Drivers choice of truck

Personally, an International 9900, a Pete 379/389, or KW W900/T800/T660 would make me a happy camper. Give me about 450+ HP not tied down, a 13 speed,, and a decent mileage rate, with some detention pay, decent bennies, and I'll sign on the dotted line! When do ya need me to start?

 

w900L's with cat or cummins, 13 or 18 speed trans with a carrier apu with studio sleepers...might as well make the drivers comfy...comfy=happy=productivity...

 

Hello.
In November 2012, I purchased a new 2013 389 with a 500HP Cummins. It was my first new truck - I had a 2007 Western Star 4900 prior to that with a 550 Cat.
I'm fairly new to driving a truck myself, my husband was the one who taught me everything...
But what I do know is that my turbo is very problematic. It makes a "coughing" sound, and I have a total loss of power for a couple of seconds.
When I took it to my dealer, they managed to emulate the issues, but Cummins says that unless it spits out a code - im out of luck.
Swell.
Now, I have a 2014 that im about to take delivery of - this one is a 388 with a 525HP in it. This will be interesting to see if there are any performance issues with this one. From what I understand from friends of mine who still run with Western Star, that although the DD is not as good as Cummins on the bottom end, that there haven't been "issues" that create long periods of down time. I guess thats what it comes down to with my husband and I - is how much time that truck will spend in the shop.
I'm thinking that my next purchase later on in the fall, will be a Western Star again.

 

Indeed the Pete 379 rides great but I would not want to drive any classic style truck because of the long turning radius and limited visibility. My favorite trucks are Freightliner Century and Volvo 670.

 

Get a truck that has a good APU , good seat , fridge and sufficient space.
Then keep it in good condition and on the road.
Even if it is a shaker or harvester if you have the above and pay above average you can get good drivers.
Bling is not necessarily bad but it is not a have to have to get the right drivers.
You don't need super-truckers just drivers who know and care about what they are doing.

 

I would be tickled pink, with a 379, with fridge , micro , apu, and memory foam mattress , 425 + cat and 18 spd... And air seat on both sides... I could survive without the fridge and micro , but they would be real nice to have.... And forest green in color lol w/manual slack adjusters...... Don't trust automatics....

 

I believe you are already aware of the problems that the current generation, emission style diesels bring and having said that, stay away from them like the plague. I drive a long nose ( Classic XL ), but it's an older pre-emission unit with a big horse Redtop Cummins and a 13 speed. I run a flatbed with it also. If it were me, and I wanted newer equipment, I would go glider kit with a pre-emission motor. Fitzgerald's has Freightliners in all flavors that are already built with 12.7L Detroits ( '98 and before emissions ) and you can choose a 10 or 13 speed transmission. You can get gliders from other manufacturers, of course. Unless I knew the person well, I would not put them in longnose style units just because they can be bashed up easily ( I'd have to put fender mirrors and whiskers on the bumpers ), and with the price of fuel being the big driver in our business, that .5 mile or more to the gallon you lose for style is just not worth it.
The Volvos are the most driver friendly ( a mid roof 630, 670, 730 ) and offer the best ride out there, but they are expensive to fix and if you have a Volvo engine you are stuck with taking it back to the dealer to repair it.
The Internationals have a nice, wide cabin, decent ride and biggest support system. The Prostar probably has the best aerodynamics, so it will help with the bottom line. Engine problems are the same as everybody else, the Maxxforce being a renamed and slightly reconfigured Cat motor. The most common problems with the Cummins ISX powered trucks are electrically related ( harnesses, sensors, etc. )
The Freightliner Columbias and Centurys are common as muck and cheap to purchase, problems are with dash electronics and harnesses because of vibration ( still a Freightshaker for real ), the Cascadia is a big step up as far as quietness, ride quality, steering ( first use of rack and pinion steering in a Class 8). I've talked to some Prime drivers that have Cascadias with the DD15s in them and from what I have gathered the engines are powerful and reliable with excellent fuel economy. Some have had to get a sensor replaced and some have had to get software upgrades to cure low power issues. I am a fan of Detroits, but got put off by the newest DD series engines because of their excessive complexity. The Series 60 is my favorite, and it was an 8V-92 that made me fall in love with trucking.
Peterbilt/Kenworth: On the Peterbilt side, I became a fan of the widebody 387 after driving one for the first time a few weeks ago, excellent manueverability, very comfortable and despite the low windshield height, excellent visibility. I used to drive a 386 as a daycab, but felt it was too cramped for me. That, and the bottom hinged clutch pedal ( never liked that Pete trait ). The Kenworth sister, the T2000, never appealed to me until I drove one. The seating position reminded me of my K100 cabover, but rode like a Cadillac. I wanted to keep going during the test drive. I can only speculate that the T660 is similiar.
Regardless of what you pick, I know you've noticed that most fleet spec trucks just lay down in the hills when loaded near gross, and since you've been in the game long enough you know that is what makes the job a pain in the butt, not too mention it burns a ton of fuel. I would retune the ECMs to a much higher torque rating ( I like the guys at Dieselspec, but if you know someone in a shop that can get you an 1850 ft/lbs factory tune with a fast rise ), keep the progressive shift protocols and a 75 mph limit.

 

It's all in the tuning of the engine from the factory. The DD's have a "European" style powerband that is flatter across the rpm scale versus the American style that hits hard from bottom then tapers off. The Mercedes and the Volvo are like that; you have to spin them up like an old two stroke Detroit to make progress. A reputable tuner can shape the power curve any way a customer wants, while improving the fuel economy.

 

I think being someone a driver wants to work for should outweigh worrying about bells and whistles. The rest comes together after that. I ran a Volvo 730 with no APU, but it had some nice amenities.. no speed governor, 13 speed., inverter and microwave. Was it my idea truck? No, but there things I liked about it. But the guy was one of the employers I was most compatible with as an employee, and to me that just mattered above all else. I'd have driven a cabover for the guy. I'd opt to drive a COE for the guy over an employer I didn't care for that much, no matter the bells and whistles. Maybe that's just me, but I certainly can't be the only one for whom the employer is ultimately what makes the difference.

 

You're preachin' good, my friend!