brand new truck

I have a 2017 Pro Star with 250k miles. Last Friday it overheated. Called T/A roadside. He spent two hours with a laptop to determine the thermostat was bad. He got $244. Now a wrecker pulls it into International and I get a room. $50 for the room and 160 for Lyft to take me home the next day. The dealer couldn't fix it until late Wednesday. Ride back was 90 with Uber. Picked it up Thursday. Company paid all the bills. I am sure you can guesstimate. So not only a large bill, but 3 days of lost revenue. Better be flush with cash before you do this. That's about the mildest thing that could happen.

 

This is all due to being an def truck. That is why the high repair cost.

 

That and electronics. You can't get an extended warranty that will cover them. One reason the megas dump after 3 years.

 

I can imagine that with 2600-3000 payments there is really little time margin to spare, especially if someone wants to have a family life. I know for sure, the way I've seen and done things so far with the loadboard freight, that a brand new truck would change my behavior. Forget about situations when it is Friday afternoon in Atlanta and I say "F...it I am going home, we go fishing Sunday morning" after which I deadhead 700 miles home. Instead, I'd probably take overtheweekend load to Texas or even Oregon, because money is going to be short otherwise.

 

There’s no one “right” way to do this. I could tell you get a pre egr truck for cash and it not work out. I could say buy new and it wouldn’t work out. A lot of it has to do with MENTALITY, and the will to be passionate about what you do. This means ongoing research and sharpening of your skills. It doesn’t matter if someone with a poor mentality makes $300 a week of $800 a week, the money will still be gone and never be “enough”.

Buying a truck is an investment that takes much on going recon of info and intellectual and sweat equity. I suggest finding an owner op who does fine, that has been through the ups and downs, has done or experienced a bulk of the maintenance - bring him with you when you buy, be patient and find the best possible truck for your application. Buy cash if possible and buy the tools and back up parts you need, - learn on here, YouTube and real life, how to fix certain things or AT LEAST become literate on the terms and terminology of this business. If you take your truck into a dealer or whomever for repairs, it’s WAY better telling them what you need done because you know , rather than them playing you as an open checkbook. This means buying diagnostic equipment and software, knowing the names and ball park price ranges of parts and service and etc. good luck

Be willing to be chastised and be willing to learn.

 

The common denominator in all of these replies: you better have money. Lots of it. Drivers fail because of that reason alone. No money going in.

 

Do you plan on doing a lot of business in CA or NY? If so then you stuck buying a newer truck with DEF and all that junk. Almost 65% of the stops for the company I am leased to are in CA so we just lease straight from the dealer then give the truck back after 4 ish years and get a new one. The warranty may not pay your down time but it's better then having to pay for the down time and the repair. If I didn't have to run in CA I would get an older rig pre - DEF and have it thoroughly gone through before purchasing it. There is a guy that parks where I park my rig that bought a 95 freightliner and a used trailer for $7500. He just does short haul runs about 500 miles round trip a few times a month. Man I wish I could afford to do that lol, maybe someday. He has had that truck for 4 years and it only broke down once on him.

 

Larry, look into a full-maintenance lease with Volvo.