Straight Truck recomendation for Small Business

Check with the OOIDA for insurance .. they can get you some ballpark rates even if you go with another insurance carrier. Stay away from the 8.3L cummins.. it's a different animal and sucks down the fuel... There are zillions of 5.9 cummins Dodge pickups from the early to mid 90s on the road down here in Texas... 300k, 400k, 500k, 600k miles. A Diesel Dually weighs about 7000 to 8000 lbs by itself .. and are rated to handle 10,000 lbs to tow or more .. that's a 18000lbs combined capacity.. not too much different than you'll be doing under 26000 lbs. in a straight truck.

 

False. You may get slightly better fuel mileage with a standard but unless you've got some real professional drivers in your fleet they're going to be grinding the #### out of those gears and slamming them in like a fricken bmw. You can't shift those big diesel trucks the same way you shift cars, but only CDL trained individuals recognize that. You're much better off with an automatic, especially if you're doing a lot of city driving or hauling heavy in your box...

 

Check with Penske and Ryder, they sell used box trucks, with decent mileage, the best part is they know the service history of the truck.
I've heard that the small CAT engine is one to avoid.

 

Do not be afraid of an Allison. Very reliable when maintained and helps a non-professional drive better. Factor in a couple of clutches and an Allison replacement is not so bad. We rarely see them go bang in a big way if they have fluid changes on any sort of reasonable schedule. Penske will have several trucks to this spec for sale and you can review the maintainence history on line with them.

How many miles per year will you do? What type of driving (across town or across state?) will you do. How long before you can upgrade or replace the truck? Where are you, is salt an issue? All of these will help narrow down the choice.

 

I have several straight trucks, and if you stay with a major brand...you should be good. I would shy away from past rentals trucks, drivers that don't know how to drive have beat the hell out of them and the rental companies, including Penske do JUST enough sevice to keep them rolling till they dump them. Look for a lease return or ex fleet truck. Stay away from ex Penske, Ryders, Budgets, ect...

Weight capacity is an issue if you are carrying loads with any weights. There is a huge weight difference between a FRP box on a 2001 International with rail lift and a newer model frame with an aluminum box. Make sure you know what your cargo weight will be and go take any potential truck to a scale to check its dry weight. One of our 24' class C trucks is 19600 EMPTY...only gives me 6400 lbs of cargo. I have a 14' Isuzu truck with the same cargo capacity!