Any single truck operations keep a spare truck around?

Years ago, when trucks broke on a daily basis, I knew several guys that had a "backup truck". Company drivers usually had to begrudgingly drive the "yard truck" when theirs broke down, but today, you really shouldn't need a backup truck. Today, with inspections and cost, heck, I'd rather take a few days off than maintain a truck that isn't used. Besides, you know how it is, things are going okay, maybe I should put a driver in that spare truck,,,guess who usually got the "spare" truck?

 

No never bought a plate for it when it was a backup. They are same brand, same year. .

 

there’s still guys running around with identical trucks and one plate, although not as easy to get away with as years passed.

my uncle has a small construction company and has a spare tractor that we were looking into putting into my name so we could both use it as a spare and it was a bit more of a hassle then either of us wanted as I had to register and insure both trucks the same, (for the milage radius). I just run it locally if the works there not as much money but it keeps the customers happy if they are busy, or I’ll just sit home and wait for my truck to be fixed.

 

I do, but she's officially for sale as of last week. As said, the troubles with sitting trucks (I have four dead batteries I need to replace right now), the cost of insurance, registration, etc, make it an expensive option.

I've updated my accounts with Paclease, Ryder and Penske in January, and I can toss the driver in an Uber for 300 miles to the nearest available rental truck WAY cheaper than even half a year's registration and insurance.

I'll probably regret it, but that's the call I just made.

 

Never had a spare truck, but had 2 spare trailers at one time. Not sure if it would be cost effective to pay insurance on a truck for it sit, just for a one man operation.

 

Why is that? Why more attention to small operators?

 

They let me do it, just cut out cargo coverage completely and liability drops in half. Basically to have a truck sit, it costs me about 30% of the usual full coverage

 

Cheaper to rent when needed then have one on standby.

 

Is it possible to have the stand by truck unregistered and only on Physical Damage and Theft coverage, and then only when it is needed reregister it with a 30 day permit and add Liability - of course, after the task has been completed the spare truck would return to its stand by mode: not sure if you can stop IRP from finalizing but the Liability is cancelled?

I was thinking about the same as op, as a matter of fact, I thought of it as a viable option since the resale value of the old truck is nothing. In my case, the cost of parking spot rent comes into play too but there were a few instances when I really wished I had a spare.

 

Not necessarily "more attention" just that the bigger the fleet, the more likely they will really have a number of extra/spare drivers, and from an underwriting standpoint we can understand it better.

What we see all the time are one to five power units, with 2 to 10 drivers and they try to convince us they are "spare" drivers and they aren't really driving teams, or hot/slip seating.

Trust me, depending on how long an underwriter has been dealing with trucking for hire, you get to hear every reasoning and excuse known to man.......and after you've heard the same bs story for 50+ years like I have, you tend to be a tad bit cynical.