Get your own truck!

you know what? I'd like to own a truck so i dont have a governed speed. Doesnt mean im going to drive that fast. I'll probably do the same speed i do in a company truck. However, here's what i'd do with that advantage:

1) It's safer because if you have a front tire blow out and you're doing 57mph, you can gas it. like you should be able to.
2) If you speed up to 5 over the speed limit (in a state with a normal speed limit like 65) before going up a big grade, this actually improves mpg.
3) If someone is doing 1 mph less than you are, it doesnt impede traffic to pass them.


Beyond that...I drove an ungoverned truck before. Truck could do 90. To be perfectly honest, I went the speed the owner told me to. But I learned to drive that thing just like he did, and I got better fuel milage than I do in a company truck. And it was just the above.

Of course there were also times when we had hot loads and i was told to do the speed limit...which was 75 MPH for trucks (texas)...and speed up 5 over every time i needed to pass someone. Hahaha. MPG wasn't the best on THAT load..

That truck hit the rev limiter at 90 MPH...doesnt mean i drove 85 all day.

 

I wiil do, i mean, i want to..I'm team driver just wondering what kind of truck "not abused" i can get in order to don't be screwed OTR in break downs...Planning to buy also a trailer reefer, since i'm from FL and plan to run as much as i can long hauls of produce or whatever...

Brasileiro? Eu sou...estou atras de fazer amigos Brasileiros truck drivers para montarmos um forum de brazucas...
Um abraço¡

 

Honestly, any truck that was ever on a fleet was abused. A truck bought brand new by an owner operator is rare and usually that truck will be held onto until its old and worn out.

And to be honest i no longer have an interest in being an owner operator. Yeah, it'd be nice, but it seems like its impossible to attain.

But im gonna buy a truck in a year or two anyway, for a show truck. Not being an owner operator does not mean i cant have a nice peterbilt with a bunch of chrome....

 

Shakers without question are cheaper than pete's and reliable but when u live and the thing, comfort in a shaker is not the best point, windo will come in every window...to don't talk about shaking inside. Doesn't matter how new, i've been in a Cascadia with 150k miles and after 20 k OTR this tractor start to shake so much that i couldn't sleep while partner was driving...horrible, and it was an brand new FL Cascadia...Shaker is a Shaker, but if you don't mind for it, it's fine, they are like volkswagem beetle in my old Brazil, if well cared, they could last forever...
9 grand for 2002 FL is not bad, but how is the truck?
...i've seen some ex-wall mart Columbias recent im the truckpaper, 2003 trucks, some with TK APU on, 600k miles for about 13,000. Sounds nice for me...

 

Well first of all, I have not failed, I still own a trucking business, I just don't like the fact that I make 2/3's of what I made 2 years ago. I don't like the fact that the rates are so ridiculously low compared to the cost of everything else. There should be no reason that we need to drive an old pos truck, there should be no reason you can't afford a new truck. Years ago I never had a problem paying off a brand new truck in 4 years. All I am saying is these low rates, high price of fuel make it hard to run trucks these days. Now I am not saying owning a used truck is a bad idea, but I would never buy one older than five years, but you still need to make money to pay your bills and be able to live and eat while still being able to afford to maintain your truck. Just because I have a truck that is paid for doesn't mean I should accept less pay. I still need to live, and I still have business expenses, and still need to put money away.

Yes I do have a new truck, and I also have one that is paid for. Even the one that is paid for can't bring in the money like we used to a couple years ago. 2 years ago we were paying .47 cents per litre for fuel (thats about 1.77 per gallon I think) we made great money working 4 days per week not running very hard. My trucks are on a dedicated run, we do 700 miles a day 4 days a week and we make 2/3's less than before. That is a major loss of money for us and it is because the price of fuel is high but nobody wants to pay more. It has nothing to do with my attitude as you say.

The price of fuel has gone up, the price of parts and labour has gone up, the price of tires has gone up, my insurance has gone up, the price of everything has gone up but my rates stay the same. I am considering selling the kenworth and buying something more fuel efficient because with the price of fuel the way it is, you need to watch every cent you spend. 5 mpg over 7 or 8 is a huge differnce in your pay at the end of the week.

You can tell everyone to be an owner if you want, all I suggest is to be very careful, the money is not there like it was before and if you have a good job with a company and you are making decent money doing it I would stick with it until there is a huge change in this idustry. There are a lot of headaches that go with it just like running any kind of business, there is more to it than just buying a truck and blindingly going out and hauling any load for any rate that comes around.

My life does not revolve around my trucks, they are tools to make money, and if I can't make money at it then I will get out of it. If things in this industry don't improve greatly in the next little while that is exactly what I will do.