mpg VS cost of repairs?

Great plan!!

 

Well.. that's a load of info.

To generalize, most of what you stated about depreciation is true.
But, if your operation only runs 85k miles per year, that'll extend your value out a while longer because of the lower mileage ratio, provided that you don't idle like a crazy man and keep the engine hours low.
If you take care of a vehicle, the depreciation isn't an issue. The Cascadia and DD15 has become a very reliable animal.
If you keep the speed down, the idling low to non existent, have it spec'd correctly for your operation, and not what some flunky salesman needs to move from his sales line.. and do proper PM's.. including cleaning out the particulate filter BEFORE it becomes a problem (every 250k)..
That truck will last you 15+ years.
You'll get 7.5 to 8.5 mpg... but that depends on the driver.

There comes a point when worrying about trading one off at the perfect sweet spot in the financial line of things can become a mental tax.

Take care of it.. drive it til it pukes.

 

It's a gamble no matter which way you cut it. A big question on used trucks is why is it being sold? I am of the belief used emission trucks are on the lot for a reason. They probably have issues. In my case it was a finance company repo. I lucked out. I think these new engines can be decent engines if taken care of from the beginning. The biggest thing being no idling and plenty of preventative maintenance. And don't drive the snot out of it all day every day either. So I believe in buying new and taking care of it from day 1. A fleet has to have a planned cycle for trade in.

As far as depreciation goes it's a mix of miles and time. Take a look at various makes and models with different miles on them that are 3,4,5 years older than new and see how much they're asking. That's a fair way to get a picture of how much depreciation you're looking at.

Fuel economy.... pick your poison. The aero trucks will get better mpg. They also cost more to repair due to mechanic having to take so much off to get to the problem. Some folks will say Volvo is best. Others freightliner. You know the drill. Also consider what shops are in your area to fix it should it break down. An 8 mpg Volvo isn't any good if you need a dealer and closest is 500 miles away. How does that 7.5mpg freightliner look now?

I am one of those that think: drive it til it has 1 foot in the grave. Then sell or relegate to very local work only or yard work.

 

I quit reading after the first paragraph but I did manage to catch high paying loads and new vs slightly used... what kind of high paying loads? Like gold to fort Knox? I would buy something without DEF cause it will give you a world of crap. Like a slightly used Glider or a truck that DEF has been deleted. I spent over $16k last year in DEf repairs.. I dont wanna see you go through same crap

 

Truck payments can be 1500 a month real easy, pretty sure that's bottom end on a new truck actually.

 

He's trying to figure out the lowest cost of operation. You can ask 10 drivers this same question and get 11 different answers. The big players get trucks for a lot less than the rest of us. So their depreciation is smaller. Also why they turn them in every 3 or 4 years at 400 or 500 miles. The repair costs for them for the next cycle are more than the depreciation of the next unit. All under warranty. Also why they mostly don't care if drivers pound the absolute hell of the truck or idle it all the time they don't really care other than maybe some fuel expense. Which is also heavily discounted.
The flip side is someone like me I have to buy whatever then take care of it forever. The same short trade cycle doesn't work the same for me.