Does owning a "tricked out truck" land you better gigs?

I must say that I still COMPLETELY disagree with you on this topic. However, I have to admit that I admire your zeal and apparent willingness to think outside the box. IMHO, the best way to become a success is to be a failure a few times first. You just need to learn and never make the same mistake twice(and no I'm not implying that you are destined to fail).

Good luck to you in attempting to market and implement your "new" idea. Hopefully you will prove us all wrong.

 

I wouldn't call them perfectly good scenarios. You are basing your figmative discition based on looks. "Lets see...I need this shipped or picked up...oh yeah...Ill call this company because their trucks look good.' Well heck...Swift trucks look good to me. That adds up to a pile o' nothin when it compares to driver history, attitude, personality, punctuality, driving record...etc.
"So...I see you got that car picked up"
"yeah I did"
"cool, what made you chose them? Price, safety, corporate philosophy?"
"It was Purdy"

If I was a farmer...the kind that busts his rumpus all day long to make next to nothin, to me, a shiney truck would be something Id think twice about. Think about it. A truck that works out in the fields all day long is going to get dirty, every single day...dirt, mud, dust...etc. A dirty truck in the fields means a busy truck...a working truck. When you need to have a bunch of trucks lined up...you are going to get whoever you can, clean or not. Up in ND, Transsystems hauls sugarbeets. They get paid by the load so they are constantly driving fast, and hard. The company doesn't care about looks, because the farmers don't care. The farmers want their crop off their land and to the processing center ASAP.

Lol...out here in WY...with the oil fields and stuff. There are heavy duty trucks built for off-road driving. They never look clean because they are working trucks, designed to work, not to model.

 

Having a clean,reliable truck is a reflextion of the person who drives it.Fancy chrome and paint looks nice,but what are the priorities here ? MAKE MONEY!!You can`t make money if you spend it on bling!!:smt025

 

I will agree that chrome don't pay the bills. But most companies that load flatbed freight were you can see who the product is made by, they typically care..

Example. Deere, If you pull in parts in a box at assembly, they don't care. Pull into the flat yard and load a OD load, and see what is parked next to ya. Why do you think TMC gets most of loads, or the O/O that have all the flasheys on their truck.. The same goes with most companies that load OD loads. If you can see their product, they want it to be well represented.. I've never gotten my first load from a customer because of the truck.. But I have been personally asked for after the first load. If you take care of your truck, and can get the job done.. Then it's a double for the shipper..

 

Hey...you can have a clean respectable looking truck without having a "large car". You don't need a decked out W900 or 379 with 1000 chicken lights and 5 miles of chrome to have a clean truck. I don't think the debate should be between a tricked out Pete or a dirty Freightliner. Make it between a tricked out Pete and a clean late model aerodynamic rig.

If the choice was between these two, then I will definately say that it won't make a lick of difference to the shipper/receiver as long as you are on time, courteous, and you have clean clothes and don't smell like a locker room.

The only difference is that the driver with the aerodynamic truck will stash $15,000 to $20,000 a year MORE into his pocket in fuel savings alone. I'll take an aerodynamic truck over a tricked-out-rolling-brick-wind-pusher any day.