Good first truck with the lowest cost of ownership possible?

Do you listen to xm/sirius?
There is a show that talks about this kinda lots...and has a website.
He does lots on fuel mpg, and is a big propoent of buying used, pre egr trucks, for maybe $12k, overhauling it, then putting to work...
Sounds like starting with 10k...that is barely operating capital....no truck.
If you had closer to $30k...you might be in business.
The same host also has a pretty good list of books to buy/read to get ready to be an owner....
the biggest thing will be how old of a truck will the place you want to lease on with will take...
I'm only a 1 yr driver, but been listening and learning for a while.

 

10k.... That would be considered a shoe string budget. You will run through that before you pull your first load.

 

Yup...
Even if you by/lease from 3rd party, 10k is not even operating expenses..
Never mind extra $$ for mantance, tires, ins...or buying a truck, down payment, and first few months expenses....heck it can take more than a month to get paid for jobs...you need to have enough to wait for the checks to come in, and still live, work, buy fuel....
imo, save up more $$, and learn more..create a bussiness plan...more time to learn and plan....

 

$10K is not enough if this is all you have starting out. A comfortable maintenance/emergency account should be double that. You may consider waiting/saving a while longer and do it right rather than having your first breakdown wipe you out. Good luck Paumcd.

I would modify your statement to:- "Would like to be an owner operator ASAP, and still be around in 3 years."

 

Also your business plan will dictate what you need for lowest cost of ownership is....
what speed do ypu plan to run....which lanes...what kinda of cargo...lots of miles or more sitting, and more selective, higher paying miles...
Lots of varibles...no one plan is right, just as there are many different truck spcs...
if any ONE make was always the lowest cost to run...that would be what most folks would run. Sorry to state the obvious, but you need to pinpoint how you plan to run, and your market....
To say you just buy a truck and drive....
is the fastest way to fail. You are starting a business, and you are competing against companies and individuals that have spent many years and $$ honeing their plans....
You want to do more than just get lucky to suceede, you want to plan...by planning, you can limit pitfalls....

 

I think people over analyze unimportant parts of the business Get the truck that is comfortable driving down the road and be done with it. The basic mechanical parts are all the same on any given truck. So what if an a/c resistor that's KW specific part costs $15 more than a Freightliner equivalent ? Will you be happy and content driving something that has a thousand creaks/rattles and whistling wind leaks versus something that doesn't?

 

I agree RC your going to live in it and drive it 600 to 700 miles a day sitting in that seat you better think about comfort. Back in 2009 I started listening to Kevin Rutherford about fuel mileage. I got so involved in the fuel mileage thing that it made me sick and I thought I should trade my Peterbilt 379 for a Freightliner Columbia. Yes I was sick for even thinking about that. I stopped and test drove one at the Little Rock Freightliner dealer and it was the roughest riding truck I have ever drove, worst then my old 1982 cabover I use to own. Not comfortable at all and not driver friendly I got it back to the dealer ASAP before something broke and I was stranded on the side of the road. Someone told me it had a better ride with a loaded trailer, yeah no ####. The salesman ask me how it went and I told him I wouldn't take one if you were giving them away.

 

You can get a decent truck for 20k or under, but you have to know what you're looking at at be patient. Great deals at auctiontime. go there and search for the completed auctions to see what equipment has been going for recently. 10K though is really not enough. Why not go work for a company for a while, get some cash saved up?