VOLVO FOR HAULING FRAC SAND?

I roll through frac sand mines all the time in my Volvo. I don’t have any aero crap though. Good tires and you’ll get by just fine.

We run a few hd Volvo fuel trucks too or whatever they call them with the 18k front axle etc.

 

Yes it is more about how the truck is specced than the brand.

 

Yeah idk where people get this stuff from.

You don’t like Volvo’s ok. Doesn’t mean they can’t go off road. I got 455 hp 1800 toques, lockers and open lugs just like you...

 

Go ahead, give a lease purchase a try. Just because some advice might be construed as negative, and/or you don't like the advice doesn't make it any less valuable.

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I spent a good portion of the time leading up to becoming a truck driver thinking that owning my own truck would be the greatest thing in the world. I would walk into a dealership, sit down with the salesman, and walk out in debt for $190,000 CAD, ready to live the life on the road, chasing loads around the country.

Then I started working as a truck driver, and just learning how to control the beast required a substantial amount of physical and emotional energy, let alone getting involved in the business side of things. Then I started learning about the business side of things, and logistics, and just what is required of a trucking company to make money (fortunately without having to buy a truck).

Remember, owning a truck means you are operating a trucking company. It's not an RV that also hauls freight. You are a registered business that pays taxes, insurance, etc. You deal with brokers, shippers, receivers, the DMV, dealerships/repair shops, the IRS (there is a lot more to it than just filing a claim once per year) and insurance companies.

Many (company) truck drivers these days have literally no clue what is required to move a load from Point A to Point B. I've seen the logistics side of things, I worked in the office as an orientation trainer for the past year, I got to see how the dozen or so people manage freight for a company of 80 drivers.

It's not all fun and games, I'm sure there are plenty of O-O's here on this site that will back me up on this. While it CAN be rewarding work, and the level of independence is unprecedented in the 21st Century business world, it's not something you plan to get into before you've even finished trucking school.

Learn to drive the truck, spend your first year making the mistakes you are destined to make in somebody else's truck, then start worrying about building yourself a business. The last thing you want is to be getting into accidents in a truck you own, with no insurance company worth anything willing to touch you with a 10-foot pole, and having to pay thousands of extra dollars a month just to be able to move goods.

Your attitude needs to become a whole lot more humble towards those willing to give you advice. Going into this industry, getting out on the Big Road, and being unable to accept advice from those with more experience is a good way to have the trucking gods making you beg for mercy at their feet.

I've been at this for almost 3 years now. I still know practically nothing about trucking in the grand scheme of things. I'm still learning something new every day and trying my best to continue to do so. Because once I think I know everything, that's when I'm going to get myself into a situation I don't ever want to be in.

 

It just goes back to the specs. Brand is irrelevant.

 

While true, unless the OP is going to get Volvo to build him a VHD 300/400 specifically for his frac-sand operation, he won't do very well with an on-highway VNL unit in the same industry.

He could spend 3-4 years running a highway operation to build up some capital to buy that off-road Volvo, but he'd likely be better off just going with a used Mack or Western Star that's already been spec'd for that job.

 

I know plenty of guys running Volvo’s pulling belly dumps off road 75% of the time they hold up just fine.

 

I believe it. I drive a tanker and haul def so anywhere that needs def I go.

You name it I’ve dumped def there. Mines to school bus companies.

Construction sites are probably worse than mines some times in terms of squishy “roads”. I’ve never gotten stuck but if I do there is always some sort of machinery to pull me out.