New vs Used dry van

Some places won’t load older trailers, plus new trailers have 4-5 year warranty

 

Trailers are cheap in general. Vans anyway.

Why buy a 5 yr old trailer that’s going to start having problems when you can pay probably $12,000 more and get a trouble free new one? If you can’t afford that I understand but it’s really a drop in the bucket in trucking.

I wouldn’t have liked hearing that when I started out but it’s the truth. I’ve dealt with old crap trucks and trailers and had my gut full. In 08 my first trailer was a 96. My first truck was a 91. Can’t tell you how many times I patched that floor, fixed the door, replaced the dock plate, brake chamber, air valve, or was rejected for some reason or another.

 

Metal fatigue. It depends on the use of that used trailer. If that used trailer was only used for fiberglass insulation then it is not as beaten as a trailer carrying 45k of heavy paper rolls. Let it not be used running the Northeast with roads that bounce you up & down.
Yes you have to look at the wear & tear factor. Certain places will not load an older trailers depending on the year. The paper rolls shipper would stipulate not to bring older trailers to be loaded & they would check the dates. Same thing with when loading single 40k+ coils on flatbed trailers.
I saw a trailer broke in half 2 weeks ago in Harrisburg pa on the side. You don't want that trouble. I'm all for "good" used equipment but at times it is time to move on but a headache turns into an migraine.

 

I bought a new trailer April of last year, it’s only 720/month so 180/week at that price, can get whatever specs you want/need too.

 

If your down two days waiting on parts or to get in. You lose maybe 1400 clear. Maybe 1000 if your just doing short hops. You get the new one keep it for five years or ten. Very little repairs. Yeah a trailer should be easy to keep up. But I opened the doors on an trailer two days ago, it was wet from snow on the inside. First time in a long time I have seen that.

I'm guessing used are overpriced at the moment.

How long is the wait for a new one?



Do you have a grain trailer? Run it while your trying to get a dry box? Some guys do grain trailers, not many but some do.

 

It really depends what you're looking for and what you're going to do with it. And you need to know how to really look a trailer over.

I bought an extremely inexpensive trailer it was like the price of a storage trailer and I went over the brakes and drums and all that stuff and the trailer is good right now. I have some more work to do to it over the summer but it's nothing that will stop me from using it. I would think if I needed to I could probably get at least three or four years out of it or more maybe who knows? I've been at different places where other trailers have been rejected and they took me right through. There are some places though that I can't go if they specifically request a trailer that's within 10 years old.

When I am ready to buy another trailer I'll keep this one for storage. I think it would depend on the market of how much the trailers are. If I could find something that was like 5, 6, 7 years old and I could get a good deal on it I would probably get something like that. If the price is close to a new one, then I have to think about it. Unless I found something that was a little older like 10 years old or so but really in good shape that maybe just needed a little TLC...

 

I used to think exactly the same as OP, but I just bought a brand new wood chip trailer a couple months ago. The only used ones I could find were around $10,000 less than new and they obviously needed some work.

I always thought a trailer didn’t take much work either but that’s not so true. 8 tires, 4 wheel bearing, 4 sets of brakes, air lines, electrical wiring, king pin, bushings, air bags, brake pods, flooring, frame cracks, etc etc. It ends up being a lot to go wrong.