Best tractor for durabilty

While some of this may be true, they are NOT all the same!

Take a Freightliner Cascadia. It's a cookie cutter truck. And, frankly from what I've heard, a pretty good one. But they are pretty much the same from one to the next.

Now take a Western Star. Each one is built to order (the 5700 may be an exception). It's not quite a cookie cutter truck. Are some junk? Certainly.

Take both of these trucks and put them on the highway and tell me after a million miles which one was the better truck. I can probably guess you, as a fleet owner, would say the Freightliner. I, as a driver, would probably lean towards the Star, for the simple fact that I've seen enough of these all plastic trucks rattle and squeak enough to make the Pope swear. But, as a fleet owner, you wouldn't mind such things, as long as the truck makes money.

Does that mean I don't have a clue? Maybe to some. But I can confidently say, I've been around the block a time or two, tasted the flavors. No two trucks are the same. You can have two identical trucks, one will be a turd, the other may be gold.
And yes, all the manufacturers have their quirks.

I'm not really partial to any one brand. But I have noticed which trucks seem to hold up better. And there is a pretty clear difference across the board.

The OP asked which truck would be the most durable. While there's really not a good answer for such a question, I would look at the averages.

At the end of the day though, if one has to ask such a question on a forum, I doubt they are ready to own a truck and be successful at it.

 

I'd say there are too many variables to say one truck is "better" than another.

The "worst" truck on the road will outlast the "best" truck if the worst one receives regular maintenance, is never overloaded, driven gently, etc and the best truck is run hard and put up wet.

A machine is a machine. I don't think ANY of the brands would stay in business if they made "junk." I'm sure each brand has its quirks but I think they all have advantages and disadvantages.

And the "plastic" parts people ##### about are cosmetic parts. But truth be told, put a plastic bumper and a metal bumper outside on the gulf coast and come back 10 years later and tell me which bumper will still be there. Hint: It ain't gonna be the metal one. Metal rusts, plastic doesn't. I'd rather plastic any day anywhere that structural integrity is not compromised.

Truth be told, all these companies do is assemble parts. They don't make the engines, they don't make the transmissions, they don't make the tires, they don't make the rims, they don't make the bearings, etc. Heck most don't even make the body panels. I know Freightliner doesn't make the hoods, another company does that specializes in fiberglass work. I know this because I haul them around in racks. So a "brand" of truck could get a bad reputation only because they trusted another "brand" of engine that turned out to be a dud or another manufacturer makes an inferior product.

Case in point: In 1997 Cessna restarted the production of it's 172 Skyhawk. Cessna decided on the Lycoming IO-320 engine for their new plane. Turns out, the Lycoming engine manufacturing process was bad and at 50 hours mechanics were getting handfulls of metal shavings in the oil filter. Cessna had to ground its entire fleet of 172's from 1997 to check for this issue and Lycoming almost went out of business replacing all of these engines that were bad. But from the outside looking in, it looked like Cessna made junk. A brand new plane grounded. But it had nothing to do with Cessna, all they did was bolt in the new engine. It was Lycoming that screwed up.

 

A question concerning the industries general view on the longevity of trucks:

I've always thought it was interesting that the trucking industry GENERALLY views tractors that are over say 8 years old as "being wore out". This is interesting when you consider some airlines fly planes well over 20 years (with strict maintenance plans). Do some research on the Mc Donald Douglas MD80, many of those things have been flying for a long time! Now a passenger jet is way more complex than a truck but the airlines seem to have figured out how to keep old machinery in working order. Now a truck that has been exposed to parts of the country that gets salt on the road I understand in those cases concerns about corrosion , but a large part of the US doesn't have that problem. Read the article below for more info on airlines average fleet age.

From Oldest to Youngest: The Average Fleet Age of the 10 Major U.S. Airlines

 

No, I'd say the whole point is that no, no "brands" are junk. They are as good as the driver in the seat and the mechanic in the shop.

There is no magic pill that will ensure the truck you buy will last 1000000000 miles. Buy the one that fits YOU best. It's your ### that will be in the seat 14 hours a day.

 

Yea, because its called supply and demand. Look it up.

And also greedy owners who think their trucks are the best.

Overpricing a truck doesn't make it reliable.

 

Everybody's got their own taste in trucks and their own version of what a junk truck is.

 

Im just trying to establish a baseline for what kind of equipment I'd want to run. I know theres a lot of knowledge on this board and you guys can offer some good insight. I understand equipment will take as good care of you as you take care of it, but we all know some brands are junk while others will shine through the hell we put em through. Especially in light of the way motors are made these days to comform to environmental regs. But yes, I'm brand new to trucking.[/QUOTE]


Just for the record that wasn't meant as an attack.