First Time O/O..Just The Facts..

Do not lease a truck from any company.
Leasing to a carrier is OK as long as it's a reputable carrier.

YES!

NOT ENOUGH!

I agree....They're more expensive to repair than any other motor.

I disagree, But this is very subjective...Landstar isn't as good a company as it once was.

Yes...OOIDA is a great help for new and old O/O's alike! It's WELL WORTH the membership cost in just the discounts you get for being a member, Not to mention the other benefits of membership like being able to call and ask just about any trucking related question that you could think of and have it answered by someone that actually knows the answer.

2007 or newer.

Every driver? or every O/O? The thing will not pay for itself in 5 years unless you sit all the time and run it every time you sit like the idiots that you see running them regardless of conditions...
They're noisy, stinky and they require more attention than most guys will admit.
They're also too heavy to be practical.

Again, This is very subjective....I don't use synthetic oil and I probably never will because in my opinion the questionable benefits don't offset the cost.

 

The old Cats are more expensive thing.. ISX parts aint cheap either. A buddy of mine paid $1800 for a 14L detroit turbo. Thats more than I paid for mine. Do you know how much they cost for an ISX? Cheap parts are for motors from a decade ago or have made in china stamped on them anymore.

 

When getting yourself ready for o/o, don't believe that you "know" anything too readily. Each person you talk to will be different as will be their experiences. And you are an individual that will make his own way and have his own experiences. This is not to down play learning absolutely all that you can and obtaining all the input you can. But know that the verification of the info will come through much serious research and cross research, and personal experience will confirm if it's true for you.

 

I personally would not lease on anywhere if i can help it ever again. While there i some folks in some nice lease programs, most are letting themselves get taken advantage of.

While we didn't have a huge stack of cash to get started with i would definitely have more than 10k liquid after purchasing everything. Probably 15-20k or more...capitol is king...also depends on what time of the year you start what your gonna haul.

We have a CAT Acert and i would not buy anything with a CAT motor again...Detroit is the way to go... They get better fuel and cost half as much to overhaul.

OOIDA is well worth the membership, we also use there drug consortium. They have been very helpful. Anytime you have questions they are there. They also helped us get our operating authority.

We have a used 1st gen TriPac we got on what pretty good deal had it not been misrepresented. I work on it more than the truck these days. Its a pain in the ### to work on you cant do anything to it without taking it completely apart. Its been working solid now without some sort of hitch for about 2 weeks. That is probably the longest its has gone with a screwing up in some shape or form. The fuel savings is a joke when the motor is running especially in the summer when compressor is running a lot. But the wear and tear on the motor is cut in half maybe more since idling is hard on a motor.

This motor does best on Delo believe or not. Runs smoother, quieter and better fuel.



Its has been quit a ride out here. When we first started we ran for one broker with our own trailer hauling refrigerated, mostly produce. After around 6 mo's we were tired of hauling there cheap #### and took our training wheels off and started booking freight on our own.

This has been such a awesome learning experience booking our own freight and often times iam excited by the challenge of booking freight. It is a challenge doesn't matter where you are how good the rates are. Your always trying to get the best bang for your buck even if ##### rolling and everything is paying well over 2 bux a mile. By the way when it is rolling stack as much money as you can because with every up there is a down.


So here we are. We tried something a little different from the house this time and we have been stuck in Dallas, TX for about a week because nothing has come up that we will load in our trailer. It's just to cheap. You have to set standards. Once folks now you haul cheap its hard to break that reputation.

If you want your name to start showing up on peoples call list.

Be courteous and polite to everyone from the customer or broker down to the lady in the shipping office to the forklift driver. Don't be lazy take your ### on the dock and watch the freight be loaded and unloaded. Thank everyone no matter how ###### it may be. You might just be shocked at how many of these shippers and brokers communicate. Also do your check calls most can do by email now. They love the heck out of steady check calls.

Most of all have fun.