I have a 1ton ready to roll

Discussion in 'Expediter and Hot Shot Trucking Forum' started by DieselPower, Oct 19, 2011.

  1. Roadmedic

    Roadmedic Road Train Member

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    I kinew a guy that used his hauling campers and he had over 600,000 on it and used to get calls from on star.
     
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  3. Rat

    Rat Road Train Member

    I got into trucking via hotshoting. Started out with a Dodge dually and went to a small Feightliner FL70 with a 5.9 cummins in it.

    I have to say that the cummins is the way to go personally.
     

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  4. RickG

    RickG Road Train Member

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    You DON"T need a CDL if you gross under 26,000 lbs. I know several hotshotters out there that have been running for years without a CDL .
    The Fords to avoid are the 6.0 and the 6.4 . I haven't heard much about the new Ford engine .
    Dodges have way too much downtime and I've heard of plenty of hotshotters sitting 2 or 3 days in a motel waiting for parts while under a load . I know what I'm talking about . I put just under 100,000 miles on a Dodge in less than 9 months . It was in the shop a dozen times and there wasn't a single time the needed parts were in stock .
    I know the best haulers in the business and they aren't making much money . The odds of trying to break into the business and succeeding are very slim .
     
  5. Roadmedic

    Roadmedic Road Train Member

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    I have 651,000 on my dodge and I rarely lose more than a day.
     
  6. RickG

    RickG Road Train Member

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    I know a few O/O's that went from 1 ton to an FL70 or M2 and all wish they had made the move sooner . One problem with the 1 tons and 4500 and 5500 is there is no way the back seat can be made into a legal sleeper . They are too narrow . A few years back one company made bubble type attachments for the rear windows and claimed they had a legal sleeper . FMCSA measured the units at an Indiana dealer . They didn't have the required height above the mattress .
     
  7. Rat

    Rat Road Train Member

    We put on more then 200K on that dodge in the pic and only had to replace one fuel pump. Other then that it was flawless. The ONLY reason we got rid of it was because we wanted something with a legal sleeper.

    The FL was bought from another car dealer, he had put a head gasket in it. come to find out a little later that he just patched it together. The gasket had gone out between two cyilinders and it had torched the block out. I popped the gasket again in southern Minnesota, had it towed to Mankato were they found two scored holes and the torched out block. We put it on a flat bed and hauled it back to our diesel guy. He replaced the block, head, turbo, larger injectors, new cam, cut the fuel plate and some other tweeks. We were putting about 325 hp to the ground on his chassis dyno. It was doing much more but he tuned it back a bit due to the work we were doing with it. He said it would last much longer that way. I pulled an average of 15 mpg with it loaded.

    I ran pretty much everywere between the two mountain ranges with that little truck. I got onto a good run that made me great money hauling cars from manufacturers test facilities in Michigan, Minnesota and Colorado. I treated them right on the first run and got the cars there before schedule. They were so happy that they let me name my price and I was their dedicated hauler.

    I was averaging 5 grand a week after food, fuel and other expensenses which included putting part of the income away each week for liscensing, taxes etc.

    The only things I wish the truck had were a bigger trans, the 6 speed was not the greatest in the hills, Cruise control would have been nice, a little larger bunk with some actual floor space, sucked getting dressed laying down on the bed, and tilt/tellescope wheel.

    I would get a different trailer also. Something with a little lower profile.
     
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  8. SMBdriver

    SMBdriver Light Load Member

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    Interesting info. I've been kicking this around for my next truck. (Still a few years down the road yet.) How does the fuel mileage on the Freightliner compare, and did it come in at a lower cost than motels?

    Reason I ask is some of my runs I get as good as 13-15 mpg with the Dodge, and I average around 8-11 on most others. My motel bill has been reasonable, less than what I figured I would have spent on fuel for a bigger truck with a sleeper if it gets 5-6 mpg.

    Trying to get the big picture as far as costs go.
     
  9. Rat

    Rat Road Train Member

    I was nice to the truck and drove like I had an egg under my foot and averaged in the mid teens for milage. 15-16 mpg was not hard to do. But then I had the truck tuned properly, installed boost, EGT and oil temp guages to keep track of how I was driving.

    I did not want to have to worry about looking for hotel rooms etc. I could just pull into a rest area, truck stop or what ever and crawl in the bunk and go to sleep.

    Our dodge would get between 18 and 20 mpg loaded if you drive it properly so the drop in milage was not that great so I was actually saving money by sleeping in the truck rather then hooking up with a hotel room every night.

    Keep in mind that this particular truck had airbrakes and much better braking then any pickup would ever have. The airbrakes ment getting airbrake endorsment on my liscense and since I was liscensed for 47K gross I had to get a class A CDL.

    The big plus was it got my foot in the door for the career that I am in now. The transition from going from the FL70 to the bigger class trucks was not that bad. Having the sleeper on the back and no rearview other then the side mirrors was no different then what I am driving now. The biggest difference is the transmission. The FL had a syncro 6 speed similar to a pickup, no need for double clutching etc. You could float it but it was easier to clutch it. Handling was not all that different then the bigger trucks either. Also pulling a 48 ft wedge ment that I was not all that much shorter then the bigger rigs out there so that got me used to running a longer rig.

    But I spent the better part of 4 years in that rig. It served me well.

    Here is my current ride. The majority of the time, I am pulling the trailer in the second picture. I haul bulk potatoes for processing, but when times get slow, I do other jobs hauling french fries, pulling tanks or belly dump work.
     

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  10. SMBdriver

    SMBdriver Light Load Member

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    Nice truck! I've kicked around the idea of going to a big truck. Licensing is no problem, I do have my CDL A and went through driving school before I got into hot shot work. I sometimes think it would be great to have a sleeper on the truck (especially when I end up somewhere like Odessa where motels are wayyyyy too high...) but then again, I'm a girl and like having a bathroom and modern conveniences too.

    I guess as long as the little truck is making me money it's smart to stick with it, but who knows, I might get the big truck bug before this is all over. :yes2557:
     
  11. Gisquid

    Gisquid Light Load Member

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    Sweet Ride you got there, Rat!!
     
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