Flow Below Added

I want to give that little guy a hug...

 

Shoot, changed my air filters and got a .5 mpg or.

 

A new truck with no payment is a whole different story. Unfortunately 99% out there do have a payment, a big one. 4K+ per month for 5 years no matter what is not a joke.

 

My old truck gets 7 gpm. A new truck gets 9 gpm. For 500 000 miles the new truck will use 55 000 gallons of fuel, my truck will use 71 000.
The difference is 16 000 gallons. 16 000 x 3.5 equals $56 000. The new truck will need 3500 gallons of DEF. 3500 X 4 = $14 000. So, the difference in fuel for 500K miles will be only
$42K or 8.5 cpm.

 

so true. how does a guy ever take time off with a payment like that. with own authority insurance and trailer payment looking like 6-8k a month just in fixed expenses to sit home and do nothing.. thats insane..

 

My payment and insurance is $3k a month on my new truck, financed for 4 years. Last year I worked about 8 months. This year I came out mid-January. Took a week off in Feb, a week in Mar, a week in Apr, 5 days on Memorial weekend, and just got home today for 3 weeks off. A payment only tells part of the story. I would venture a guess that the rest of my life is very different compared to some. I’ve owned and driven old trucks and have no interest in them anymore, so I got my life to the point I can have new and not be burdened by the payment.

 

If you were in trucking already at the start of Covid then there’s no reason whatsoever to not wholly own your truck and trailer outright. In normal times you buy a few yr old truck, run it a few years while holding money back, then trade it plus the money you held back for a brand new one. Run it a few years while now still holding back the normal maintenance money that you are no longer spending and then trade it and pay cash the difference. So, inside 5 to 6 years you have a brand new truck with no more payments and never will again.

During Covid boom you could buy a brand new truck and trailer and pay it off in a year. That’s why there were 60k freight shakers going for 130k because someone could buy one, Team with it for literally 3 months and it be paid for. So, yes for the people that got in at the tail end when rates turned but equipment was sky high are probably screwed. But saying 99% of people have high payments I think it’s probably exaggerated. It’s why this down turn is so severe and prolonged.

I’m talking folks with their own authority here btw but does probably apply to some who lease on with steady deals that offer a lot of freedom.