TRUCKS - Which would you choose?

a truck is a truck is a truck...they are all built to the specifications of the company, which means they are all basic, generic trucks. if you decide on a job solely for the type of truck a company has, then you have no business being in this business, as you seem to value good looks or a name over real value in life....did your school feed you this line of crap...???

as a company driver, you DRIVE what they got on hand. if you are going to be that picky on trucks, then go out and buy your own...

one company may have a fleet of high dollar pete's, but pay crap, one company may have a fleet of Internationals, but pay great.

you NEED to analyze pay, benefits, home time, miles, you know REAL things over the intrinsic value of things in life, otherwise you are doomed to go no where's....

just GO OUT, GET A JOB, AND DRIVE....you have NO experience, yet YOU ARE PICKY...??? what if, you decide on a company all because of the trucks they have...then in orientation, they find something about you, and kick you out....??? what will you do then....??? what will you do if your trainer tells the company you are no good and they fire you...??? what will you do then as well...???

definition of "intrinsic"

adjective
1.
belonging to a thing by its very nature: the intrinsic value of a gold ring. (or in this case a truck)

 

what if one company has more chrome then the other? surely that means something because you can go faster with chrome, plus when light reflects off it radar jams up and bears cant get your speed.

 

To the OP of this thread.........a company truck is just that a company truck......some companies maintain their vehicles better than others........so for example

company a uses peterbilts but the maintenance on this is not so good therefore they have a high safety rating with the DOT because of maintenance issues

company b uses freightliners but takes care of the equipment and has a good rating

who would you drive for the company with the large cars or the company with the aerodynamic trucks.

Research each companies safety rating and then make a decision by that, instead of type of vehicle they have. Just my 2 cents

 

RnR Nik hit a homerun with his reply. Whatever company maintains their equipment the best would get my nod.

 

I'd prefer a well maintained truck over a pretty truck, myself. Remember the most important question you need to ask yourself when evaluated a truck (and the company), "Can I make money with it?"

 

can you look at the trucks in person before you decide? are they daycab operations or sleeper cab trucks? sleeper cab trucks tend to be better maintained since they will be away from the terminal for longer. day cab companies tend to run on the "ragged edge" of being dot compliant with their trucks, since they know they are only going to be out a short distance every day.

 

plus lots of local companies especially around here just lease their trucks from ryder so they dont give a crap about how good of condition they are since they're going back to ryder at the end of the lease. my boss has a bunch of ryder trucks, all f-n suck!! some are better then others but they all have some piece of crap in them, its just a matter of how would you like that crap served.

for example the truck i wound up with by accident, and ended up requesting to keep has a perfectly level lift gate, the biggest box in the fleet, a 9 speed which is great (i drive a straight truck) for hills and such, tandem axle's so it rides a lot smoother, air ride suspension in the rear.

sounds good right? well turning that steering wheel the power steering might as well be non existent, there's no jake brake, the back of the truck, inside the box the diamond plate floor is rusty kind of so any moisture turns into this brown diahrea looking sustance that sticks to the milk bottles and customers like to complain like its my fault, my clothes are usually filthy and looks like i was rolling around in the dirt all day because of this. the floor is also uneven, (basically where the cross supports are, the diamond plate has begun to sag into it, so every cross support, you have a little bump) and when you'r dragging milk crates stacked 6 high, weighing around 175 and you got 8 stacks to drag out onto a tailgate, it sucks going up and down on the un-even box and makes it a little bit harder. ryder somehow broke the cruise control so when i have an hour of drive time to my route i have to keep the gas down which is not very fun.


now if i wanted another truck, i'd have a unlevel lift gate which would result in milk possibly falling over when i drop the gate (which has happened), a mistubishi cab over nose with a 6 speed and a motor that cant even keep from dropping 20mph on the slightest grades even when i'm going 70, no room in the cab to stretch at all because the engine compartment is in the middle of the inside of the cab. the back of the truck is pretty small. BUT, the truck has great steering, the back of the box is nice and smooth.

so like i said, and already gone said, lots of local companies run their trucks until they are about a mile away from spontaneously combusting.

 

To answer the OP question...........

I'd pick a kenworth.........................

 

A truck is a tool, just like a hammer. If you can handle being a busy contractor that eats sleeps and works with a rusty old hammer with a broken taped up handle, then you are more of a man than I am. I prefer having a snapon hammer (even if it is aged). Something that is weighted correctly, designed well, built to last. A tool, that even though it has the same function, makes my job just a little bit easier.

I have driven everything from old Autocars to new Kenworth W900's. Out of all widely available company rides, I would choose a KW T660 with an ISX motor. Doesnt have as much storage as a cascadia and the doors do not seal well. But they are the nicest company trucks I've had the pleasure of driving.