Medical: All commercial drivers of vehicles in interstate commerce with a maximum gross vehicle weight rating of over 10,000 pounds (4,536 kilograms) are required to obtain and maintain a valid Medical Examiner’s Certificate (ME Certificate) (sic – no punctuation.) Medical Examiner’s Certificate – If the medical examiner finds that the person he/she examined is physically qualified to drive a commercial motor vehicle (CMV), the medical examiner will complete a Medical Examiner’s Certificate and give the original to the person who was examined. The medical examiner will keep a copy of the Medical Examiner’s Certificate on file for at least 3 years. If a driver wishes the Certificate to be in card form, he/she may:

Purchase a separate “medical card” from an industry supplier of motor carrier forms (e.g., State trucking association) before the physical exam and ask the medical examiner to complete and sign it, in addition to the Medical Examination Report form; or
Print the Certificate on cardstock paper. It is permissible to reduce the size of the Certificate.

You need an FMCSA # if you weigh more than 10K pounds and haul hazmat or passengers or non-exempt freight. I’m not really clear at this point what non-exempt freight is. You only need a CDL if your total weight is over 26K pounds. Up to 26K pounds you do not need a CDL but you may need an FMCSA #. I would think an FMCSA # is a good thing and would help you get loads. It seems that there really is a viable market for people with small trucks hauling freight.

The key to making money is getting loads. I made money as a trucker not because I was a great driver. I made money because I had a computer next to me that I programmed to poll the load board I used every 15 seconds and processed what was on the board and then screamed at me if there was a load on the board that looked good. This enabled me to get a better shot at getting the load. All I had to do was to drive and wait for the computer to scream and then glance down at the number I needed to call. It would be even easier to do today. Plus today, I know how to send out emails and text messages from my PC to every broker I can get a phone number from.

Go here: https://www.uship.com/carriers/hot-shot-freight/ – this is a load board for people doing freight with small trucks. I got a login id and logged in. There were 73 loads going out within 100 miles of my house. 25 of them were “Cars & Light Trucks” that needed hauled. Some of them paid upwards of $2 a mile. 8 of them were in the “Horses”  category and were local delivery. There were 499 loads going out within 200 miles of my house. 

Go to: https://www.123loadboard.com/find-loads/oklahoma/all-cities/all-loads and click on hot-shot loads. Apparently, all load boards, and there are a bunch, have a hot-shot section as well as have loads that are less than 10K pounds.

More load boards: Hot Shot Carrier | Expedite Loads | Central Dispatch | Ship My Car

Read: Small truck, big service;