Are the newer trucks really that bad, no longevity anymore?

Don't know what brand or year trk your talking about? But seals,differential gears and ac has not really changed alot unless you are talking 1940's. I have had ac pumps last 7 years, and had them crap out in 2 yrs. Had the rear differential in my 1981 co IH. go well over 1.4 mil. miles. That was lubed with Kendall 3 star oil not synthetic. Some things a person can't control when they break. Others 100% driver controlled, and maintenance . Just a fyi..that cabover had 1, 640,000 miles when i sold it. Bought a king pin bushing kit for front axle. Sill have half of the kit, as only the right side was ever done. Thats in Pa. and those days we had to get state inspections twice a year. State finally went to once a year inspections a couple years ago. What is your definition of " oldiron" ? May be different, depending on who defines it.

 

Small air and oil leaks aren't that big of a deal, just something you deal with on a truck with miles on it. A.C. is a nothing, you don't need it and you will be fine without it, in fact everybody should be stuck with a no a.c. and no cruise truck their first year, so they know how good they actually have it. Do you own your new truck? How much do you pay the bank every month whether it's going down the road or sitting in the shop with some issue nobody can solve?

 

Yeah, I think every trucker should learn to survive only on Ramen Noodles & water their first year out OTR! On top of that, only 1 shower and change of undies too! LOL

This old vs new discussion is hilarious! I'm not sure why so many old truck preference guys are so engaged with those of us, who for a variety of reasons, have gone the new truck route.

What am I missing exactly?

 

Foods a lot more important to me than a.c., I'd trade my a.c. for a guaranteed 12oz steak every night. The point is most people who think they have it bad, ain't seen nothing yet. What are you missing on the old vs new, well how much have you paid off on your new truck? How screwed are you if something takes a #### tomorrow and nobody can find out what the hell is wrong with it for 2 months, that's what you're missing. Old paid for truck has issues and is out for a couple months, we don't have a truck or trailer payment to worry about, thats what you're missing.

 

So I need to make a few $3,000 payments, big deal. Grab a rental, and go. Money is not the problem I have to solve, lack of management time is. Try hiring a driver for a truck where the AC doesn't work half the time....... then you'll find out how long your truck will sit while you try to solve a problem you can't solve.

The truck is there to take my product to my customers. If I don't show up on time with a happy driver, my customers are pissed. They don't give me their money when they are pissed. My focus is on producing what the customers want and getting it to them when they want it.

For a one truck guy, dicking around with the truck might be fun; it's not for me. Trucking is a necessary evil for companies like mine, and it needs to operate with the least amount of management attention possible. Trucks need to run, drivers need to drive, and I'll pay whatever I need to pay to accomplish that.

 

I get all that. However, some operators such as myself are required to operate an emission truck on the lane I run. In addition, I have ZERO interest in running an old truck, PERIOD. I do just fine in my operation, thank you very much

 

So you're going to pay 3k a month for a truck payment on a truck broke down and costing you money left and right, and on top of that you're going to go rent another truck, that's a brilliant. Or you can go pay cash for an older truck, that costs about what you should've paid down on a new truck if you've got any financial sense at all, and by the time you've put half of what that new truck costs back into it, your old truck is more reliable than you might imagine. Yes I like pissing around with my truck, in fact I've thought about buying another cheap old truck just to have something do on the weekends and maybe make a couple bucks on when I'm done.

 

Obviously one person’s way of doing business won’t work for everyone. But the problem is that people think everyone else should be doing it the way they are and if you’re not then you’re wrong.

I didn’t mind the old trucks I owned, until I sold the last one and took a job driving a glider that was 22 years newer. Even going backwards and driving the 06 in Hawaii was irritating. I have zero interest in running an old truck again. In fact I’m currently on my way to pick up the emission truck with 245k on it that I bought.

 

Have never had to get a rental with the new truck, but had to several times with the old one.

As far as two weeks in the shop, dropped her off at Kenworth this morning at 11:30 with a CEL (gelled up at -10 yesterday, thank you TA North Bend), and it threw a code when we pulled the fuel filters. Drove it away with a replaced mirror and code for low fuel pressure cleared by 1 pm. Very anti-climactic, that.