My journey so far as a new O/O

I have just bought my first truck and I figured I'd share my experience overall. The shopping, the paperwork, the mechanical issues, the legal crap, the work itself.

This 1st update is going to be long!

I used to work night shift for a contractor at FedEx Ground. I was local around NYC, but despite that, I'd still get paid by mile (95cpm). If I make 300+ miles a day, it was a good work night. Then FedEx took a dive and forced all extras, as in the not-dedicated-run drivers to sit for hours and wait for 2 full loads. My last week I was making about 100 miles a day. So I quit.

I started shopping around for a truck. I wanted to get into flatbeds, and still do. So I was looking more for a midroof truck. No need for a full size when most flatbed loads are not 13'6. And also less headaches driving around NYC when I get home.

I was looking for trucks around $40k-$50k. Prefer a Pete or KW. Preferably with a Cummins, Detroit, or CAT. I don't trust Mack or Mercedes engines. Heard mixed things about Paccar. And International's MaxForce was completely off the table. Actually, International was off the table (horrible personal experience with the ProStar's when I worked FedEx). Manual only. Prefer a 13 or 18 speed - I like the control of a manual and these days it'll also work as a theft deterrent since a lot of new drivers don't know how to drive stick.

The following week after I quit FedEx I was driving around PA, NJ area to different dealers and checking out the trucks they had in my price range.
1st truck I looked at, dealer in PA, about a 2 and half hour drive from my home, white 2013 Peterbilt 386 with a Cummins, 13-speed, around 650k miles, $50k. It was a rusted hunk of ####! The frame was all rusted. The turbo looked rotten. Took pics and sent them to a mechanic buddy of mine. He responded by telling me to GTFO of there, that truck is trash. Took his advice.
2nd truck, another dealer, also in PA, closer to home, red Kenworth T660, midroof, Paccar, 13-speed, about 450k miles, $43k. Truck looked fine in and out. Took it for a test drive but it was the beginning of the afternoon rush hour so I couldn't open it up on the highway. It drove nice, no apparent issues. Started talking financing. Dealer wanted about 8$k down, which seemed a little steep to me, but I could manage that. And I really liked that truck.
My mechanic really stressed that I should open it up on the highway and do a few hard pulls with it before making the final decision. I took his advice and next day did another test drive. At high speed (50+mph) the truck started throwing massive clouds of white smoke under full throttle. Called the mechanic and he explained that's it's most likely coolant in the engine or exhaust system. And that it's an expensive and hard-to-diagnose repair. I told the dealer that and if they can repair it, I'd consider it. Dealer called the next day and tried to BS me about how that's normal, it's an older truck, they sometimes smoke, yada yada. No! ########! If it was black smoke, that means it's a straight pipe, and that's not an issue. But that was a 2012 spewing white smoke, so it had a DEF system, so there should be NO SMOKE!

On the way back from that dealer I stopped at another one. I forgot the name of it but that dealer did not ####ing exist! I don't mean the company, I mean the physical location that was showing on the map. It's an abandoned warehouse. I called them and apparently they only exist online and are more of a broker between private sellers. Not dealing with this ####!

Drove to another dealer, Liberty Kenworth in South NJ. The KW's they had we're either out of my price range, or 1.5m mile trucks going for $30k+. But I did find a truck that I was interested in - ironically for a KW dealer it was a 2014 Freightliner Cascadia. But it had deposit on it.

Throughout the days I always called dealers before going to them to make sure they still had the trucks. Half of them were either sold or already had a deposit.

I called Arrow truck sales, the salesman I was connected to was really obnoxious and pushy. He tried his best to get me to come down there and check out something, anything. I told him my price range and what I'm looking for, he started giving me life advice. "Don't buy a house or a new car, pay this off as soon as possible. Hold off on the marriage or kids..." ####ing what!? The truck! Tell me about the truck! Don't give unsolicited life advice! You're not my shrink! His obnoxious and pushy attitude turned me off of Arrow Truck Sales.

Drove to a dealer close by in NJ. All they had were Volvo's and a few Cascadia's, all with with an auto and around $60k. Next!

Found another dealer near Jersey City. They had some clean, later model trucks. I was checking out a 2015 KW T680. It was really clean, in and out. Paccar, 13-speed, about 500k miles. Couldn't test drive because it had no fuel in it. Fine, whatever, maybe next day. I started talking about financing and they wanted $10k down. That's a little much for comfort.

I had about $15k at hand, not counting the two $2k credit cards. So if I put that much down, I'll still have to pay for registration, EZpass / tolls, fuel, food on the road, and a potential breakdown. I thought I'd be able to put only $5k down, but that was not the case. Everyone wanted 20% down.

That whole week I probably wasted $500 on gas, tolls, and food driving around to the dealers.

Next week had some personal stuff to take care of and also decided I should open up my own business, because taxes and all that. That's another $500 to register a Corp / Inc business in NY.

