Buying my first truck in Dec - feeling little overwhelmed by options

OneCosmicGuy · Nov 3, 2014

dog-c said: ↑

The only downside is landstar has a greedy 65/35 split and I never did like that since we are doing 95% of the work.
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When I was with them before, they "only" took 27% as far as I know. We rented a trailer. That might be the difference? I think if we didn't, then the % was higher. We did the math. In our case, renting @ $185/wk was better.... Unless I'm misinterpreting what you're referring too?

OneCosmicGuy · Nov 3, 2014

Pound Puppy said: ↑

If you plan to run flat, I would hold off until spring. No sense in starting behind the 8 ball.
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I'm definitely weighing the pros and cons of that. Part of the reason for keeping $10k in reserve. Is there a "best" time to buy a used truck? End of year inventory blow out?

OneCosmicGuy · Nov 3, 2014

FLATBED said: ↑

Like POUND PUPPY noted in his post about being behind the 8 BALL, things get slow in December and the 1st of the New year , best advice is do not buy more truck than you need or to impress the TRUCKSTOP EWW and AHH crowd buy what you can afford
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LOL Yeah, I'm not out to impress anyone. I typically spend very little time at TSs anyway - just fueling, generally.

OneCosmicGuy · Nov 3, 2014

jbatmick said: ↑

December is usually a good time to buy a truck. Not many folks are shopping for equipment, thinking of holidays.Salesmen are hungry.
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I kind of assumed that, but I hate to assume. I meant to include that in my OP. Thank you.

OneCosmicGuy · Nov 3, 2014

dieselfuelonly said: ↑

I just bought my first truck that I have the title to after doing a lease for a year and driving company for a year. I hear that Landstar has a pretty good set up and I don't see how you can go wrong with them, especially since you already have some experience there driving for them as a team driver (I'm assuming you were driving someone else's truck?). I have never worked for Landstar but hear that they have a good program. Right now I pull trailers for Schneider, I grab loads off their load board, home when I want to be home, go where I want to go and only take the loads I want to. I'm sure you can do the same thing at Landstar. As long as you can keep on top of booking your own loads, I think that would be the way to go.

As for your truck, take into careful consideration who you will be leased to (if you do end up leasing to a company and not getting your own authority) and where you want to run. As you already pointed out going into CA with an older truck just isn't gonna happen. As far as I know Landstar doesn't have any age restrictions on trucks, but some other companies do.

I knew I wanted an older truck so I did a lot of searching and waiting. While on my hometime over a period of a couple months I looked at a TON of trucks and waited until I found the one I wanted. I passed up on several for mechanical issues, bad dyno reports, too much cigarette tar stinking up the cab, etc., etc. Finally found the truck in my signature and jumped on it.

Make sure you take the time to get the truck looked over at a good shop, run it on the dyno, you may want to get oil samples as well. Take a good look yourself, you never know when even a good mechanic might happen to miss something. Never hurts to have a second opinion.

As for the truck specs, try to pick something that gives you the most versatility. I wouldn't own anything with less than a 13 speed in it. I love the 13 speeds and the ability to split gears vs having to make a complete shift. If you can find one with an 18 speed that's great, and if you really want to get into oversize/overweight loads an 18 speed would be awesome since you can split the low side as well. I prefer a manual for simplicity and the fact that I really enjoy shifting gears. If you're pulling flats or tanks a full condo sleeper probably wouldn't be a good idea. I'm kind of partial to Kenworth's studio sleepers since they have plenty of standing room (you actually step down into them) but aren't as tall as, say, a full condo Cascadia. If you end up pulling vans a lot you could always stick a wing on the roof to help with aerodynamics a bit, and you aren't too tall for flatbeds or tanks.

If you don't mind an older truck, the Cummins N14, early CAT C15 (6NZ serial) & 3406E, or Detroit S60 12.7 are all great motors. None are perfect and all have their strong and weak points but I'd take one of those in a heartbeat over anything under the hoods of the new trucks. I'd suggest going with an engine that has some electronics because some carriers require the ability to hook up an e-log. As far as I know it'd be near impossible to do that with a full mechanical engine.

2004 and up can be ugly as the emissions restrictions wreaked havoc on the engines. Some can be absolute nightmares, doesn't matter who made it. In the newer trucks it's finally starting to smooth out.

A longer wheelbase rides nicer but can be difficult to maneuver. If you find yourself dealing with a lot of tight spaces, that 300" wheelbase 379 is probably not the truck for you. For comparison, your average Freightliner Cascadia you see these days has around a 230" wheelbase.

Hope this helps, good luck on your search. Don't rush and jump into something you might regret.
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Thank you for the details and the suggestions. Very helpful, and yes, Landstar does require all new drivers to use electronic logs which affects which trucks you can bring.

Your comment about finding a good shop... That's probably a whole new thread lol

fortycalglock · Nov 3, 2014

OneCosmicGuy said: ↑

When I was with them before, they "only" took 27% as far as I know. We rented a trailer. That might be the difference? I think if we didn't, then the % was higher. We did the math. In our case, renting @ $185/wk was better.... Unless I'm misinterpreting what you're referring too?
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That is the correct split for platform, 73/27 with your own trailer or renting one from them. You can not rent one, and get 65%, but it only takes $2300 in revenue to break even paying rent.

jzcartage · Nov 3, 2014

Curious has anyone bought a brand new truck off the lot? Was curious what kind of terms do they give? Meaning how many years is the note for etc? I know most places only offer 3 year notes for used trucks. At least thats what I have seen shopping around. Was thinking maybe of just buying brand new if the monthly payment is affordable?

nuvagrad · Nov 4, 2014

jzcartage said: ↑

Curious has anyone bought a brand new truck off the lot? Was curious what kind of terms do they give? Meaning how many years is the note for etc? I know most places only offer 3 year notes for used trucks. At least thats what I have seen shopping around. Was thinking maybe of just buying brand new if the monthly payment is affordable?
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Brand new off the lot expect to put down $15,000 at least if your credit is not that great. What trucks are you looking at?

abcdef · Nov 6, 2014

Simple moths:30000 truck,1500 tarps,1000 equipments, two weeks fuel 2000,register and tax 1500,and food, toll,how many left? 3500?Not enough money for shop.30000 truck can easily go to shop in winter time. even you run in winter, the damage fee will let you pay in the future.one of my friend bought a 30000 truck, he spent 57000 this year in the shop.his ex- girl friend paid the bill.and he need re-build his engine soon.
40000 in the bank is much better.

OneCosmicGuy · Nov 9, 2014

nuvagrad said: ↑

Brand new off the lot expect to put down $15,000 at least if your credit is not that great. What trucks are you looking at?
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Was kinda wondering that too. I could do $15k down. Credit is just under 700 and climbing. Just wondering if that's a smart way to go or better to wait till I have routine established.

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