New Kenworth T-700

I know you copied this off a fortune cookie.... I like a characterized truck...I 'm smart enuff to know what I want 10-4

 

If you think the new(er) freightliner classics are built well, you've got another thing coming. Noisy, drafty, poor insulation, cheap cheap cheap. They appear old school but unfortunately the last quality Freightliners were built a long, long time ago.

 

Well, I've been a company driver my whole career, whether I worked for an O/O or a major carrier. Since I worled for some O/O's, running their trucks, I learned how to run and work like an O/O, and I would personally prefer the slope nose, aerodynamic trucks for both fuel economy, and because they are slightly easier to move around the East Coast. Smaller trucks work for me, and allow me to get into tighter docks a bit easier and quicker than some of those big, long nosed, "large cars" that some drivers prefer. I will say that the longer wheel base trucks do provide a more comfortable ride, but out East they can cause a newer driver a considerable headache. And the fuel economy on the aerodynamic trucks vs. the larger, square nose trucks is nothing to sneeze at, either.

All that said, the only thing I see missing from the new KW would be the visor. Other than that, it looks like a perfectly nice truck. My question is "Can I make money with it?"

 

There are no shortage of guys who couldn't make money with a free truck that gets 12mpg so IMO the shape of the truck means nothing. Who's doing better, the guy getting 7.5mpg hauling $1.50 freight or the guy getting 4.5mpg hauling $4.50 freight?

Don't get me wrong, the idea is to get as good of mileage as you can. But if 1mpg means the difference between being able to make it or not your business plan needs some work. There are guys that are a flat tire away from going broke, now while I feel sorry for them chances are if you look they've got the idea that "as long as the truck is moving I'm doing ok" mentality. When in reality if they would learn to say no to cheap freight they would have the same amount of money but with less wear on equipment.

 

All true, but I'm a career company driver. I run my truck as effeciently as I can, and let the owner worry about freight rate. Owner wants that cheap freight, I'll run it. As long as I do my job, and keep my record clean, I should remain employable. Right?

Like I said, I keep an eye on fuel mileage, but that's from running for O/Os back in the day who wanted to keep their fuel costs under control. Besides, it makes sense to me. When I fuel my car, I look for the cheaper (not cheapest) gas to save money. I was also taught to keep a good eye on the truck, and to fix the danged thing at the first sign of trouble, rather than waiting until the engine falls out of the SOB. One of the biggest problems I have with larger carriers has to do with maintainence because of this training.

 

The parts I highlighted in red makes you not the average fleet driver. I've got one guy that works for us that is an extremely nice guy. Always shows up for work, zero problems or complaints except the only maintenance issue he'd notice is if the steering wheel fell off. I don't expect him to fix anything, I'll fix it he just has to tell me what's wrong. Can't even get him to do that, he just must not look for stuff. Then on the opposite side of the spectrum I've got another guy that fixes stuff that doesn't need fixed. He replaced both his low beam headlights 3 weeks ago, not because they were out but because they had been in there a while.
What makes it funnier is all our drivers are home every night, the only time they drive in the dark is when they leave early in the morning.

 

There it is there....

I hear guys all the time crying abouit how they're going broke because the "industry's a mess"!
But hey..Guess what?
I was hearing that in the 70's, 80's and 90's too...And the whole time I was hearing it, I was making good money in the same business that was supposedly sucking the life out of those other guys!

The primary complainers that I hear seem to be those guys with the $15,000 former fleet Junkliner or Vulva with the fairings falling off and a cardboard sign duct taped to the side of their truck with their company name scrawled on it in Magic Marker.

Of course these geniuses are hauling for some guy that pays their truck 95 cents a mile when it costs a lot more than that to run the ###### truck down the road empty!

I believe that a lot of guys are out here running their own trucks that should've remained company drivers and that's not even taking into account all of the FLEECE operators that THINK they are owner operators!

You wanna drive a cheesey, ugly truck to get 1/2 mpg better than me and haul cheepass freight?

Knock yourself out!

While you're doing that...I'll be over here making a good living, Riding in style and comfort and enjoying myself every day.

 

Hopefully in a few years your KW will be worth 30k again. It is not worth that now.
Sure people are trying to sell them for that, but the actual selling price of a long nose Pete or W9 with more than 500k miles on it, in great condition is only about 30k max. That is reguardless of age. They just are not worth allot now.
I have seen them selling in the low to mid 20s for several months now. Not in the 30s unless someone is crazy. Many of these trucks are done up very well also with tons of extra bling. The owners cannot afford to keep them and are selling them fast.
You do not have to believe me, but it is 100% true. I would be amazed if anyone would give you more than 20k for your truck. And even that is over priced unless the engine has had a full overhaul.

 

Probably so...But I have no intention of selling it! It's a good solid truck and will last for many more years if I choose to run it that long!
That is my point.

It is a better truck because it will out last all of those "throw away" trucks and will be pulling loads LONG after the "throw aways" are parted out and crushed for scrap!