Need help in evaluating equipment out there!!

A few years back, I was looking to buy a truck. You see lots of trucks advertised as "FLEET MAINTAINED"...like that's a good thing. The average mega fleet doesn't do the oil change and PM service but every 30000 miles. Some up to 50k! 50000 miles without an engine oil change? The oil viscosity is ancient history. No wonder they get rid of these trucks at 500k. The cross etching on the cylinder sleeves is gone, kingpins, yokes, u joints about to fall apart.

so far, I am not impressed with any big fleet.

 

Wow....the 80s.....things have sure changed, and just in the last ten years!

Just my two cents worth....take Schneider off your list. 4 1/2 years with them, and they continue to make, in my own opinion, more and more anti-driver-comfort decisions. Just another company that has taken on the "Harvard Business School" mentality after the founding family is all but out of the day-to-day running of the company.

 

Not sure of the type of equipment you want to pull...dry, reefer, flat....but I'll give you at least my experience with SNI.

When I left a year ago January, they were in the process of continuing to try to be on the "cutting edge" of technology. They were already on e-logs, trying to implement a program to help a driver manage his day....a program that, to this day, still has some serious issues from what I understand.

They've never utilized APUs in the traditional sense, that is, a separate diesel-fired unit to not only provide power, heat, and AC, but to also charge the batteries. What they're converting to (along with a lot of other companies, including my employer, Crete) is a battery-powered unit that will generally provide comfort for about 10 hours. But it is not an APU....there is no auxiliary power provided for running accessories.

Sadly, it's a trend that is overtaking the industry. Not all companies....but certainly the larger ones.

Gotta break....plumbers here working on the house.....I wish you the best!

 

I'vtem e heard SNI doesn't have sense to put a dump valve on airbags but new trucks have a collision avoidance system which means when a 4 wheeler passes you because you're driving 10mph under the speed limit then cuts back in about 10 ft in front of you the system hits the brakes and reports you were following too closely .

 

We've got those dang things here at Crete too. "On Guard". Actually, as long as the "cutter" is going faster then the rig, OG won't do anything. But if the speed is even or suddenly slower, BAMMO! Mr. Auto-Braking System kicks in.

But at least we have dump valves!

 

Device that allows you to lower the air suspension to more easily drop a trailer (or get under one, as the case may be). Switch on the dash.

 

APU's very important these days.
On applications, ignore "experience required" and apply anyway if you like the company.

System Transport & TWT Refrigerated Services have APU's and hire new CDL grads. Have Regional and 48 states plus Alaska. Terminals in California also.

Melton Truck Lines keeps new equipment and has APU's. Recently has been hiring new CDL grads.