One year as a O/O with one truck. Is buying a second as backup wise?

having a second truck would defenitly be the way to go to keep revenue coming in. but if it breaks down as much as the primary. you could just be pulling in revenue just to turn around and spend it on repairs for both trucks.

can't speak for everyone, but i'd buy a second. the truck i'm in now. has been in the shop 4 weekends in a row now for the same egr codes.

 

Sounds very promising in a business sense, however imho I'd be very frisky to go that route, 2 wrongs wouldn't make a right and could be the end for you.
savings and (hate me as usual) a credit line would be the only way to stay afloat. I too, spent $50k in a year in repairs on my former truck, I traded and jumped up to a 2014. However my operation is flatbedding and not tank hauler. Just something to consider.
good luck.

 

If you are driving cross country then I would say it is not worth keeping 2 of them because you will break down 2000 miles away and it will do no good. If, however, you are within say a 500 mile radius then I would say yes it is a good idea. I think a one day drive in a rental car is a good rule of thumb for this. You do not have to license or insure the second truck until you actually need it.

Another idea is to put the new truck on the road then bring the other one in and fix all the little issues. You can then say swap them every 3-6 months and put them in the shop to keep on top of things before they break.

 

Makes sense to me if you are losing money with one truck buy another one that way you can double your loss.

 

Do not forget that the SPARE truck is going to cost $ just sitting as you need to keep it plated , insured , inspected , fueled up/ serviced ready to go on a moments notice ( or piddle around for a week getting it ready ) to replace the primary truck should it break down.

 

Just curious about your repairs. Were the breakdowns directly related to the stresses of the off-road nature of your operation, or were they simply mechanical repairs needed due to the age and wear on the truck? Might be something to consider.

 

The op noted that "Its mainly just doing on road and no offroad use"

 

You have to remember also that the oil "boom" has gone "bust" for the time being. Nobody knows for sure when it will come back. Have you checked the "road" companies to see if you can make it with regular freight?
I used to drive for a woman out of OKC who had 5 trucks. She always said 5 was the magic number. You could make money with one truck or with 5 trucks. But it took 4 running to pay for the one that would always be down for one reason or another at a given time.