I WANT A PRE-EMISSIONS TRUCK

You’re wanting to buy a truck and be an O/O I’m assuming? I don’t recommend you buy an older cheap truck. Those trucks are cheap because they are going to require a lot of time and money to bring them up to 100%. Only if you gave your own place to do your maintenance and the skills necessary, should you buy an older truck. Save your money and buy something with 475k or less on it that has had an APU on it for its life and you’ll be better off. There is no way of getting into trucking cheaply or remaining in it cheaply; those that try to do it cheaply go out of business.
In your search for a truck stick to what I said above. Your first truck is not about what you want, but what you can afford and is in the best condition. I could care less about brands, I want specs that will yield the best MPG, and a truck that has had more preventive maintenance than just changing the oil once in a while.

 

https://www.truckpaper.com/listings/trucks/for-sale/27663751/2002-volvo-vnl64t770

 

They will take 10k on this truck. Front cover is leaking, bell housing too. Transmission leaks ,needs a cac, some rust on the floor. But has a solid base to start with.

 

I like reliable trucks that make money.

 

Well. Well. It’s a tricky game in truck purchasing, period. If you’ve been in biz for a while it would really help when inspecting the truck. Wire chaffing, leaks, etc the list goes on and on. But once you’ve been in business long enough you’ll get an eye for this stuff.

The Volvo you mention is a generation 1 Volvo. Many of these on the road still. Those were equipped with a Volvo D12, Cummins n14, or a Detroit series 60. I would suggest breaking those motors down and doing the research on the pros and cons of each so you can make a better educated choice.

Be careful of the 2005’s and late 2004’s... they make the first round egr motors. Start investing in all sorts of little hand tools and carry them everywhere u go. That way when little stuff pops up u can try to wrench it out.

Good luck

 

My first OTR truck was a 2007 386 with a C15 CAT and DPF emission. It was a nightmare. Constantly down and in the shop. Failed regens, failed forced regens, limp mode, one thing after another. I swore never again.

Next truck was a 2005 Freightliner Columbia with the same ACCERT C15,.. but no emissions. Night and day difference. Very reliable truck. Still own it today with over 1.6 million mi on it. Last time is was in the shop was April 2017 for a new radiator. Before that was May 2016 for a new ECM and wiring harness. I have a driver beating the snot out of that truck now. Mechanically the truck has been wonderful.

Currently in a 1998 KW W900 with a 3406E and again,.. wonderful reliable truck.

Make no mistake,.. buying a used truck you will be putting some money into it after you buy it. How much and for what depends on the truck. Thats just the nature of the business we are in. Its a constant battle of making money to put money back into the truck so you can go out and make more money.

If you want to sit in a hotel while your truck is in a shop for weeks at a time while they diagnose and figure out whats wrong with it and not making any money,.. then roll the dice and buy a new truck with emissions and warranty. Either way its going to cost you.

I personally prefer the reliability of pre-emissions trucks that a normal mechanic can repair and know what I have in it rather than something so complicated they need a 2000 page manual and an IBM main frame data base just to diagnose it.

New or used,.. either way your going to spend the money.

Hurst

 

I bought a 2000 FLD 120 for $8k cash. I've put 80K miles on it since I bought it, and it's cost me nothing more to keep it going than a full set of tires, a fan clutch, oil changes and other normal maintenance items that a newer truck would have required. I spent $2000 to install a generator and mini split heat pump in lieu of a $10,000 APU, and $500 for a set of DOT approved LED headlights. It has a CAT C12 with 1.5million miles that gets 6.9MPG all day long.

All in all, It's cost me less than half of what a truck payment would have cost - and even a newer truck would have needed many of the same things that I had to have repaired on the one I bought.