Getting back in the game

I pull reefer where pickups and deliveries are both normally always scheduled appointment times. Ever since about 6 months prior to the ELD mandate back in Dec 2017 anything 500 miles and up is scheduled as 2 day transit. The only thing to be gained on paper most times is some wiggle room on what is an acceptably scheduled reload appointment after getting empty, no stressing when you wheel up to somewhere out of hours only to discover there's no parking, you never have to creep around somewhere 3mph to keeping from tripping your logs pissing everyone off behind you, or you just want to stop and goof off more than usual. Even though it can be done racing the clock on an ELD 800 mile overnighter sucks. The same load on paper is more relaxed driving but for the most part you just don't see loads like that in the reefer world.

 

With the latest HOS revision (possibility of extension of 14 hour shift) + previously sanctioned PC to find parking from a shipper/receiver, the flexibility gained is best there is since 2004. I mean, I don't know if paper logs would change how I do things these days by much.

 

If the price of oil goes up, you will see more wells and refineries back online. When oil plummeted a few years back, a lot of MLPs (fracking companies) went belly-up and had to shutter their wells. The cost to produce couldn't be sustained with the lower revenue.

 

I don't think so. Oil will be purchased from other countries and that will raise the price of fuel.

I would hope that I'm wrong, that's not a good thing for anyone, especially owner operators.

 

Sounds like you know what you want. Might as well make yourself happy. Get what you want. Makes the job much more satisfying. Price should reflect recent major work already done, or any work that will be needed. Keep looking, you’ll find it. Too many overpriced pre Eld Trucks for sale. Most are hoping some fool in a hurry might buy it. Most don’t sell that high. The whole pre Eld thing is over hyped. Still plenty of good deals to be found.

 

Hi Shooter. When looking at the W9's, make sure you check near the rear of front spring hangers. Check if the truck has the updated spring hanger vs the older one and check for cracks in that area of the frame, especially near the bottom flange. I wish you the best of luck. Keep us posted.

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Why ask the questions if you already have all the answers that you want?

What you fail to realize, and most guys praising pre emissions is that those trucks should be up in the 1.5 to 2 million mile range by now. You will be rebuilding that truck from the ground up, even if it’s only one part at a time. And yes, some of those parts can leave you sitting on the side of the road just like emission trucks can.

As long as you go into that pre emissions purchase understanding that your $50,000 truck is going to cost you as much as a brand new truck and that’s what you want, go for it.