New vs Used: some real life data for 2018

I'm at 245,000 miles. No issues. I'm covered to 500k anyways.

 

I've got a 13' Mack that's had them done and so far they've been good. They were done under warranty. 512K showing on the OD.

 

I don't look at that number much, it comes out in the annual report but I think it is 80 cents a mile for the dry van trucks. A lot higher on the HH trucks.

I know this is higher than other fleets, some of them are as low as 49 cents a mile which I can't get how they come up with that number except they squeeze the truck expenses hard enough to make it squeal.

I also roll into the cost the maintenance fund and replacement funding plus loses incurred over the life of the truck.

The biggest cost for me is the driver who is making a lot more than I do.

 

Last year one of our company trucks needed a crate motor at 350k miles. I did a crate motor in my truck myself last year too. Both Cummins ISX remans.

It took the Kenworth dealer 8 weeks. At a cost of over $46k.

I did it myself in less than 2 weeks including cleaning and painting the frame, cab mounts, rotating drive tires and adjust rear axle bearings. I did this at a cost of less than $29k including paying myself my weekly salary.

He lost 8 weeks revenue and I lost 2 weeks revenue.

Now, his bill AFTER warranty was $22k. It took us 3 times of sending a driver to pick it up 150 miles away before the truck made it out of the parking lot. Truck has been in the shop 4 times in a year for engine, after treatment and transmission issues in the year since.

Mine was done for less than $29k and drove out of the shop in 14 days and haven't skiped a beat In the last 9 months.


What do those number tell you?

@Ridgeline i have the upmost respect for you and appreciate your knowlage and experience.

However, using the same matrix for a 1 truck fleet and a million truck fleet doesn't fly with me.

I pay myself to turn wrenches when I'm broken. It's less expensive than turning over $130 hr to a half ### shop. How much gross revenue do you have to MAKE to pay to have a truck in a shop for a week? That $5200.00 for 40 shop hours?

$20k
$30k
$40k

??????

I can easily pay myself 2x my weekly salary and still be less than 1/2 what I'd have to pay the shop? Most times do it in 1/2 the time they charge and usually done correct the first time too.

 

C'mon, man. You are an anomaly, as far as your skills go.

There is no way the average guy, especially one like myself could yank out a diesel motor themselves and put a new one back in.

I give you props for that skill set...

These comparisons are not all equal, it's the old apples & oranges deal.

 

You absolutely could change out a diesel motor. It's not that hard. The only special tools were the lift and the transmission jack. Both could be rented. The rest were just basic tools. I looked at rebuilding the engine myself but was more than I thought I could handle. Quite frankly would of cost me almost the same amount all said and done. I have never been employed as a mechanic nor do I have any formal training.

I did this work in the shop of the guy with the company truck and I KNOW he has the ability to do it himself. We even check and Cummins said they would waranty the cost of the engine if we did it ourself.

I know 3 other local 1 truck OO that could do it themselfs.

However NONE would do it themselfs. They find there time is better spent doing other things than paying someone else to do it. It's worth the trade off to them.

In the late 90's I proved it was cheaper to do a full service lease through Ryder for 20 trucks and trailers than to have our own trucks and an in house shop. So I know both sides.

Me becoming an OO was a test in effecincy and applying myself to create the best bottom line I could. As I move along I may find it easer to just pay someone else to do these things instead of keeping the money on MY bottom line?

Remember I would of made $0 revenue during those 2 weeks anyway. Those 2 weeks could have turned into 4...... or 6...... or 8 had I let someone else be in charge of my destiny?

I do appreciate you calling me an anomaly though. That's the nicest thing anyone has ever called me! Lol

 

"I do appreciate you calling me ananomaly though. That's the nicest thing anyone has ever called me! Lol"

Were you reaching for the dictionary?

 

I get it what you are saying, but the tco and tca both are just accounting methods and nothing more.

I look at it differently because my competitors are the smaller companies and the single cheap owners, and I have to set the business up to be flexible. While I can and have done a lot of my own work, for many there isn't much choice about being the mechanic and the owner because they lack the skill set to even do basic stuff.

