Are we fixing to see a huge purge in trucking?

Same. And I agree with the others that a home is much more valuable then college unless you're in some specialty thing. But, we all make our own decisions. To me college is worthless and I’m very thankful I didn’t go.

 

100% guarantee you’re paying more then $12,000/yr for maintenance and any other cost associated with breaking down. But yeah, goal after resale is to pay cash for the next new truck id imagine. There is also lost revenue associated with increased down time. Oh, and not all of us like working on crap constantly.

Edit: 179 depreciation is handy as well.

 

Over time you may be correct, but this t800 so far has cost me in 7 months

1 air bag (400, only actually costs 75, but 400 miles from home + labor)
3 oil changes (350 ea)
40 studs/nuts (450)
1 rear end yoke/ujoint (280)
1 turn signal stalk (50)
Mudflap hangars/rear lights (500)
2 hood springs (had spares)
1 air dryer (150)
2 window cranks (30)
1 radio head unit (150)
2 sleeper bags (100) for this weekend
1 oil chg draincock (75)
New wipers/spray nozzles (50)

Thats 3185 in 7 months. Imma go double check what ive missed from my thread now

Things i missed
Heater Valve (115)
Led flasher (10)
Shifter knob (20)
12v Ac addon (400)
Starter solenoid (30)

So +575 = 3760 in 7 months...

@Midwest Trucker
Thats only 537$/ month... and remember that i allocated 1k

 

That's a good year for an old truck. Better savor the good feeling you get from it cause most years with an old truck ain't like that. There's a reason fleets dump them after 3 or 4 years. Even small fleets. Even small fleets with guys running them that know how to fix and wrench anything on them that will break. Downtime sucks.

 

As for other costs associated with breakdown/downtime lost revenue, i would think that would be more punishing with a higher payment than a lower one. And so far ive only HAD to delay anything 2 days due to not having the right part yet.

I dont mind doing the work, its a stretch to say i ENJOY working on truck stuff.

I enjoy poking stuff, i dislike HAVING to work on things

 

I'm very much in the camp of people that appreciate their college experience, the knowledge gained, and the exposure to things I'd otherwise never would have seen or learned. That said, college it's not at all necessary to "do well" in this country. I've explained to many over educated people that they could make twice as much as they are making as a driver for UPS. Mentioning that to bankers should probably be on top of my "guilty pleasures" list.

I've got two kids, one with a master's degree, one with a couple of false starts in college. Guess which one makes more money? Right, the one that flipped college the bird after being treated worse than a truck driver by the university during the Covidiocy. Building his business, making bank. I'm still hands on, outside, rain or shine the majority of my working time, staring 60 in the face.

That said, I think that a college education (in something useful, not Renaissance French Literature) is a good thing. If nothing else, the odds are that you can finish out your working life in your chosen career without worrying about what to do when your body can't do the physical job anymore. At that point, having a degree or at least some certifications (like Project Management, etc) is a way to keep the income from falling off a cliff. Trucking, like many trades, doesn't seem to be easy on the body, and many need to go do something else to finish out their earning years at some point.

Of course, owning your own gig is much the same. If the body doesn't allow for the physical part of the job anymore, you can hire some 22 year old young stud to do if for you. Which I did, yesterday, lol.

 

Thats partly why i bought this one and still have the other older t600...

Its lifetime maintenance is at 1k a month and a ton of parts are interchangeable.

It still runs, heck its got a new transmission with less than 4 months on it, just wanted a 2nd vehicle in case of catastrophe.

Probably have to run it while i yank engine in this to fix an oil leak over the winter sometime.

 

Pulling engines to fix oil leaks doesn't sound like unicorns and rainbows but at least your mechanic time is for free and there's a backup truck.

 

You just keep telling yourself that

 

I've seen a but load of threads here and heard the horror stories from.friends about their newer trucks having to be towed to & in the shop for repairs for weeks even over a month waiting.on parts or because the shop didn't fix it correctly ... I know recently a member here that had his truck worked on at a dealer they pinched a wiring harness and he drove roughly about 1,000 miles before it was a issue then he sat in a motel for over a week while another dealer worked on it
Thats not the way I want to truck & you will never convince me a new truck is a safer bet than a older truck .. and thats the reason somebody chooses to make huge truck payments cause of better fuel mpg and fewer breakdowns .. I for 1 am not buy'n your snake oil theory
Do I always enjoy working on a truck to fix a oil leak or put a clutch in ? ..Not always .. & can I afford a break down? The answer is yes & no on that & if I miss a weeks worth of loads and have to work on my truck .. well so be it .. I not worried about how I'am gona make this months truck payment because I hsven't had a truck payment in almost 20 years
But then again I don't live in the door swinger world also my loads are very time sensitive so I can't afford to sit along the side of the road waiting on a rescue truck to finish my load so I do alot.of preventative maintenance
Everybody has their on view point .. mine is I'll stick with a older truck I can work on myself