Waiting on New Trucks thread.

Not gonna lie, I’d take one of these painted like my old FLD.

 

Nice little Mack. I just hate how they are so short in the cab area. Of course that one is short everywhere. I think Mac is one of the best looking Aero trucks on the market though.

 

That’s the style I’m going with. It’ll have a grass burner, shorter wheel base, and be gray though. If I don’t like it, maybe I’ll try something different in 3 years.

 

That’s whacked. In 2000, the rate had gone over $100. By 2001, it dropped to $85. $185 shows how busy they are right now. Maybe short handed too? I’d never have thought it could be over $130 these days. All the more reason to avoid the Dealerships. Except for warranty work. An honest Independent Mechanic is valuable. I know a Mechanic who made a killing working for all the local fleets. Never looked for work. It found him.

 

That adds insult to injury. I saw a notice once at a Freightliner Dealership “15% added to hourly labor charge for miscellaneous shop supplies” Too much.

 

Dealerships around here are up from $120 to $160 an hour now.
To bad all they employ are parts changers,
Got something pre computer and they're lost.

 

Almost looks like a T600. I’d take a used Mack. The used prices are usually a bargain. I’ve been tempted a few times. Part’s availability and pricing might be a problem. Lowest market share of road tractors for years now. Nice Trucks.

 

They could probably charge $300 an hour and never run out of work. Most of them have signs posted they're hiring mechanics. There's a shortage of anyone working skilled trades for a long time now. Diesel mechanics will never go hungry. Have you seen how full most dealership lots are with trucks parked everywhere and work orders stacked up?

I remember Atlanta MHC was $185 an hour before the pandemic. Never used them but saw the sign with the rate. I thought my local CAT house at $135 was quiet the bargain back in 2018. They were worth every cent. I never found a good independent shop around where I lived and ended up learning to DIY on a lot of things because of it. They'd usually have a rate that was half of the CAT house but end up costing about the same and not stand behind what they did.

 

So far I haven't had a problem with parts. Except for a few unique, usually body related items, nearly everything else crosses to a Volvo p/n. Several things I've picked up were even in a Volvo package. I'd guess that the Volvo/Mack interchange goes across multiple models as well. That wasn't ever the case at KW. If it fit my T-600 it didn't fit anything else, and forget about trying to source a KW part at a Pete store. I also don't miss the gold plated paccar prices on parts.

 

That was where I hit the lottery on my 2020 Anthem. Small fleet guy had ordered 8 and only took one of them when they finally came in, and I got the last one. I swear it was as-if I'd sat over his shoulder telling him which boxes to check. When I ordered the '22 it was a copy/pasta.