In your example the trucks would have been gone in my system. Putting in a new motor at 350k is a waste of money at the point where it would be cheaper to deal with the loss and put something else on the road. Nothing worst than putting an engine and having issues with other related things that were overlooked when the work was done.

What I also get is this fascination with trucks that some have, too much emotions are involved. I've seen people actually cry when they sold a truck. Hell this last company I bought the former owner was so beside himself over one of the trucks his son drove that he didn't want to get out of it when the truck movers came for it, it wasn't the business that he cared about but the truck. And his son told him it is just a truck.

 

For some of us, this "fascination with trucks" is the whole reason we got into trucking in the first place. It never was just a job. It's been a passion since I was a little kid, standing in the front yard watchin' them old cabovers screamin' down highway 10, black smoke rollin'. Give 'em the arm pump, they honk back and man that made my day. Get back on my bicycle and pretend it was a truck. Never could quite get that little red wagon to follow me proper hooked up with a rope, but oh well, I tried.

What I'm saying is, for a few of us, trucking is what drives us. It's not just a way to make money. I could work at the local Walmart and make money.

As far as new vs old, again, there's more to it than numbers. Lot of you guys are a lot sharper than me with them fancy spread sheets and such. And I certainly respect every opinion on here. But for me, life is about happiness. And since I spend the majority of my life in my truck, I'm dang sure gonna make sure it's a truck that makes me happy. One that makes me want to get behind that wheel every day, proud to drive it, locals know it's me as soon as they see it, not a cookie-cutter fleet truck.

Yeah, I'm in the old truck camp. But I'm a single truck owner/operator leased on to a good company, with a shop and a lift and a wash bay, and I understand what works for me may not be best for everyone. Like Tug, I do 90% of my own work. I climb all over (and under) my truck all the time. Grease it at least once a week. Change oil every 10,000 miles. Put my hands on every part that I can. I know every nut and bolt. I'm so in tune with her now, when I hear a noise, I usually know what it is before I get out and look.

I've spent my share of time as a company driver in some newer trucks. I can't say that I HATED it really, I just felt like I melted right in with the crowd. That plastic dash that looks and feels like it's gonna fall in your lap on every bump spilled more drinks than my 2-yr old grandson. Those plastic sun visors that don't block any sun and blow plum off the truck when a bullwagon passes you on a windy Texas 2-lane were not conducive to my happiness. And trying to fix anything on the side of the road in the dark is a nightmare, as most of the engine can't be seen, much less accessed, without taking half the truck apart. Don't even get me started about the lack of gauges in these fleet trucks these days. I guess they figure the driver doesn't need to know what's going on in the engine since the computer is supposed to take care of it. For most folks, that's probably a good thing. Not me.

For most, having an old '90's model long-hood KW would be a nightmare. But for me, it's an absolute love affair that can't be replaced. These older trucks really don't wear out. You just keep up the maintenance, replace parts as they need it, and they just keep on truckin'.

 

I get what you are saying, I started this venture in the late 70's being taught by people who were driving since the 40's so I get that, but you and tug and a bunch of others are the exception not the rule.

Times have changed for many, this isn't a case where the passion for many newbies is there to push them through hard times, just the opposite, many just give up when they are company drivers because it gets hard. Today most of those who use the "I've always wanted to drive a truck" term really means "I need a job becuase my life isn't turning out what I wanted it to be and I want to make good money" which you may not see but I and a lot of others do.

I have a passion for driving. But I can't in a truck so I drive my 150 plus miles a day becuase of that passion and employ people who also have the same passion you and I have. I try to make it right for my drivers, some perfer the older stuff but their paychecks in the newer stuff is just as good,

The part I do disagree with is older trucks do wear out. There has a built in life span in each and every truck. I don't see model B macks running the highways nor do I see my favorite GMC Astro cab overs hauling 53 foot trailers around but I see the newer trucks running becuase fleets and many o/o it just doesn't make sense to run anything old and it is because they wear out.

Remember I am not knocking yous guys at all, but looking from this at a different angle and sharing what a lot of fleets do in order to operate effectively.