first truck purchase

All trucks are made with parts from different suppliers, 99% is the same parts or parts you can order from every truck manufacturer, They make the frame, cab, and a few emblems, Most every major components for a Freightliner you can get in a Kenworth even a Detroit engine if you have a large order.
What parts is it you do not like, If you have the serial number every part is available, the hard part is getting something that is not standard. Then you get a dense stare from most parts people. If that happens you have to ask around and find an old hand that knows more than what the computer tells him. That problem is with every manufacturer.

 

You're welcome... I used to sell trucks and that's how I sounded....

I really hate beating up these potential new O/O's but you can just see from so many of their post's how unprepared they are to own a truck. It's not like buying an F150 and going to Wal Mart to load up on groceries...

Even guys with some driving experience just don't have a clue how the freight systems works especially when the only people they have driven for have been the mega carriers. There's a lot more to owning your own than answering a Qualcomm message and reading a map....

If you can't identify a king pin, don't know what an injector cup is, and have no idea how to use a clutch brake you simply have no business owning your own truck... period!

There ARE things you can learn as you go along but you need some basic knowledge of the operating systems of your truck before you set off on your own... it's hard to find a fairy godmother on I-80 who can wave her magic wand and make it all better.

 

I agree the major systems are generally the same... but with 'captive engines' being the norm these days it's not as true as it once was... try ordering a Freightliner with a Cummins engine today or a Volvo with a Detroit... there was a time when you could but not anymore.

Freightliner's quality (and reputation) has gone downhill since they ditched the FLD series of trucks for the Century-family of trucks. The old FLD's were pretty decent... I owned one from '01 to '03 and it never let me down. Good, solid cab... fairly easy to work on and pretty simple.

My first experience with a Century came in '07 when I was offered a newer truck by the outfit I was driving for... I hired on as a local driver (assigned a '94 FLD with a Cummins M11) but I wound up running the midwest and south with the truck. Most of our drivers wouldn't leave the upper midwest with those old FL's but I was Ok with making a little more money as I just couldn't make it working short hauls with the rates we had to work with (I ran on percentage).

The Century I had was powered with a C12 which was a little step up from the M11.... at least the mirrors didn't shake so bad that you couldn't see the docks when backing up. But the rest of the truck was built like a beer can... squeaks, rattles, broken plastic parts from every area of the interior, electrical problems, radiator leaks from the plastic end caps, etc. God forbid if you roll over in the bunk in the winter and touch the back wall of the sleeper... often there was frost creeping up from under the bunk.

I finally had enough and pulled my Pete out of the weeds (I had it parked for 22 months) and leased on the the same company... I liked the operation but I just couldn't see driving that rattletrap when I had a perfectly good piece of equipment sitting around not making any money.

That company was a 99% Freightliner fleet when I signed on in '06. When I left last year they had purchased around 25 new Pete's and KW's... the owner hung on to FL's as long as he could but the maintenance issues made owning them too expensive. Even the newer
low mileage units were having problems... when the boss started his new truck buying spree Freightliner's were just never even considered.

My biggest beef with Freightliner is their awful parts and service. I do a lot of my own repair work but sometimes you need a little help... One day i rolled into FL in Knoxville. I needed a brake chamber for my trailer. I asked if one parts guy could come out just to verify that i needed a common 50/50 brake unit....Nope! They can't leave their counter. I asked where there was a trailer dealer in knoxville...no idea! OK.... I'll just buy a dozen clearance lights that you have on sale here...Nope! can't sell 'em to you 'cuz they aren't in the 'system'. I left without parts.

My local FL dealer uprated the HP and RPM's of my Detroit engine but didn't reset the cruise control to run at the now higher road speed... I paid $400.00 for the uprate but now we need another $180.00...forget it. Inland Diesel, the Detroit distributor, did it free...

The dealer in Little Rock had two guys working parts on a Saturday morning... one guy was schmoozing his GF on the phone while the other clueless guy couldn't find a driver a fan belt because he was looking for 'Dayton' fan belts instead of 'Dayco'... I pointed out his mistake after watching him look thru the computer and parts books for 15 minutes. I left without parts.

The old factory dealer in the Quad Cities put a new parts guy to work at the counter... alone... while everybody went into a Monday AM dealer meeting. He was an experienced guy but had only been working for 1/2 hour before being thrown to the wolves... he knew what I needed but they didn't teach him how to use the new-to-him computer system... he apologized and I felt really sorry for him. I left without parts.

My local dealer charges 1/2 hour shop labor to pump 10 gallons of bulk oil into my 5 gallon containers... I asked them if it was a joke or were they really serious? Nope... they were serious. I, again, left without oil.
They also didn't carry fuel filters for my 11.1 Detroit... said they don't sell enough to make it worth keeping in stock...you don't keep DETROIT fuel filters on the shelf?

Their store in Milwaukee couldn't take 5 minutes out of their busy fleet oil change schedule to crawl under my FLD to open a fuel crossover valve that had been disturbed causing one tank to drain dry and the other to get all the fuel via the return line... they said they COULD do it for me... in 5 days! The valve was conveniently located above the transmission and I couldn't get my ample ##### under there to do it myself... drove 100 miles and had another dealer do it and they didn't even charge me.

I blew a water bypass hose west of Okie City... I taped up the old one and got a ride into town for some water. When I limped into town to the dealer told me it would be three hours wait to get it in... I was on a schedule so I told them just give me a hose and I'd change it myself. They told me they don't stock them but I could get one at the T/A. Sure enough... I went to the T/A and told the counter guy what I needed... he said the FL dealer was going to be mad because they had just called T/A to order the hose from them!

I have more FL customer-no-service horror stories if you need 'em. This is the reason I don't own one anymore.

'Back in the Day" if you drove a Freightliner you had a pretty good truck... there were few Pete or KW dealers around.. almost none on the east coast. An FL was a premium ride compared to the Mack's, White's, Jimmy's and the like... but no more. Their quest for profits over quality, mostly led by self-proclaimed marketing genius Jim Hebe, has had an effect. Sure they sell a lot of trucks but don't forget the fleets buy the truck with the cheapest price (for the most part).

 

Plus... I was at a dealer getting service and the service writer (about 19 years old) asked for the company phone number so he could call for a PO... I told him I was the company and I would pay cash.

He said 'No...really I need to talk to the people you work for"... I said "I work for my self... and I own the truck'

He said 'No you don't own it... you are just a lease operator... no one owns their own truck'..... I said 'let me talk to your manager'....

 

There is a kid who would do well to find a size 11 wedged somewhere "out of the way".

 

I love my volvo, very comfy. hahaha, I drove f/ls, there very easy to find as they are so cheap to the volume buyer. great truck to learn in, but in this market, I wouldn't pay no 30K for one of those gordon trucks. you do some looking i think you could find something better. FYI, I've seen volvo's with cummins 530 hp 3.42 gears and 13 speeds and other similar specs/defec's going for 16,500-25,000. those gordons way overpriced even if they had the 800,000 mi warrenty. Keep looking you can find something better, for the same pirce or same quality for cheaper.

baby sit the truck paper adds, I was saw a repo'd 2004 international autoshift around half million miles go for $7500. their could have been something wrong with it, but according to the repo agency that towed it all it needed was tires. I kicked my self because it was sold in less than a day and I had an opportunity to put a hold deposit on it

 

30k?? i wouldnt touch that. keep looking. there are some better deals out there. good luck!

 

My old outfit bought several '06 Columbia condos nicely equipped for $20K in '08. Got 'em at the auction in Bettendorf, IA.