Leasing at Prime

Certainly not aggravated, but if you want a good answer you need to post it somewhere that the company guys will see it.

 

The Cascadias get about the best fuel economy that I've seen. Keep in mind that any driver with a lead foot can easily take a great 8 mpg truck and turn it into a 5 mpg truck.

The only time they get Kenworths is when the production lines at the other manufacturers are maxed out. Currently, there's a rumor going around that all acquisition of Paccar products will stop due to unresolved warranty issues. That being said, these trucks are much more expensive to lease than a Cascadia. The Pete's can be leased by a new lease operator, but I'm pretty sure that if you want a Kenworth, you'd have specifically order it - and that requires having at least one 3-year lease under your belt.

 

What are you running IP?

 

'09 Cascadia (no DEF,) DD15, 3.42 rears, 10-speed, Michelin XZA3+ steers, X-One XDA Energy wide single drives, Centramatics dynamic balancers all the way around.

Considering buying the beast to keep me out of the SCR technology.

 

I hear good things about def engines especially in mpg category? Have you heard different?

 

So if i sign on at Prime most likely its going to be a cascadia? Is that the trend. Also heres a good one i haven't seen posted that i know of. Where do you get all the equipment needed ie chains, thermometers, load locks and etc.. so that you are ready to roll

 

Ive been told they will sell them to you or you can buy on your own.

 

Less EGR means more power for the fuel injected in the cylinder. Yup, they get great mileage - in the 8's. For my perspective, its another fluid to mess with, another system to break, and if I were to lease one of them next summer there would be yet a different set of "better" technologies in trucks three years down the line. I'm more interested in the overall health of the truck at the end of the lease... if it's a winner, I think I'll stick with it.

The standard first lease trucks right now are Cascadias and Pete 587's. Rumor has it that there is a kerfuffle between Prime and Paccar over the warranty, and we're suspending acquisition of more Pete's for the time being. We did get some Kenworths this spring, but I imagine that was just to fill the gap because of production problems with Freightliner and Peterbilt.

Lease ops can obtain their service and supplies wherever they like, as long as it meets the manufacturers spec's. Equipment like chains and load locks are available through the company shops; locks, thermometers, maps, etc., are available through the company store. Generally this stuff is priced at a discount over what you see at the truckstops. The lock set is priced at a hefty discount over the manufacturer's online price for example.

 

IP, is you don't mind me asking, this has nothing to do with leasing or Prime. What is the difference between say an 06 with EGR and a later model with DEF as far as maint, long term reliabilty and fuel mileage? Are you finding the singles on the rear are helping with the fuel mileage? If you want to keep the thread on topic please feel free to ignore.

Thanks
JOhn

 

My experience with singles are that they offer better mpg's especially when paired with centramatics.