I decided I should save up some more and lease a truck. My owner-op friend recommended DVL Express. I called them, told them about my experience (4 years local and regional), limited OTR experience. After a couple of days the recruiter told me I was approved and just had to come down, do the drug test, road test, and sign some paperwork. I live in NYC, they are located in Chicago. That same owner-op also offered to team up and drive there on his truck. He was going to Minnesota. I took an Uber from my home to a rental place and rented a one-way-trip car to Philly because my friend lived there. I get to the company, do the road test, drug test, and as I'm signing the paperwork (about 100 pages of it), the recruiter comes up and tells me they weren't able to verify my experience. That's ######## because I spoke to my former boss after they had called him. So they did confirm my experience! Oh but what they meant was my OTR experience. I was upfront with them since the beginning. And actually prior to leaving, I called them to confirm if I was approved or not. So after I get there, after I do the road test, after I do the drug test, and after I sign most of the paperwork, that's when they tell me they actually need 8 months OTR experience.

So I took an Uber to a hotel and spent most of the week there, waiting for my friend to pass by Chicago on his way back.

I wasted another $500 or so, based on a lie from a DVL Express recruiter.

We then decided maybe it's best if I team up with him. So that's what I did for over 3 weeks. Team driving, on his basic ##### white Cascadia with an auto.

Towards the end, when we were supposed to get a load going back home, I decided to stay in the Louisville KY area and shop around for a truck there. Got a room at a "cheap" ($90/night) hotel and rented a car.

I found a truck I really wanted - 2005 Peterbilt 379. Pre-emissions, no DEF ######## to annoy me, CAT C15, 10-speed, just over 1m miles with a rebuild (and paperwork) $45k. Dealer wanted $9k down. Test drove the truck, it seemed fine, but it had some small problems. Actually a lot of small problems. Washer fluid tank was leaking. No washer on pass side. 2/3 chargers didn't work. No AC in the sleeper. No heat at all. Door pocket was loose and had a nail sticking out of it. One tandem tire was completely bold. Yes I could fix some of those things but for that price and especially since they had their own shop, they should've fixed all of that.

But then we get to the actual financing paperwork. See, a down payment is kind of a universal concept. If a truck costs $45k, with a $9k down payment, you would think that I would finance the remaining $36k. But no, not with that dealer! That wasn't a $9k down payment, it was an additional down payment. Meaning the truck actually costs $54k! Yeah...no. I get its a classic Pete and they usually cost more, but that busted thing is not worth that much! Not to mention, they "required" that I get insurance prior to actually buying the truck. $981 I paid for insurance before I even bought the truck. It would've been $327/month after that. The deal obviously fell through, and I did get my money back. Lesson learned, I guess.

Next day I went to another dealer that had really cheap trucks. $12,800. I figured, what the hell, might as well check it out. They were a small time dealer with different types of trucks. They had a few identical Freightliner Columbia's and International 9400's. All over 1m miles. All for the same price. I checked out most of them and was genuinely surprised at the condition for the price. They weren't bad at all. I mean I worked in trucks in worse shape than these with half the miles. The Columbia's had a lift axle center axle, and they were full size sleepers. The International's had solid axles and were technically midroofs + a scoop on top. Despite the fact that I vowed to never buy an International, I think I may have found a winner! But let's see some other trucks before making a final decision.

 

Same day I went to a KW dealer to check out a red 2012 KW T600. 13 speed, 900k miles, around $40k (I forgot the actual price). When I got to the dealer I realised that 900k miles was without a rebuild...and it had a DEF system. Yeah...this is a ticking timebomb. Next!

Also same day I went to a Freightliner dealer. They had some nice ones for about $45k. I test drove 2 of them. They seemed fine. But at this point I wanted to see what the financing is going to be like. One of them I was really interested in - 2014 Cascadia, 10 speed, 500k miles, comes with a warranty, and it has a fridge as a bonus. 3 hours after doing the financing paperwork I was approved for $8k down, $1500 / month, warranty included.

So now I have a conundrum: do I finance a newer truck and pay it off as time goes on or do I outright buy an old truck and fix it up myself? The newer truck SHOULD have less problems because of lower milage but we've all heard of even newer trucks blowing their engines at 400k or 500k miles. How about the DEF system!? I can't stand that crap! My friend's Cascadia had it and every other day we have to pull over somewhere to do a regen. On the other hand, the older International I was eye-balling had 1.25m miles and who knows what kind of mechanical gremlins that thing is hiding. But, I'd be buying that truck outright. No down payment, no monthly payment, and lower insurance.


I decided to go the high risk high reward route, and bought that old ### International. Everything seemed to work on that truck. Until the next day after I bought it. As I've mentioned in another thread I started, the air dryer crapped itself and was purging whatever air was coming into it. I temporarily fixed it with whatever tools they had at a truck stop. One Loves mechanic was nice enough to let me borrow a ratchet, and I tried to fix it. But ultimately drove to another Love's and had a mechanic there do a bypass on the air dryer. Paid him $40 cash, off the books. Temporary fix, but a fix nonetheless. Also to note, I had no idea air dryers were a thing on trucks. Learn as I go...or learn as #### breaks down.

