Does owning a "tricked out truck" land you better gigs?

Chrome won't get you home.

 

It was personal choice for myself. Really, it made me like driving it more. The more I put on it the more I wanted to show it off. It never got me a load off of its good looks though. That was my job.

 

Man ain't that the truth.

 

very simple business 101 if you have a tricked truck that charges $2 per mile so that it can make a profit do to all the money gone into chrom and you have a normal truck that can charge $1.50 and still make a profit the shipper will choose the normal truck 99% of the time

sure the tricked truck can take loads for 1.50 but then you woud just be working to keep up that truck making less money than the normal truck

dont get me wrong i love seing does nice petes with all the chrom and chiken lights

 

well i'm in southern califonia and i see more "border brothers" driving bashed up trucks than i see tricked out overchromed trucks. as an owner/operator, price gets you loaded, not how shiny your rig is. now there is another aspect in maintaing a quality piece of equipment,being able to get the job done.shippers don't care as long as the INSIDE of the trailer is clean and odor free,recievers don't care as long as the load gets there on time and intact. brokers don't care cause they never actually see your truck,it's all about can you get the job done for the price.now as for your personal appearance-that can make or break you.shippers and recievers remember scruffy and stinky drivers-they'll make comments to the broker like-where did you get that derelect,don't send him here again.and your attitude goes a long ways there also,brokers like people who are easy to work with,that don't make waves with teir customer base.

 

I think its all about dependability..if u look like crap but can be depended on and can give ths customer what he wants and get his freight there on time...you'll be used each and every time...

 

I think that if you're truck looks like crap then you probably don't care about it and if the shipper see that he is going to think that you probably don't care about his cargo either. If you are out polishing,washing and cleaning all the time it gives you more chances to find something wrong with you're truck before something really bad can happen. This is why the DOT will let you go by more often the the old heap right behind you

 

I would not think it matters.

All of the companies I worked for had the loads obtained by phone or internet. I never had to show up and get the shipper outside and say "Look at our trucks".

The shipper doesn't care. They only want the freight moved safely, and cheaply.