Theoretical question?

I am actually the DINO SOAR, lol. But I actually am.

I have been around trucks and Equipment since I was a very small child. My father used to take me out on the construction sites and the contractor had old GMC 9500s with 2-stroke Detroits and they had a B model Mack pulling a low bed trailer. Pretty standard for that era. My father would always be doing all kinds of mechanical repairs on trucks equipment cars whatever. It was quite an education being around him.

If you look at any of my other posts you will see my disdain and dislike for new trucks computerized equipment and all the nonsense.

I have some older trucks that we used in our contracting business a nice tractor and I bought a tri axle dump truck- all have mechanical engines. To me having those types of trucks is the greatest thing I could ever do.

To me, the new trucks or newer trucks anyway are plastic computerized hunks of junk that are worthless. When I hear guys say they spent $3,500 to have injectors put in and the overhead set I have to just shake my head. That wouldn't even cost me $400 to do that. I think that's ridiculous. When I hear guys spend $3,000 on a computer and another $6,000 dollars on sensors and wiring problems, I just shake my head and thank God that I have the education that I have. All worthless unnecessary expensive electronic meaningless garbage.

And I especially love when guys say to me that electronic trucks are dependable. Tell that to the guy who is on this board somewhere who I believe his truck is still under warranty and he has spent $24,000 to date and is still not fixed. Mind you that $24,000 does not include all the down time and lost Revenue. None of that makes any sense to me at all.

If you have a similar point of view then set your business up however you want to set it up. When I was a kid I used to wonder why people didn't have giant Contracting businesses or giant trucking businesses. Now I know that your business has to be tailored to who you are and the way that you do things and it's certainly not a one-size-fits-all. A guy that knows how to take care of his trucks and equipment that has less guys working for him may do better than a guy that has more trucks and Equipment but he has to send it out to a shop and he has payments on it and it has all the expensive computerized nonsense.

If you ever drove a stock big cam 400 you would laugh at all these guys and their electronic bs. If you ever drive one that was turned up at all you yourself would never ever ever think of anything electronic. And just to finish the conversation the prices on these crazy electronic engines is insane. The kit to rebuild a big cam 400 is about a thousand dollars. With all this waste of money going on, maybe I can get rich in this business, lol. If nothing else I can have peace of mind my stuff will start and run and do what it supposed to do without a stupid wire or electronic error costing thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars and an expensive tow trip. All that seems to be an incredibly silly and ridiculous waste of money.

That's the DINO SOAR point of view anyway.

 

You will never meet anyone who actually knows how trucks work from the inside out who would say any truck becomes unreliable junk with age, it literally costs almost nothing to keep door latches, rubber molding, cab mounts and running gear in top shape.

Those who wait for an engine to blow before scheduling a rebuild at a convenient time because the blow by is increasing or ignore a whine in the transmission until it dies on the road are the ones who let all the little stuff deteriorate as well, they blame age instead of sloth.

Your model is quite plausible, I know of several companies that have given up on the junk being produced today and are rebuilding old iron instead, they have no trouble finding drivers and they now have restored the reliability that they lost when dpf's became standard equipment.

Modern trucks, the best plastic money can buy.

 

What about global warming!? Your going to melt all the snowflakes!


Sitting in my truck on the side of the road doing a regen because apparently the def injector seems to have clogged. What a waste of time.
I long for the days when def stood for Def Leppard

 

The difference in Bob Spooner and any company driver you can name is phenomenal. Mr. Bob has a very sentimental attachment to that old Pete, you won't find company guys to treat one like that.

 

Fastest growing? Doubtful. Every upstart carrier says that. Now let's say you start working there. Right now they have older trucks and paper logs. If they truly are a fast growing company, how long do you think it will be before they convert to elogs and newer equipment? Carriers have to stay current to the competition in order to attract new drivers. One of these days, paper logs won't be able to entice drivers. Drivers arecoming out of school having never filled out a grid log by hand.

 

You are correct, sir. When I was a kid, we all wanted muscle cars with big block engines. The guys after me wanted Honda Civics with fartcan mufflers and stickers. Now they want Uber.

When we started driving, the truck had to look good and run triple digit speed. The guys after me didn’t really want to run hard, they just wanted a place to live, so they wanted a slow truck with a condo sleeper. The guys now don’t wipe their arses because that takes too much effort and so they don’t want to do anything other than hold the steering wheel. In 5 years, no new driver will have ever driven anything in life that didn’t have cattle prods. They will want an automated truck, as they will not feel safe at the controls.

There will be a market for high end freight and drivers who can get it there. And these guys will make a fortune.

“How do you know, Six?”

You know those old muscle cars, that run on leaded fuel (they call it race gas nowadays), that were carbed and had drum brakes? They are fetching 6 figures now. And there’s a market for converting them over to fuel injection, big disc brakes, helm join suspensions to make them handle and they are awesome.

The guys that can still truck with the trucks that can get it done will make a fortune. Forget about making a fleet. Keep 1 truck, and your skills up. In 5 years, you will have a goldmine. In 5 years, everyone who’s looking down on your truck and ideas will be obsolete.

You know what...,you know how they had those guys in Cuba that kept up all of those 1950s American cars, and made money riding tourists around? Mark my words, some of you will fetch top dollar letting wealthy tourist ride shotgun. “Chrome won’t get you home?” That chrome will pay for the homes.

 

Just get one of those Dinosaur and keep working on that.. I need my time's of and my mechanic need too pay his bills

 

I love being a dinosaur. The internet will never take off and I refuse to embrace technology. Time for my break. Excuse me while I warm up my luxury television set. Those new flat panel TVs willl never work

 

Take one of your trucks, and convert it over to disc brakes. Get the best transmission and clutch that money can buy. Get a 2 speed aux behind your gearbox. Build the engine and balance it. Totally new electronics and wiring. New air lines. New fuel lines. Best fuel management. Keep up on the turbo technology...it changes all the time. The best chrome. The best sounding exhaust. Dyno tuned.

Do like @Ruthless and run different types of trailers. In 5 years, mirrors and gauges will be a distraction. No one will know how to drive and no one will know how to think outside the box.

Every time there’s a solar flare, the other trucks will have to stop. Every time there’s an accident. Every time there is an obstacle in the road. Every time there’s a new virus. Ever time every one else has a bad day or a tummy ache, they will stop.

5 years. Run 1 truck now, modernize and build the hell out the other for later.

“How do you know, Six? How can you be so sure?”

Remember when you and I were coming up through school, first day in a new school and you’re the new kid. You try to be a good student, show up on time, stay out of everyone’s way...and some kid tries to pick on you. What did you do?
1. Tell the teacher
2. Ask him not to pick on you
3. Handle your business
4. Tell a parent
5. Run away
6. Commit suicide.

You’re the same person today. The fearmongers are telling you about breakdowns and technology and they want you to be afraid of tomorrow. Are you afraid? Or should I ask, DOES IT MATTER IF YOU ARE AFRAID? Nope. You’re going to do what you always do. Clients will know that and they will pay you top dollar. How will they know? In a world where everyone else is afraid of cattle prods and afraid to drive without cattle prods, you will stand out like a sore thumb. Solar flare proof, GPS proof, virus proof, sidewalk sissy proof. When you advertise, post a picture of your truck. There will be a market and very few that can do it.

 

@TripleSix you are dead accurate as always.