Considering buying a truck

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by KAMA3, Mar 1, 2015.

  1. KAMA3

    KAMA3 Bobtail Member

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    Feb 23, 2014
    Cincinnati,OH
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    Hi everyone,I'm thinking of buying my own truck in near future. Is there a chance to find a good tractor for 40-50K? If not, how much good ones start from? And what make/model should I look at in this price category, in your opinion? Appreciate any info, thanks..
     
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  3. Pedigreed Bulldog

    Pedigreed Bulldog Road Train Member

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    How about putting in a few years to learn more about what's going on BEFORE you invest in your own equipment? Sure, you can find a decent used truck for $40-50K...but that is a pretty large chunk of change to spend when you're still figuring things out. MUCH better to learn the trade on somebody else's dime...operate a variety of equipment so that you'll know what you're looking for when it is time to buy. You want to have a general idea of what you want to do with the truck, how you'll be working it, and what sort of specs you'll want BEFORE you start shopping. A used truck salesman isn't going to help you decide what you need for the job you're going to do...he's going to try to sell you on what he's got on the lot that he thinks might work in that application. If you don't know what you need, it would be very easy to wind up with an improperly spec'd truck, which could turn into a money-pit and a maintenance nightmare.
     
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  4. Cranky Yankee

    Cranky Yankee Cranky old ######

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    most people think of me as too cranky but meaning no offense
    if this is your question are you ready to be an O/O

    employees would come to me and want better positions
    I would tell them if they did better at the positions they had they were ready to be promoted
    they thought i was too cranky then too
    thought they would do better with more responsibility


    but as to your question good trucks come in all prices
    depending on your application
    if you can do your own repairs
    and your definition of good
     
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  5. FLATBED

    FLATBED Road Train Member

    A few days ago you were planning on leasing now buying , what changed your mind ?
     
  6. G.Anthony

    G.Anthony Road Train Member

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    Go online for the "Trucking Paper" I believe is it's name. From there, you may very well find a good to great used truck, and maybe a trailer located near you. Prices vary, what you need to realize is that miles, year, and over all condition make up the pricing.

    What make, model, etc,etc, I think for the most part, is up to you. If you want to go Peterbilt/Kenworth, expect to pay more than for say a Freigthliner, or an International. Macks (I think) stand alone, and do not always "compare" to the others.

    Starting prices? Again, anywhere across the spectrum of pricing. Do not expect for instance a truck with under 200,000 miles, one owner for under 50k. I'd also recommend that when you do find something, you should have it DOT inspected, and an oil analysis as well.

    Now something else to consider maybe staying away from is a truck repo. You will NOT know how the truck was cared for, did it get all it's PM's for instance? Probably not, and may be a physical wreck inside that engine, not to mention the interior. But then again, if you personally knew of the former owner, a repo might be ideal, as long as you knew the former owner did most of the PM's.

    I'd probably recommend say a new/used truck dealer, from the major brands, and not say a used truck dealer that has a corner lot and a trailer for an office.
     
  7. BigRod2015

    BigRod2015 Bobtail Member

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    Feb 28, 2015
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    Ive been driving for 15 years. Thats not long compared to some of the other drivers out there but ive learned a lot in that time and i learn more everyday. Ive been a company driver, lease purchase driver, and ive owned my own truck. I would suggest getting in some good years of experience and learn the industry before you jump into a commitment such as buying a truck. I just bought my second truck from a dealer. Its no cake walk. There are ups and downs and theres been weeks i went without eating. Theres been weeks id have to sit and couldn't run because i was broke and had to wait to be paid. If you think you are gonna run out and make a killing, your dead wrong. There will be good weeks, slow weeks, and bad weeks. It takes proper planning ahead and if you dont have at-least $30K saved up your setting yourself up for failure. Doesn't mean you will fail, but it just means it will make it harder to succeed. When the truck breaks down and you have no money saved, your screwed. You need to calculate how much money you need to run your truck for 1 month without income and keep that much stowed away for the hard times.

    Lease purchase- You basically pay ALL the bills for a truck that will never be yours. Its designed by the company for you to fail. You pay $60K in payments on a lease truck then when you fail, the company leases it somebody else and have made good money off you and they repeat the process probably 5 times per truck until they trade it in. They lose nothing, because you basically LEASED the truck for them, not from them and if they only leased the truck for $700 per month and charged you $1200 a month, they profited off you. In some cases, they make enough off drivers to pay the truck off and not cost the company a dime. Some companies have a decent program, but they are far few in between.

