Is there a reason certain makes of trucks aren't seen often in the oilfield?

price, reputation, local dealer available for parts and repairs... all go into what the owner buys... and then you get the clueless owners, who believe the salesman, and buy a slightly beefed up over the road truck, that begins to fall apart at 50,000 miles...

The smart owners pay a little more up front, for a well spec'd truck, instead of the repairs of the OTR truck.

 

There was a time when Detroit was owned by GMC. There was a time when Freightliner was owned by White and Western Star was not owned by Daimler. Changes have not been for the better.

 

A lot depends on how it was maintained but here's the history

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Star_Trucks

 

No doubt....20/46k full lockers, 500 horse and lots of gears plus double frame rails gets it done nicely.

 

Look at Sanjel. All wester star fleet

 

If you go to Alberta Canada......you will see that Western Star trucks are nearly as common if not more common that the Kenworths & Petes. Western Star has more history in Canada than in the U.S.

Plus the owner of Sanjel (a Canadian company) is one of the owners or shareholders of the Western Star truck company.

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Western Star has been a division of Daimler for several years.

 

It may be that he owns a portion of the dealer network in Alberta or Western Canada.

The Owner of Contrans (Laidlaw) is partial owner of the Pete dealers in Ontario that is why pretty much every one of their trucks is a Pete

 

Here in ND, I see all kinds of trucks. I think the most common is a KW T800 with a coffin sleeper. That's what I drive,it gets the job done. Cummings 500hp 18 speed. Good tough truck. Not much if you gonna live in it but good enough to take a nap, or actually take your 10 in but wouldn't want to live in it.