Check points before buying

Also, to add to G/MAN's posts, any truck with recent engine work and paperwork to prove it (and a warranty for the work performed if at a dealership) will be a huge plus as well.

The last 2 trucks that I bought I just asked the dealer for a dyno pull. They sent me over to peterbilt and had it done while I waited. Most dealers have ties with other dealerships and they tend to lend a hand to one another here and there. Not sure about oil samples as I have not seen a dealership that has any way to get results same-day, but if you were to wait a week, you'd have your info.

As for a mechanic looking it over, I lucked out as I spent my college years at Wyotech and working for Freightliner and Peterbilt before hopping into a truck. You definatley want to check king-pins, brake shoes, inside of drums for grooves, steering shaft u-joints, bushing and spring hangers and it has been my experience that you can tell a lot about a truck by just the way the interior was maintained and how clean everything is, it gives you a good idea of the kind of guy who was driving it before you. I can gurrantee that if it's full of cigg burns, stains and tears that he didnt take care of the exterior components either if he didn't the inside.

 

You will never find a driver who will take care of YOUR truck the same way you will. When you put drivers in your truck you should prepare for them to abuse your equipment, sell your fuel, embezzle money, and steal or sell anything else of value on your truck. There are good drivers, but find one that is honest and will take care of your equipment is difficult. Perhaps it is because they are jealous because you were able to save your money and buy a truck and they can't. Another problem is to keep a driver moving with decent paying freight when you also drive. You can expect to get calls in the middle of the night when the truck breaks down. You will need to find someone to come out and repair or tow the truck. And don't forget that you will need to have the cash to pay for any of those repairs on the spot.

That is the down side to owning multiple trucks. If you get a good driver you can make more money running more trucks. You can do well for a while and then one of your trucks break and you will spend most of what you made the last several weeks or months on repairs. Some breakdowns and repairs could be reduced or alleviated by proper pretrips. I had one driver who got shut down after telling me that he measured the brakes and they were fine. He also had an air leak behind the cab and something else that got him shut down. The guy who came out to do the repairs told me that had the driver done a pre trip that he could easily have spotted the problems. He is the only driver that I have had who was shut down for mechanical problems. I try to keep up my equipment, but can't unless I know about a problem. I allowed this guy to run for some time on the left coast without bringing him back to check the truck over myself. That won't ever happen again. You need to see your equipment on a regular basis so that you can either check it over yourself or have a mechanic do it for you.

I considered doing a lease option. Speaking with others who have done them, they still have some of the same problems about drivers taking care of the equipment. If they don't complete their lease and don't have any money invested, they may not take care of maintenance as they should.