Taking the plunge. My journey as an O/O.

More money on less miles was his point I believe........

 

Percentage of revenue is what i was talking about. I'm about to place an order fir 8 drive tires. Continental hdl2 eco plus @370$ each that's 2960$. If i was only getting 1.30/mile that would be about 10 days worth of revenue after fuel. Because i get a much better rate(this load its literally more than 2.75 times that) its 2 days after fuel.

Obviously the cost doesn't change with better paying loads but better paying loads lowers the effect of those costs. This is easiest to show with fuel cost. If fuel runs you 40 cpm and you are paid a buck a mile then fuel is a full 40% of revenue, an unsustainable number. But at 2 bucks a mile now its only 20% of revenue. That's a HUGE difference that really softens the blow when the truck needs money spent on it

 

I know of several trucks that have burned to the ground due to a incorrectly installed (wired) inverters.

 

I hate to say it but going to a dealership doesn’t mean it’s gonna be done any better than a monkey.

 

Yes, I would highly agree with that. It’s why I have two trucks for sale right now one with 498k on it with a year old overhaul and in other with 528k on it. Both replaced by new ones. Both have been excellent trucks and made a lot of money but I’m not going to take the chance. If rates were still through the roof I would probably keep the overhauled one though a while and make more with it.

I’ve explained how you can make 2nd owner trucks work with Cummins warranty but 3rd owner you just gotta do the best you can or know how to do work yourself same as if you had an “old” truck.

I do have two trucks with almost 700k each that have been very strong the entire time. Both are said to be the worst years too 2007 engine and the 2010 engine. Truck years are 2011 and 2013 respectively. SO, it’s not always the case they fall apart but I do believe anymore they are built to be trouble free to 300k and mostly trouble free to 500k. Then, all bets are off.

 

If you made half again more or even double, trust me you would feel much better about weathering the random repair storms. I think your going through an evolution of realizing all of this stuff right now about trucks, miles, pay, etc whether you realize it or not.

 

Running high miles for low per mile revenue is probably starting in sink in.......

 

Ya but i got faith in ole bob the farmer. one day in the not too distant future he is gonna be leased to someone like landstar and averaging 2 a mile and all these financial "is it worth it"thoughts will feel like a distant dream. His biggest regret will be waiting so long once he realises the only business skill he learned leased to crete was how to bang your head against the wall.

 

The worst of it all, is that he's put so much money into this thing, only to give it back.

Bob, repairs are repairs. I would strongly suggest that you STOP listening to that DB Rutherford. I can see it in what you post.
Changed the drive belts? Why?
Change the oil at 20k?? Have you looked at what your manufacturer recommends?????
$1200 to fix market lights????
I'm the dumbest person on here but I can change marker lights.

Dude, you need to regroup and get running. The inverter thing I get, but not everything has to go to Freightliner at $150 an hour.

Good luck.