Trucking runs on handshakes when it should run on paperwork. The Truckers Domain provides the paperwork. Operating depth in three areas the established players cover thinly or not at all.
Heavy-Haul Accessorials
Standardize what gets billed, who pays, and what the form looks like. The industry negotiates each event from zero. We document who pays, in what form, before the load moves.
Read the cornerstone →
Drayage & Port Operations
Port rules differ at every terminal. The documentation discipline does not. Capture estimate, accrual, and invoice line by line, regardless of which port the chassis came off.
Read the article →
Broker-Carrier Rate Alignment
Rate confirmations that catch accessorials before the dispute. Communication standards both parties signed. Escalation paths that protect the broker and the carrier when the load runs into an issue.
Read the article →Resources organized by what you actually need to get done.
Popular calculators
Plug in fixed costs, variable costs, and loaded miles. See what every mile actually costs to operate.
Open Calculator →Combine the linehaul and the empty leg into one all-in rate, and find the longest deadhead a load can carry before it loses money.
Open Calculator →Work backward from a monthly net target to the weekly gross you need, accounting for fixed costs, fuel, factoring, and owner draw.
Open Calculator →Universal new-carrier tools
Step-by-step checklists and forms for documenting CMV accidents, cargo claims, and roadside incidents.
View Resources →Audit prep binders, driver qualification files, hours of service references, and new entrant guidance.
View Resources →Spreadsheet calculators for CPM, deadhead, fuel, detention, and weekly revenue targets.
View Resources →Universal accessorial documentation. Driver-completed forms, broker-ready summary templates, and the email language that gets paid.
View Resources →Bills of lading, trip sheets, inspection reports, and the everyday forms drivers need clean copies of.
View Resources →Authority setup, business formation, insurance shopping, and first-year operating checklists.
View Resources →Quarterly IFTA worksheets, IRP mileage trackers, and the records you need at year-end.
View Resources →PM schedules, DVIR templates, repair logs, and tire & brake tracking spreadsheets.
View Resources →Cargo securement quick references, safety meeting outlines, and post-trip inspection guides.
View Resources →Calculators, checklists, and reference sheets you can use today.
Plug in fixed costs, variable costs, and loaded miles to see what every mile actually costs you.
Open Tool →One-page field checklist for the first hour after a commercial vehicle accident.
Download →The exact tab structure auditors expect. Print it, three-hole punch it, fill it.
Download →Driver-completed form for capturing arrival, departure, and signatures cleanly.
Download →Every document FMCSA requires in a DQ file, with the regulation citation next to each one.
Download →The short-haul, adverse driving, and personal conveyance exceptions on a single page.
Download →Get the finished forms, templates, spreadsheets, and checklists without building them from scratch.
Field checklist, driver statement form, witness sheet, photo log, and post-accident reporting workflow.
Use it when: a driver has just been in an accident and you need to capture everything before evidence walks away.
View Packet →Tab-by-tab DQ file with every required form, internal review checklist, and hire-to-termination tracking sheet.
Use it when: hiring your first driver or cleaning up files before an audit.
View Packet →Complete audit binder structure: drug & alcohol, HOS, maintenance, accident register, and required postings.
Use it when: a new entrant safety audit is on your calendar.
View Packet →Driver-completed forms, broker-ready summary templates, and email language that gets accessorials paid.
Use it when: you’re losing money on accessorials brokers won’t approve.
View Packet →Authority setup checklist, business formation worksheet, insurance comparison sheet, and first-90-days operating cadence.
Use it when: you’re going from company driver to your own authority.
View Packet →Carrier packet for new broker relationships: W-9, COI, packet cover, payment terms, and reference sheet.
Use it when: a new broker asks for “your packet” and you don’t have one yet.
View Packet →Whether you’re running one truck or building toward five, you’ll hit each of these.
Authority setup, BOC-3, UCR, insurance shopping, ELD, IFTA, IRP. The first 90 days in the right sequence.
Driver qualification files, hire packets, drug & alcohol consortium, MVR pulls, the documents auditors actually open.
New entrant safety audit binder, what auditors check, the three findings that fail audits.
Going from one truck to two, three, five. Dispatch basics, payroll basics, scaling without losing margin.
IFTA quarterly, IRP renewal, 1099s, depreciation, the records you need at year-end.
Carrier setup packets, rate confirmations, detention documentation, the paperwork that gets you paid.
Reference material on the problems that cost real money when handled wrong.
Specialty cornerstones
Crane standby, state-permit failure, detention bands. The cost-attribution paperwork that holds up when a specialty load runs sideways. Cornerstone of the specialty set.
Read the cornerstone →Per-diem, demurrage, chassis split, and the line items most carriers never see coming. The portable documentation method that survives terminal-by-terminal rule variation.
Read the article →The clauses that should be on every rate con and never are. Pre-approved accessorials, written communication standards, escalation paths. Pairs with the Rate Confirmation Review Checklist (free).
Read the article →Universal new-carrier articles (in development)
Authority, BOC-3, UCR, insurance, ELD, IFTA, IRP. The first 90 days in the right sequence, with the costs and order that do not waste money.
Coming soonThe formula, what counts as fixed vs variable, and the cost categories most operators forget to include.
Coming soonWhat auditors actually open the binder for, what they skim, and the three findings that fail audits.
Coming soonDownload practical checklists and tools for accidents, cost per mile, DOT files, detention documentation, and driver paperwork.
Who builds this
The Truckers Domain is built by people who ran a trucking company, from one truck to six, with five years in heavy-haul. The work that didn’t get written down kept showing up. This site is what writing it down looks like.
Trucking runs on handshakes when it should run on paperwork. We provide the paperwork. The Truckers Domain