Need some opinions looking at buying truck

The application you decide on will dictate what truck you need.

With a day cab you really limit your options and staying in a motel a few nights a week is one thing while finding a decent one with truck parking is another.

Again, it's hard to suggest a company not knowing what type of work you want to do.

If the $1.50 includes fuel you would be broke very quickly.

Can you share a little more information! That would help us help you.

 

Robert:
The first thing you need to ask yourself is are you experienced enough to own a truck? secondly, do you have atleast $5,000 to $10,000 for a down payment and $$$reserves set aside?

Your right, there is a lot to this and expensive to get started. You mention your a Western Star and KW kind of guy, well that's great but costly. A good used Western Star is going to cost you what a new Volvo or Freightshaker will cost you.

Go to the truck stop near your home and get the newspaper called Truckers Paper. Arrow Truck Sales has a good selection of trucks and if you have a contract with a carrier and decent credit, you can get into a truck for about a grand down and payments of $1299 to $1700 a month.

Some of the important questions to ask a carrier are, do you pay for base plates, do you process and file my IFTA tax, do you have forced dispatch, what is the average weight of a load, what is the average length of haul, can I arrange my own back hauls if you don't have anything to get me near my home, do you pay empty and loaded, do you offer percentage pay, is the fuel surcharge factored into my per mile pay if they are paying by the mile and this is important because the fuel surcharge varies week to week at some carriers, and this will effect your revenues.

Another big question is how often does that carrier sign new customers, because if they are not actively marketing for new business, then they are not looking to grow as a company and if they lose a shipper, then revenues for everyone drops.

Another question is about freight lanes. Are you going to have to do short hauls at a lower rate to get into the busy freight lanes to grab better paying freight? You don't want to have to haul a load 540 miles for $450.00 to get yourself in line for a bigger paying load. These are good for filler loads but not a first pickup.

A day cab would be a good investment if you can find for example an opportunity with Fed Ex Freight, A Italian food distributor or food distributor, a lumber company hauling flats, etc. People have made a nice living working loads by their home or regionally and never see OTR.

Hope this helps.

 

Triple Crown Services hires O/O with day cabs. They also cover the hotel bill if you get laid over.

 

If it were me, I would not buy a day cab. I would get a truck that has a sleeper, whether you use it now or not. If you get a day cab and things don't work out, then you may find it difficult to find a carrier to lease onto or freight that will get you home each night. In your area, you might be able to haul steel on a flat. There is a lot of steel moving in and around Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. You may also look into pulling a fuel tanker. Most of those seem to be driving day cabs. I would also not limit myself to a Western Star or Peterbilt. You can get more truck for less money if you broaden your search to include Freightliner, International or Volvo. I know a guy who bought a day cab and when his company cut back, he had a very difficult time finding another company to lease onto. I believe he would up having to sell his day cab and bought a truck with a sleeper.

 

what everybody thinks that you only need a sleeper to sleep? what about waiting at the shippe or receiver for 4-5 hours? sitting in a drivers seat for that long will get old in a hurry

 

Depends on where your located

 

If you want a day cab I am sure there are farmers needing grain hauled or how about pulling a rock bucket . Or you could try to find an outfit that runs chicago to st.loius lots of flat bed freight that runs both ways even dry van freight that just runs back and forth