Landstar

Stay out of Florida !!!!!!! If you do go down there plan on dead heading out to Georgia for freight....Our rule of thumb was don't go below I-4 and if you go down to Miami make sure the rate you take covers deadhead all the way back out....

Texas is hit or miss we did well at times and sat other times..

 

I would not spend that much on a truck starting out. I would look for a truck for around $20,000. There are some good trucks you can buy in that price range that will give you good service. I would not pay more than $30,000. I would not necessarily be deterred by the miles. You could find a truck that has had a recent rebuild or other work. You are going to have a lot of unnecessary stress with that big of a truck payment. The largest truck payment that I have ever had was $1,200 and I would not go that high again. I have a good friend who was leased to Landstar at the time I was there. In fact, that is where we met. I owned a Peterbilt with a $1,200 payment. He had a Volvo with a $2,300 payment. He had to run the wheels off to make ends meet. He was getting good rates, but back then we were not getting a fuel surcharge. He eventually found someone to take the truck off his back.

It isn't uncommon to get over 1 million miles on trucks today before having an over haul. Low miles don't guarantee that you won't have problems with the truck. And just because there is a warranty doesn't necessarily mean that something will be covered. It would be better to pay less and put the difference into a maintenance account in case something does happen to the truck. It is wise of you to have some money put aside to run the truck. Some carriers will front the money for your base plates and take money out of each settlement or you can get your own base plates and pay the entire amount up front.

Contrary to what you may hear from the media, this economy is still uncertain. I would not want to commit for that much of a payment with so much uncertainty in the market. If you have a small payment you can usually weather some down time in the economy. A big payment with a down economy going into a new venture could cause you some serious problems. It only takes a short time to destroy a good credit rating.

If it were me, I would find a less expensive truck and move up to something newer in a couple of years. If the economy does better then you can put the difference in payment into a money market account or invest it and pay cash for something newer with lower miles in a couple of years. You will make less money with the big payment than with a smaller payment. As long as you check out a truck before buying there is no reason you should have any major problems with an older truck with more miles. It isn't the miles but how well the truck has been maintained. I have known of owners who have had to do a rebuild with only 150,000 miles.

 

Thanks again G/Man. I was looking at a 02 379 pete with about 950K for 32K and a C15 that had yet to be gone through and thinking I could get somthing like that and spend the 15 to 20K for an inframe and have me a sweet truck.
But isnt it true that rearends and trannys start going out at around 1.3m or so? Also it seems that alot of companies wont take anything older than 5 or 6 years.

 

The Pete I was in for the LS agent (2005 379) had 600K when I blew out the rear axel......Now that truck was used for big loads before I got in it so that may have played a role who knows..

The thing with buying used is you have that unknown...The Pete I was in before that (2000 379 built from a glider) went over a million before he rebuilt the rears and the same went for the tranny (15 speed big hole against the dash)...

I'm gonna hold my tongue on the C-15 I will say I had a lot of down time last summer because of it.....some people have had good luck with that motor I wasn't one of them..

FYI, I hear Schneider takes older trucks also if they pass their inspection..

 

Thanks GP. I heard that the earlier C15 were the best. A company I drove with for 13 years had a 03 pete with a C15 that went for 925K before it was redone. As for rearends and such I think its like G/Man said about how well they are taken care of and like you said about how hard they have been pullin. But its true, you just dont know what you are getting unless I suppose you have somone check it out really well.
Anyone know anything about SYSTEM TRANSPORT? they have a percentage lease of 72% hauling their flatbed trailer. They are over here in my neck of the woods in Spokane, WA. They are also TWI. Parent company is TRANS SYSTEM.

 

The C-15 in that 2005 had been rebuilt at around 500,000 and had two heads already...I think he just got a bad one probably..

 

It depends on how the truck was maintained. I have one truck with over 1.2 million miles that has the original rears. The transmission was replaced at around 900M miles and the engine was over hauled a few months before that.

I own another truck with 985,000 miles with the original engine. Both rears and the transmission have been replaced. The truck still runs strong. I rebuilt the front power divider myself for a little over $1,000 (parts). The other rear went out on the road and I spent about $4,500 to get rolling again, but I replaced an oil pan ($800) and had a couple of other things done while the truck was down. You can pull the inspection plates on the rears and see how they look.

If you do a dyno and oil analysis, you can find out a lot about a truck. I would also like to see a maintenance history, but that is not always available.