    Owner/Contractor- You bought a truck and or trailer and lease it on with a company and run under their authority. They buy you plates, insurance, permits, fuel, stickers etc and find freight for you all for a percentage of the load. Or they pay you a set amount per mile and fuel surcharge. You do have to pay back the fuel they pay for, and plates, permits etc from your weekly settlements. It helps you because you get discounts in most cases and they advance the cost and you need no upfront money to get your truck rolling. Other than maintenance other personal expenses, but some companies force you into an escrow account.

    Owner/Operator- You bought a truck and or trailer and paid for your own authority. You pay for everything, and you have all the headaches of keeping up with the permits, fuel cost, and every expense is yours. Also, what most people dont know is most of the time you might have to wait a whole month or longer to be paid. That means you have to run your truck for a month without any income. Thats where having money saved before you get into the game pays off. These people get in no hurry to pay you. Sometimes they will even dick you around to try and get out of paying you.

    Now with all of that being said, on top of a $1000+ monthly truck payment, another $300 + per month for insurance, break down surprises, and other expenses, you still got mama and the kids at home to take care of along with your monthly home bills. Or maybe you just got home bills and no family. Now either way, you gotta come up with a set amount of money per week. I got over $3k of bills at home per month plus almost $2k for my truck bills. I have to bring in $1000 a week no matter what to make my monthly bills. What if i get sick and cant run? Well now im screwed unless i have $1000 to pay myself NOT to work. Im sure there is better analogies, but i look at it like this, im either bringing in income, or im losing income. If im losing income i consider myself just giving away $1000 a week as if i was just throwing it in the trash.

    If you still want to buy you a truck, find a finance company who will finance you. You will need either almost perfect credit or a huge cash down payment. Most places will laugh you out of the building if you have less than $5k or less than 700 credit score. They will need to see proof you are going to lease it on with a company in most cases, if you have never been an owner op. you still have to go through all the legal bs as if you were a company driver when leasing onto a company.

    The cheaper the truck, the junkier it is in most cases. $15k to $30k will get you truck on average with 800k + Miles. $35K to $50K your looking at around 500k + Miles. And the miles dont always make or break a truck. Its just a good indicator of how hard the truck has been run. Most companies start off loading trucks around the 500K to 700k mileage because thats when stuff starts messing up and warranties start expiring most of the time. Also,most finance companies wont finance a Mercedes engine such as the ones that come in some freight-liners, and they wont finance Caterpillar. They consider those high risk engines that dont last long and having repaired exceeds the cost of a new engine. Or so i have been told. Also, some finance companies put a minimum on the year of truck they will finance like 2005 or newer, and a cap on the mileage like 500k or less, some companies also do that with the year. I bought a 2007 International 9400 Eagle ISX Cummings. It had 740K miles. Paid $24K for it. I like internationals because they just seem to run forever, although they aren't much for looks they are spacious on the inside and are a good work horse truck.
     
  8. mbeeler33

    mbeeler33 Bobtail Member

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    I'm looking for a driver to drive my truck. Pls somebody help me? 714 9008826 text or call me. I got volvo 780 but no driver. :(
     
  9. STexan

    STexan Road Train Member

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    Generally speaking, the less you pay for a used truck, the more you need to have in reserve (from the get-go) to cover [potential] mechanical problems in the first 6 months. This is what breaks a lot of guys. The invest practically their last cent into the down payment + have a month or two's payments in their pocket ... ok, fine, good to go. They get out there, start running, then the truck has an issue and breaks down between Barstow and Needles. Tow costs $400, repairs cost $3,600, loss of revenue costs $2,000. Welcome to trucking.

    Just make sure what you're doing before you make the commitment. Lots of bankrupt ex-truckers out there .. owner operators AND even lease operators.
     
    Grijon Thanks this.
  10. theBadger719

    theBadger719 Light Load Member

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    Nov 18, 2013
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    I don't see many people buying the newer 2008+ trucks, mostly due to the DEF/regen issues.
     
  11. Rex012

    Rex012 Light Load Member

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    Apr 12, 2014
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    Probably because you live in WI. In CA they buy them like hot cakes..
     
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