My first year as an owner operator.

That's exactly what we did, rent a trailer for 6 months when starting, now we are in the position to pay cash for a used trailer after 6 months. And no, we didn't do that hauling $1.30/mile loads, that's the way to go broke, only slowly.

Your idea of renting a trailer for the cement off-season sounds like a very good one to me.

 

So with your 99 freightliner. How many miles did you buy it with? We're there things done to it like, an inframe, etc? What sort of day to day issues did you have in terms of repair bills, (flat tires, etc)?

I'm looking to get into my own truck at some point too (in Canada) and am quite interested in hearing real world issues about things you had to deal with to get a better understanding for myself. Right now, I break down on the side of the road, I make one call and the truck gets towed, and I get a ride home or a hotel.

 

I've had a half dozen or so used trucks. The first was over 25 years old, and the last was only a few years old. What I learned was it really boils down to who owned it, and how well they took care of it. if I was to ever buy another used truck i would search long and hard for a single owner truck that was well maintained by a successful owner operator. Either a guy retiring and selling off. or a guy getting a new truck. that's my two cents.

 

The big truck stop shops don't really have the most intelligent mechanics employed. That is my experience at least. Whenever I have had a problem I can usually fix it good enough to get it home to my trusted mechanic where I know it will be fixed right. I don't like having to pay twice to fix the same problem. Common sense goes a long way for the minor issues.