I have always changed the oil around 15,000 miles in my trucks. It makes a difference in how long you can go between over hauls and how long your turbo will last. One thing that often happens with a turbo is that small particles get into the oil and kills the bearings in the turbo. Frequent oil changes can minimize that happening.

I have known a couple of owners who would just go ahead and replace things before they actually fail. You could do them as you go along after the truck starts making money. I don't know that I would rebuild an engine unless it needed to be rebuilt. You could drop the pan and check the bearings. It would not be very expensive to replace those while you have the pan off.

As a truck gets some age, things can wear out. I replace hoses and belts before they fail. But, I don't usually replace major components before needed.

Most of the better paying carriers don't care about the age of your truck as long as it looks decent and can pass a DOT inspection. If an older truck has been well maintained there is no reason to expect less reliability than with a newer truck. Anything mechanical is subject to failure. Personally, I would not lease to a carry that had a year restriction on equipment. You need to have an idea of where you plan to take your truck before you go out and spend your money.

I take my time when I buy another truck. At one time, I didn't want to buy anything other than a Peterbilt. I have since come to realize that the name won't make any more money for me. Most 379's get lower mpg than other brands. You need to decide what is more important to you. Don't get me wrong, I really loved Peterbilt. The main reason that I went with another brand is that I saved about $40,000 to go with a different brand than had less than $500,000 miles on it and it was a one owner. It also got better fuel mileage than the Pete that I was going to buy. I got 5 mpg with my Peterbilt. My next truck consistently got over 6 mpg. The truck that I primarily drive today gets almost 7 mpg. By the way, it is a KW. It isn't that I am in love with this truck, but the fact it gets better fuel mileage than another truck that I own. I don't drive too much these days.

It is your money and you are the one who will need to pay for it, but something that I do when I am looking for a truck is to make a list. On the list are things that I absolutely want in a truck. Also on my list are things that I would like to have, but are not a deal breaker. Actually, at this point I have that in my head, but you may want to write it down.

For instance, you may want an 18 speed transmission, but need a 10 speed. You may want a CAT (my preference) but it may not be a deal breaker. Cummins and Detroit both make good engines. My last truck that I bought I wanted a CAT engine, but if I could have found one with a Cummins or Detroit that had the other features that I wanted, then I might have bought the other truck. You may want a 70" sleeper, but could manage with a 48" or 60" sleeper. You may want a truck with fewer than 500,000 miles but if you found a truck with 1 million miles and a newly rebuilt engine, it could work for you. I prefer aluminum wheels, but would consider one with steel if it had everything else that I wanted. I prefer tall rubber but bought a truck that had low pro 22.5's last time.

Some things are important, others are not. What may be important to me may not be important to you. I have friends who prefer a certain brand of truck (Peterbilt). For them, there is no other truck. They would rather buy a Peterbilt even if it cost them more to own and drive. While I was like that at one time, I look at it more as a business decision. I will go for the better fuel economy. I still want a truck that looks good, but there are other trucks that are more comfortable for the driver than a Peterbilt. Even saving 1/2 mpg is a lot of fuel savings over the course of a year. Buying a different brand will also mean that I spend less out of my pocket to buy a different brand. I am not sure that I would pay $32M for a truck that was ready for an engine over haul. I suppose it would depend on the over all condition of the truck.

 

Thanks G/Man. As allways you are a wealth of information and you give very sound and practical advice. There are a lot of things to consider such as MPG which is why I was looking at the Cascadia. I do not have to look good going down the road, but I DO HAVE TO MAKE MONEY. I would prefer a 13 speed, but like you said if it had everything else I might settle for a 10. Youre advice on keeping the payment as low as possible has definately got me re-thinking my strategy. Maybe I will wait and keep saving my pennies to see how this whole recession thing pans out. I have a good recession-proof job ive been doing for the last 3 years, pays REALLY WELL, but it is definately a young mans gig and I am definately not getting any younger!! LOL!! In case you are wondering it is Foodservice Delivery(The Sygma Network) a division of SYSCO.
Have to go now, headin out for Spokane tonight.
Thank you again for all you're extremely valuable advice. Its Guys like you that make this board such an excellent source of information and education.

 

I am glad to help any time.

 

yea...thanks gman.
I been reading your conversation about this topic and it also applies to my situation (going to buy a truck and lease on to ls. but dont want to be doomed from the start by making a bad buy) almost to the t.