Need Advice on becoming an O/O

there's just wayyyyyyyyyy too many to list. and it wasn't just the truck either.

but i'll say this. the freight out there for what i haul doesn't pay enough to fix a truck. you stay out running HARD for 3 weeks. then donate that entire income to the shop where the truck resides for the fourth week. that 4th week payment has to be made even though the truck is in the shop for the whole week. so when truck IS back on the road. it has to catch up 2 weeks of payments.

18 months ago we had no problems keeping trucks moving. we couldn't keep up with the brokers.

today. we can't find loads for the trucks that pay better then $1.00 per mile.

and the worst part of the year is 3 months away.

your right i sound harsh and negative. becuase i speak from experience. i'm the second person on this board to do so.

you think that becuase you have a business plan that you are golden. and i'm telling you that your business is nothing more then a dream on paper.

you can prepare that business plan all you want. you can say you have all the experience of being in trucking. your father being an o/o of 40 years ago. he got started when fuel was cheap. repairs were cheap. trucks were built with quality. frieght paid good. and government regulations didn't much exist like they do today.

trucking today isn't the same. fuel at $4.00 plus per gallon. electronic engines that aren't worth a crap. freight pay is lousy. and the government controlling us. and how many companies have closed shop during these slow economic times????

you need capital to survive. so that when your truck breaks down. you can still pay the bills. you also need a truck with an engine that isn't a problem child. so that you can build on your capital instead of spending it.

i'm not saying you can't do it. i'm saying that the odds are stacked against you.

i've been reading this forum for 5 years and i've seen a lot of people come and go.

the company i work for. had a 3 year contract that paid very good. but that only lasted 2 months. the odds have been against me and the company ever since.

i drive a 05 w900 with an isx 450. i started at 950k miles. it was a darn good truck. nothing was wrong. at 1.15mill miles things started breaking down. it all started with some minor cosmetics and an oil change at kenworth. $500 i was looking at. 24 hours later it was at $3000. for parts i DID NOT authorize. becuase i was out riding my motorcycle and didn't answer the phone.

5 days and 25 phone calls for one thing after another. i told them to put the darn thing together cuz the truck needs to be on the road. 5 minutes on the road the engine light came on. and the truck shut down. 3 months and $8000 for shops and road calls. someone finally found the problem. during that 3 months. the clutch went out. 3 weeks later the clutch went out again becuase the wrong size clutch disc was installed. warranty work so it was free but the truck was down for a week. the truck also got 10 new tires becuase it's safety inspection blitz across the country. after 3 months. the engine has an oil leak. shop washes engine to find the leak. but truck won't run. they find the electrical problem i've been fighting for 3 months. FINALLY, that problem is solved. but now i'm getting a pan gasket. truck still leaks. so the pan gasket gets replaced again. truck still leaks and i'm told it's the front cover. kenworth wants $3500 to take the cover off and mill it.

MILL THE COVER INSTEAD OF REPLACING WITH A NEW ONE. which woulda made the bill cheaper.

2 weeks later the turbo goes out. $500 for one hour diagnostics. $3000 for reman turbo, $1000 labor. went to antoher shop and paid $150 for labor and had the turbo completely rebuilt for $1500. 3 weeks later a plate goes bad. typical for the turbo. so the turbo was warranteed. truck down another week. now there's a heavy duty plate. supposed to make the turbo better then original specs. 6 weeks and still no problems with turbo.

now comes a dead cylinder, and smoke out the exhaust. had to drop the trailer and bobtail back for a loaner truck. $400 to fix problem. plus company did a oil change cuz there's 2 gallons of fuel in the oil. another $200. company took to a different shop i never heard of. never did hear what the problem was. but the truck DOES NOT LIKE THE COMPANY OIL. for lots of reasons. i haul a load. get to my delivery. and engine was soaked in oil. and now the rear main is leaking. 3 gallons to fill up. emptied my load. picked up my load. trucked 150 miles and got fuel. 5 GALLONS TO FILL UP THE OIL. so now we're half company trash oil and half mobile 1. went into vegas. took one more gallon. made 550 miles back to yard. only lost half gallon and engine is dried out.

rear main seal was replaced when the clutch was replaced. as preventive maintance.

if that 3 year contract would have held up. the truck would be fixed and downtime wouldn't bother me. bills would be paid. i'd be taking force vacations due to breakdowns and riding my motorcycle without even caring.

but that contract didn't hold up. we've been hauling flat. and no one wants to pay to have there freight hauled.

truck sits at the shop. with a front cover oil leak. a rear main seal leak. an alignment and windshield.

#1 problem. ISX motors are famous for camshafts, oil leaks, turbos, and egr's.
#2 problem. freight don't pay enough to survive, let alone fix truck. and we average 3500 miles a week. when we can find the freight.
#3 problem. freight don't pay enough where you can afford to only take a percentage. you need to take 100 percent of the pay.
#4 problem. poor fuel economy doesn't help to survive. and crappy oil isn't good on engines.
#5 problem. you really need your own mechanic. instead of relying on shops across the country. MUCH MUCH CHEAPER labor.

does your business plan take those problems into consideration??? do you know what truck to buy for fuel economy, do you know what engine to buy for reliability. do have your own mechanic lined up or at the very least, a trust worthy shop. and most importantly. do you know how much your going to be hauling frieght for. most people won't haul for less then $2.50. and they are placing numerous phone calls to find such freight while they are sitting at the truckstop.


yep, i sound harsh. becuase that's the reality of my experience.

i KNEW what truck i was getting. becuase i had been driving it. my payments were also low.
i didn't buy something from any ole dealer. knowing nothing about it. or about the dealer.

i also don't have a contract signed that will ruin my credit. mine is a walk a way deal.

business plans are all great on paper. but do absolutely nothing in reality.

 

and as for your first post regarding not finding any information about d & t trucking.

they've only been open for 1 year according to Better Business Bureau.

looks like they could be headquartered out of weatherford, texas. if it's the same company. they haul sand and fracing.

as for your purchase prices you quoted in the first post.

PACCAR FINANCIAL IS SELLING 09 PETE AND KW'S FOR 45,000 WITH 10 % DOWN. WITH 400,000 MILES.

you want to pay 57,000 - 68,000 for an 07 freightliner?

 

I'll say it again snowy, do you have "screw me" Tattooed on you forehead.

Because the more you post about your situation, you just seen like it.

A shop won't just "do" $3000 worth of parts plus labor unless there is shady business practices going on. I'd have been all over someone for that had they done it. It's also the last time they'd be touching my truck.

 

YES SIRRRRRRRRRRRRR i was all over them.

never been back.

ALL shops lable screw you on your forehead.

like i said before. you haven't had the luxory of witnessing it yet. give it time. you've still got a few miles yet. but you have the detroit motor. that's a big plus on your side.

 

well said mamamullins.

 

The reasons why I would never buy an ISX.... I would of spent less and found an older truck with an N-14. Cheaper parts and less problems. No EGR or VGT to worry about. I could go on and on about the ISX and what a piece of #### it is. Good friend of mine was a service manager at a Chicagoland Cummins dealer/shop and told me about a lot of the problems with them. If I owned one, the first thing I would do is be talking to PDI or PP and getting a EGR delete on order and getting rid of that HX55VGT. No more $3K dollar turbo and no more worries of EGR system failures. I bet you would gain around 1 MPG also.

 

I just had to open my big mouth about 2 million mile transmissions. Here I sit under a load waiting on another truck to get here and recover it so I can bobtail down to the shop. I've got a random clunking sound in the transmission I've heard it in every gear it just started doing it out of the blue. Here we go again.. I did not need this there goes my year...