Going owner op with Werner

If you must get a Werner fleet truck through the Werner umbrella, I would reverse those numbers. $10k down with $20k in savings.

Why?

Your buying a used fleet emissions truck.
I could go into further detail but it's been covered over and over again on here.

Extended oil changes and motors that swallow its own exhaust makes a lot of soot. Soot piles up in the oil and slowly taxes the internals

 

See if they will let you take the truck to an independant mechanic
Review the maintenance and repair history
Get a dyno done
Do an oil analysis
If you buy a truck from a dealer be sure to have a rigdig report done on it as well as the other items.
Good luck!

 

Schneider used to do oil analysis on there company trucks years ago, they compared different motor oils and everything.

 

Farm tractors perform for thirty years of daily abuse. How many years does a camry last?

 

I was always amazed with how little maintenance farm tractors seemed to require looking back when I was a kid. My grandfather changed the oil in them once in a blue moon but mostly just added it. Greasing kingpins and such was an afterthought. The combine was different. It always got a thorough going over with the grease gun before and several times during harvest. Some of that equipment was 15 to 30 years old back then. And it's all still going on other farms now. You won't see a Cascadia of any kind last that long. I find it amusing somebody actually thinks of a new Cascadia as the height of comfort and quality. I guarantee you my 14 year old KW with a similar short wheel base as a Cascadia rides way better and has a tighter cab with no noise than any new Freightliner.

 

Nebraska is probably different but read there laws real good regarding workman's comp. I just found out by reading the handbook in NY if your an owner op leased on to another company, not pulling any of your own freight and under their dispatch, they consider you still an employee of that company and not an independent contractor as far as WC is concerned. That puts the bill on them and here it's about $8000/yr based on $35000/yr earnings.