18yr team buying 1st truck, need advice on used truck purchase

You need to know what you are going haul before you decide on a truck. Once you have that nailed down.... you can pick a truck you two feel comfortable driving. You also want to consider fuel economy and maintenance. A used fleet truck is more likely to have more maintenance free options which could cost you more shortly down the road.

 

My worry with a team running 230k miles a year is service life of the truck. That's ALOT of miles on a new truck, let alone a used truck. There's a reason most companies who run teams have "newer" trucks

 

With the miles you run.................a used truck is out off the question.
Buy a new one!

 

I'd stay away from the 09s do a "010" emissions truck. They are less problematic .

 

In all honesty, an 05 will probably be really close to a rebuild while an 09 MAY get you 1 or 2 years of service before needing a rebuild. If it was me (My personal opinon) I'd look for a truck that is CA legal that has already had a rebuild from an AUTHORIZED shop and not Joe Blows mechanic shop, while that may be hard to find, they are out there.

 

personally, i would i would stay away from the DEF crap. see if you can find a truck that has about 100k miles. maybe a few of the new truck "bugs" would be worked out by then.

 

In your situation a 2011 (2010 emissions) is the only way to go, as aero as possible as well, even if you're doing an ICT.