Buying 1st truck

well a studio sleeper should be big enough for 2 people. as for the truck itself, i hope you get a full DOT inspection on it, and the mileage on it as well. i would be somewhat leary on any rig with more than 500,000 miles on it, no matter how well kept the dealer (or former owner) claim was done on it. now, a 2001-2003 truck (if it ran at least 100,000 miles per year) would have about (up to) 500,000 miles right about now. that's if you go as far back as the 2001 model year. any warranties (remaining) should be carefully looked at, and questioned at that time as to where any waranty work will be performed. tire thread depth should be "virgin" or "near virgin" rubber, to lessen the cost of tire replacements too soon. try to get a good look at any maintenance records as well. i would also try to stay away from "company" trucks, as every TOM, RICHARD, & HARRY drove it, and you know all too well, no 2 people drive the same, so expect some abuse as well.

 

My Suggestion is to Take the money you Saved Deposit into a Savings account and get a bank to Loan you the money for a new Truck Setup how you want it, for a few reasons

1. you will collect intrest on the money in savings
2. I have learned the best way to go O/O is to have a bank finance you so if something does happen your company cant still pull out your truck payment on your settlement.. you have a month to put back the payment for the truck..
3. NEW Warrenties so if anything does breakdown your fullycovered and there are no out of pocket expenses other than regular oil changes and PM's
4. Put back about 7-8% of your weekly gross for your own personal maintance account and by the time you have your truck paid off in 5 years or how ever long your term is you should have enough money saved up to trade in and outright purchase a new truck and be covered under a new warrenty and make pure income.. thats just my point of view though

 

You can only haul 48' trailers with less weight?

 

A friend of mine has a 2000 Kenworth T-2000 with the Cummins N-14. He averages about 7.5 mpg's doing multiple stop delivery driving with average 300-400 mile trips.

He bought the truck a few months back, and it was a Robinson fleet truck. The a/c went out, but that was the only "major" thing that has went wrong with it since he's had it.

 

I hope someone can verify this 7.5, nothing againsnt your integrity but it seems kinda far out there. But then again my own expierence with a cummins is limited to seeing their sticker on Ford trucks.

 

UMMMMM, ford owns cummins, but dodge is the only p/u that uses them. Ford uses the Triton or is it powerstroke. As far as the milage is concerned, with a lighter load(below 35k) I get 6.5-6.7 mpg on an N14 in a 2001 Classic XL, Get me into the mountains or put 50k on my flat bed, and it can drop alot. But I am not very aerodynamic. The T-2000 is VERY aerodynamic, and could easilly do that with the right gears and keeping it at or below 65mph

 

Aside from posting all of his fuel records... This is his average. He has started to do more long haul stuff lately, and calculated one trip at 8.1 mpg.

It's not very far out there at all... I have a 2000 Volvo w/ Cummins N14 and I'm averaging about 6.8-7 mpg's now since my switch to synthetic oil. Prior calculations were in the 6.3-6.5 range for me.

As far as my trips go, if I were to move to longer line-hauls, I would easily post over 7 mpg's. I'm almost getting that now with 300 mile trips and 3 stops a day in the GA/AL region.

 

As for SunnyD and tthe truck they are thinking about buying, I know I will make some of you mad, but I can't help it. The studio sleeper KWs are VERY heavy. I Just got out of a brand new t600 with an aero flat top sleeper and it was 20,500 lbs alone, no fuel. The studio on a w9 or T600 is 1000 lbs heavier. That combined with a trlr will really reduce the load you can carry, and thus limits your options for load availability. Funny thing is they say it is an 86" studio sleeper, but close the curtain which is right up against the back of the seats, and you will find you have only a 74" sleeper.
One other thing I would warn against is the CAT engines, good luck getting anything over 5.5 mpg, regardless of gearing.Just can't seam to get any fuel milage out of those things. And the Acert's are loosing Turbo's left and right, at 5000.00 each, and 2 turbo's per motor, that can get expensive after warrenty. Good thing KW found their senses and started offering Cummins as an option again.
If you want the KW ride, Plenty of room in the sleeper, and good fuel milage, I would advise a T-2000 with a cummins ISX, either an automatic, or a 13 speed with O/D, and a 3.25 rear end ratio. You can spec the same in the Pete 387, same truck with a high roof and a different nose. Just My opinion. Good luck.