Overworking trucks

Think what the big carrier pays per unit when buying in bulk. I'm sure the $140k sticker price is much lower for them. 110? And what's a 3 year old truck sell for? And sometimes they will "sell" that unit to a lease purchase sucker again! For more than it's worth! I would be willing to bet they don't have as much depreciation expense as smaller fleets/independents. And since the majority of large fleet drivers don't care about fuel mileage or maintenance costs, it adds up to more expensive repairs after a relatively shorter timeline. So yes their uptime is improved as well as advertising to drivers "our equipment is never less than x years old".

I believe well taken care of equipment can last much longer. The big question mark is still the emissions systems. The latest stuff seems to be more reliable, but we haven't the time yet to see just how long they can be reasonably expected to live. Not like the engines of yesteryear, some proving to be pretty much indestructible. S60 and 6nz and n14 era is what I'm saying. Time will tell.

 

We don't have a cutoff. We own all of ours, outright.
None are newer than 2013 (only two), one of which is a glider kit with an older motor . Or have less then 300k on them at time of purchase. Most came in with better than 500k. And NO DPF\DEF or EGR. Save for that one 2013, that the boss got for a steal since it had Gremlins in the DEF system.

 

Greetings....
Most companies run their Units to right around the 400K. But, it is Not a Set rule.

 

Depends on what companies being talked about.

The megas trade em in every 3 - 4 years. My last company was every 3 years.

Call it what you want. I wish the tires would fall of my 07 w9. I don't miss the OTR but i miss the new FL.

 

Big fleet buyers rarely get any sort of meaningful "discount" on the trucks themselves. It's like 3/4 and 1 ton work trucks. You NEVER see those disconnected because they know you have to have them.

 

Around here they're kept until the maintenance and repair cost pisses the boss off. I think our oldest is a '96. He buys gliders and they're put together in our shop. Engines are rebuilt by the local Cat shop. We run local, and don't see a ton of miles. We have two 2003's that just hit a million.

For us, the miles on the truck don't matter. But once they start spending too much time in the shop, they're sold, usually to a farmer.

Funny thing, the first and only new factory built truck the boss had was a 99 KW w900. Wasn't anything special. He ran that truck until it hit just over a million miles. The neighbor, who runs a logging operation wanted that truck in the worst kind of way for a while and kept bugging the boss about it. The answer was always the same. NO! Then it was repainted, and some minor engine work was done. Nobody was running it on a daily basis by this point, which was 2016. The neighbor walks in the shop with $40k in cash and demanded to buy the truck. Of course, he drove it away. He ran it two months and it throws a rod through the block. So he calls the Cat shop, orders a new crate engine and new transmission. $40k later he's happily driving down the road when some nimrod cuts him off, and he rolls the truck. So his $80k unicorn is no more. Fortunately, the only thing hurt in the accident was his pride, and his checkbook.

 

so you can see it varies by company policy, cost, warranty life, resale value.

too many variables for each company to do it for the same reasons.

 

Do you have that backwards? Or do you need a drug test?

 

My dads 93 ch has less rust than the 09 shaker at my last job and rode better too. The steel was better quality back then