Going on my own

I first started back in 87,.. and EVERYONE idled back then. Entire truck stops in full diesel song. I knew about trucks that would shut off and restart on their own to save fuel while the driver was sleeping. But I dont think I ever saw anyone like me with a generator or APU back then.

Main problems I ever had back then was with injectors and pumps. Tires and brakes out of adjustment were common too. AC would quit working when you needed it most and company owners were not in a hurry to get it fixed either. LOL

I can remember needing to put cardboard over my grill in the winter else I wouldnt have heat,.. the engine coolant wouldnt get warm enough. Especially when idling. I drove an old Mack. It had a PTO for the hydraulics for the RGN. No cruise control,.. to turn up the idle I had a pull knob that you would turn to lock the idle at higher speeds. Was the only way to stay warm in the winter. Excessive fuel consumption wasnt really an issue with my company.

Hurst

 

You need to find your own customers so you can charge a fair price for your service. Yes it's not easy. It takes time and hard work to be a profitable business. My opinion brokers and leases are the lazy way to find loads. If the loads paid good the broker or leasing agent would have their own trucks but why would you do this when someone else can own the truck and all the headaches and work for pennies per mile. Get out and find loads locally from the source and make some real money to justify the headache and hardwork

 

I am by no means an expert on these engines. I can only speak from my own personal experience and I like CAT and Cummins the best. How ever,.. steer away from DPF equipped CAT engines. They are notorious for having excessive DPF related problems and are expensive to repair.

Being that your going into the reefer market, you'll be at or near gross most of the time. Cummins has the strongest jake of all of them. I never experienced any problems with Cummins powered trucks that I drove. But I have read about mainly issues with the EGR and of course dozer valve issues causing regen problems,.. all pertaining to emissions related components. So in my opinion,.. they are no worse than any of the others.

I would do a search here on TTR,.. you can base an educated decision from the multitude of posts that have compared the reliability of these engines together.

As stated already,.. maintenance records will tell you a better story about the truck you are interested in and give you an idea of what to expect from the truck you want. Some trucks go miles and miles problem free. Others have a long history of repeated problems that were either never diagnosed properly or just never repaired properly. With out some kind of history on the truck you have no way of knowing what you are getting into.

Hurst

 

On newer model stuff I'd would stick with Cummins over any of the other stuff. They pretty much lead the way. Older pre-emission CAT and Detroit is fine. Most late model Volvo's (like 90% of them) have Volvo power and I'm not sure I'm trusting that if I'm putting my own money down. Darn sure don't buy a Prostar unless it has the red motor.

 

Sage advice, you have to know who has the best paying freight in the lanes you want to run and who is consistent with loads on a timely basis.

 

What is DPF . What is TTR

 

Buying a truck and putting a driver in it, you not gonna make any money.