I had a construction business and have 70K to spend on a truck.

Please be carefull when concrete pump pouring. Safe is always first for concrete pump operation.

 

Construction has OSHA and Trucking has FMCSA. Trucking is way more regulated. As a young man construction is a way more healthier lifestyle. In trucking, especially once you get to the point of hiring drivers, its really not a great business to be in. Lots of risk. If you think its hard hiring acceptable workers now try finding an experienced driver who doesn’t have 18 companies recruiting him.

Not sure if you’ve had your ear to the ground but buying an ‘overpriced’ used truck with the parts shortages getting worse and having no end in sight. Guys are going to get even an oil change and they are told ‘we can change your oil but filters are on backorder’.

But who knows you might pay off that truck in six months with no major hiccups. Stock up on anything you think you’ll need.

If I was buying a truck today, Id probably only consider an oilfield capable truck. Meaning no collision mitigation or ground hugging fairings and a 10 or 13 speed with a decent axle gear ratio. If things go bad with freight you could probably hit the lease roads and make bank.

 

Try clinging to i81 in the freezing rain, spin up hill, slide down hill, while your fellow drivers go screaming by not caring, or too stupid to care, if they crash ot not. They drive a company truck and dont have to deal with $150+ an hour to fix it, corrupt insurance companies, and 10k+ deductible hanging over your head.
Most construction guys have to deal with is their morning hangover,.... a quick wake and bake, and some tunes on the dwalt radio and off to work you go, your $1000 tool investment and all...

 

Well it depends what kind of construction you're talking about.

If you're talking about building roads or having heavy equipment and tractor trailers and dump trucks and crews of men there's nothing easy about that.

If you have one truck you go to work and you wait to get paid. If you're smart your truck is paid off and you make whatever you make.

In Construction like that you're paying for all of the equipment you have your paying for all of the men you're paying for workman's comp you're paying for insurance you're paying for fuel and you're paying for whatever materials that the job needs, and you're waiting 30 or 60 or 90 days to get paid. The overhead and what you have to carry is astronomical. And if you don't get paid or you get paid very late or someone goes bankrupt or someone steals work out from under you there's nothing easy about it when you have 10 or 20 guys or however many that you're trying to keep them working and balance all of this.

Not saying that the trucking business is easy at all, especially as you grow, but that heavy type of construction really takes a certain kind of a person to run that kind of a business. And it takes a lot of people with him to run it.

 

my cousin has to have a 5 million dollar liability with a 5 million umbrella for a few of his commercial customers, and if you think $150 an hour to fix a truck (which I have never been any where near) you should price out cat or volvo. Was almost 3k in parts to do pins and bushing on the bucket coupler.

I’ve been on both sides though so what do I know.

 

Yeah, having to core drill and install railing for 8 hours in rain turning to snow turning to ice and then repeat for 3 days was brutal, ive tarped machines in -20 as well, also brutal but 12 years later im trucking, not in construction

Theyre different kinds of unpleasant, very difficult to compare and definitively say one is any better or worse than the other, especially since theyre co-reliant industries in many ways

 

the one thing both do have in common, is that there actually is no shortage of idiots in both industries

 

Aye, lookit me, i represent BOTH

But seriously, theres no shortage of people that rose to or above their level of incompetence in ANY field

 

I have a rebuilt 2006 freightliner century. Series 60 14.0 no emissions

- inframe
- six injectors plus harness
- mains
- new head
- all new gears in front cover
- overhead done
- new (alternator, starter, fuel pump, water pump, air compressor
- new cam/crank
- new radiator, and cac
- full brake job done (all component less than 100k miles)
- bunch of smaller stuff

truck runs like it don’t ever need to stop

60k cash. Located in Fort Worth tx

 

Yes they are Lol. I remember when I was little they came up to the quarry when I was there. The inspector didn't like that. I couldn't go to a job everyday where people hate you