Anyone running one of the newer Chey/GMC 4500/5500 Hd trucks?

No one is financing those. That's the problem with buying older expensive trucks you have to drop all the cash. I mean don't get me wrong buying new is not my 1st choice by any means. I'm a cheap SOB and I've never bought anything but my current trailer new before. However. interest rates are ridiculous right now and dealers are desperate so it makes more sense to go for a new truck vs used and honestly I know I've been pushing my luck running my old truck all over hell and back.

With that said.. I am still planning to go look at a 5 pack car hauler this one. It actually has a sleeper on it which is next to impossible to find. It's a 2000 so hopefully a 99 build date and eld exempt. Has a Cummins and a 9 speed.



I can get it for under $15k.. So I'm gonna consider it for sure.

 

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing on the 5pack truck as far as neighborhoods go. I might not get right to the door, but I'm sure I could get it closer than a 53 ft trailer on a truck.. lol

As far as working on them.. Yeah, I can, but I don't really like it. I mean yes I do it, but it does get old. It's also the added stress level of always being worried if somethings gonna break.. but yea even on a new truck once that warranty is gone I'd be fixing it.

As far as being stuck if I didn't like cars with that 5pack.. yeah, that's one concern of mine as well. On the flip side, the price of that truck is about the same price as a good HS trailer on its own so not like even if something happened later down the road that I couldn't turn course with a different truck.

Cars though I dunno it's just so much easier dealing them than dealing with freight brokers. I like to leave my options open, but I haven't even been looking at freight much lately because cars have been paying better and I hate jumping through all the hoops these freight brokers want you to jump through.. I call car broker and they assign me the car a few mins after I get off the phone. freight broker, I have spend 20 mins filling out a broker package and then waiting for the rate con ect..ect... I been liking cars more and more the less I have to deal with freight broker BS... lol

Also, cash money baby... $2,2k of what I earned last week was "cash". The rest was checks at delivery with the exception of one load.

Now as far that that 5pack goes.. my biggest worry is SUV's and CUV's because they are a big part of the cars that get moved. Also if I went cars full time I was really looking to do a set up that could haul 2/3 sprinters or trucks. but then again the money idea of 5 cars is nice too.

 

Yeah, 65 is way too much.. The reason I was looking at the Chevy is that you can get them in the $39-45k range.

Anyway.. as far as debt goes I need to upgrade trucks, it's holding back my business. Buying new vs used is really no difference when it comes to debt just shorter payment at the end in exchange for a warranty at the start or using up valuable cash reserves.. (that's how I started I used up valuable cash trying to stay out of debt and it was almost critical.)

If my current truck was already an f450 or f550 I'd keep it and run it until it dies, but it isn't and for me to grow I have to upgrade. If I listened to "it's not the right time" to do this or that I wouldn't have my authority right now. I will just say I'm hard-headed but capable enough to push through what I need to.

I got the same type of naysaying when I ran a lease truck.. Oh you will go broke, you will work for nothing, just be a company guy and drive for 20 years before you get your authority. Well, 2 years later I have my own authority for 8 months now because I didn't listen to naysayers and went ahead with what I felt was the right move.

Admittedly, it doesn't always work out right at first, as an example, I bought the wrong trailer starting out which has held me back in some ways but also that mistake saved my ### during CV. I got into hotshot to run freight but I didn't buy a 40' deck over as I should have. I bought a low boy capable of hauling cars or freight but wasn't ideal for either. That was a very bad decision when running freight my 1st 4 months because I was so limited due to deck space. However, the mistake turned into my saving grace because the trailer is capable of running cars, and since CV hit cars are what kept me running and actually have made me more than freight ever did. In fact, I've made more money per month for the last 2 months running cars during CV than I did running freight.

Anyway, the way I look at it, if I can't go out and make $1k month to cover a truck payment, then I don't need to be in business.

With all that said, I still haven't decided what route I'm taking. I still need to go look at that 5pack truck and I did find another truck/trailer combo that has potential for the price. The truck isn't really what I want but it could make due for a while, but the trailer is a low wedge with the lift on the front. I'm not sure who makes it but it's the lift on the front with 2 polls at the front and you can pivot the lift to work as a ramp for a long vehicle or tilt it forward to run a car up under it. It's a very cool set up and the price is very good. The drawback is it comes with a single axle day cab. (the guy is getting out of trucking wants it gone)

Anyway, that truck trailer combo would let me haul 3 sprinters/trucks or 4 cars so I'd be more than doubling my earning potential to what I have now. It's ready to go set up but has no sleeper, meaning I'd have to replace that truck but the price with the trailer is extremely good so hard to pass it up because I could get it and start running loads soon as it was all registered.

edit.. the trailer has a lift on the front like the trailers in singlescrewshaker picture above. It's not same trailer but very similar.

 

na it's an older trailer but seems to be in good enough shape but it's a flat low wedge no step-up in the front.