As soon as I got insurance ($570 down and about $160/month) I drove to a local mechanic for an inspection. Also my AC stopped working. Lovely. The only issues mechanics found was a missing mudflap and some random metal box next to the battery compartment. They installed a new mudflap and cut off the box. Also charged the AC but it was still not working. Turns out, the whole control unit for the HVAC system is right in the open where the passenger seat used to be. It was just a wire connector that came loose. I got my AC back. Total charge $260.

Meanwhile I still have my basic dealer tags. Then I found out about the cluster#### that it apportioned plates. The company I was supposed to work with, the same I already had a lease with when I was team driving with my friend, was being really difficult about sending me a lease agreement. They wanted me to have apportioned plates. I could only get apportioned plates in my own state (NY), with my own authority or with a lease agreement. But I couldn't legally drive my truck from Louisville to NY with basic dealer tags. What is this ########!? So I'm stuck there? After a lot of back and forth, I decided to register my truck under their company. They pay the registration fee and take it out of my check. They emailed me the temp apportioned tags, I printed them at the truck stop, and I was off on my way back to Brooklyn NY.

While I was around the Louisville area, I found out some things about my truck. 1st, it's governed at 65mph on the throttle and 67mph on cruise control. That's annoying! 2nd, it had a 5-minute idle shutdown. That's really ####ing annoying. To make it worse, the computer is password protected and I obviously don't know the password. Called a few mechanics, they can't do it, have to go to a dealer. Dealer said they have to contact CAT to get a temp password and quoted me $150 for the job. One quoted me $130 but they'd be closed by the time I get there. And another one said $170-350. What? For 5 minutes of work that requires you to connect a laptop and change a few settings? Suck my flesh stick!

Decided to deal with computer BS later. Drove home with no issues, surprisingly. But then I got into Brooklyn. For those unfamiliar, NYC likes to mark their overpasses about a foot shorter than they actually are. Or 14 shorter, or 16, who knows!? I've heard several theories as to why they do that. Snow buildup, they measure from the curb, they measure from the center of the axle. No one seems to know for sure. You'll know it when you hit it! There were 3 overpasses I had to go under to get home. I figured since my truck is technically a midroof and I'm planning on taking off the "scoop", one way or another that scoop and long exhaust pipe is coming off. Whether it's me with an impact drill or an overpass. I got under all of them no problem. Lucky enough to find parking a block away from my home.

So far I did some minor work on my truck. Cleaned it up inside. Took off the center console and re-bolted it. Sprayed some Rust Reformer on a few places around the chassis. Guess I'll wait to take off the scoop and exhaust until I actually have a replacement exhaust pipe. Will go to Home Depot and get some extra bolts and screws for the interior pieces. Also my company should've sent the necessary stickers and the logbook connector to me. Should be here by Monday.

I plan on starting Monday. Already spoke with dispatch, they have a lot of Amazon contracts and since Amazon has a few terminals around NYC, finding a load shouldn't be a problem.

 

UPDATE

Had my mechanic take a look at it. He was impressed at the condition of the truck VS the price.

He fixed the APU. Turns out either the previous company or the dealer removed the APU connector in the battery compartment. Works perfect.

He also did some magic with his laptop and removed the speed governor, removed the idle shutdown, and reset the CAT password.

I threw the replacement air dryer in the storage compartment. We'll replace both the compressor and dryer at the same time after a month or so when I make some money.

Decided I'll keep the "scoop" for now. Makes no sense to take it off now when I'm planning on sticking with Amazon loads for a bit. Just gonna waste more fuel because of worse aerodynamics.

I have to do an oil change tomorrow on the engine, APU, and add some more to the diffs.

Speaking of which, which oil would you guys recommend for a million-mile truck with no rebuild? Preferably synthetic.

 

UPDATE 2
Engine oil changed. APU oil changed. Filters changed. 5th wheel greased. Altogether - $473.

Got my first loads as an O/O set up. Though that's kind of a ####ty start....

Amazon pickup is tomorrow in Ohio. I live in NYC. Dispatch can't find any power-only loads heading that way near me. So I'm bobtailing 460 miles to Ohio. Yeah...not my ideal start, but whatever, I need to start making some money. And if my truck holds up, I plan on staying out for a month or so.

 

UPDATE 3

3rd day pulling loads. So far the truck is holding. No major issues. But there is a minor weird issue. The turn signals and 4-way flashers when turned on sometime begin flashing sporadically. Do a couple of flashes, then pause for a second, then 3 or 4 more normal flashes, then pause again. Anyone know what this can be, and how to fix it?

Also as far as my air dryer bypass, I forgot to drain the tanks for 2 days, drained them last night, had a lot of moisture in the primary tank. Gotta remember to drain them more often until I get back and get an air compressor so I can replace both at once.