Opinions on a truck I'm looking at

Not to be an ###, but we warned you not being able to scale sufficient weight on the deck would be a major pitfall..

Anywho, what does your empty weight actually come in at,? And how much can you load right now.? Sorry if I missed that..

LoL I love when someone advertises their '04-'07 ride as "pre emission".. Last I checked, EGR is emissions equipment.! Not to mention, even my '92 built Detroit still had emission standards of the day to meet. All engines do. But I digress..

The issue you run into price wise on the single screws is the folks that run them for rv/rodeo/personal use of some kind think they are worth their weight in gold for some reason. I made the mistake of buying from a rodeo family, & didn't get burnt on purchase price so much. But they ain't subject to DOT laws so they let a lot of little BS things slide that took me a few months to sort out. Mostly low air alarm, & a million little air leaks that added up to a massive air leak.. Just my personal experience, & observation of asking price compared to a twin screw.. Can always pull the front drive out of a twin easy enough, & have the drive shaft modified for a few more $ hundred..

How you feel about running an old spring ride cabover on the cheap.? Have to cross the Commie of the cab card though. Many to choose from & might be close by you..
You don't have an auto restriction on your CDL A, right..?
If you do, there is a $5k allison auto GM/Volvo COE with L10 Cummins, air ride rear in Illinois..

https://www.truckpaper.com/listings...08949/1994-freightliner-fla86?CTRY=USA,Canada

 

No problem. You are correct, I was warned

So yes, I am going to try to run what I have until I find the right power unit. Eventually this trailer will get replaced later on as well.

I scale at 18,000 already with truck and trailer, and if I drain the aux fuel tank and pull some extra tarps I'll scale at 17,000. Max I can carry depending on how it's loaded and how the weight distributes to the drive axle is 8k.

I did get an auto restriction, but I'll have that removed once I get a different power unit, no problem.

Loaded question lol. How does anyone feel bouncing up to the roof in an old spring ride COE.. It could be interesting to check out. I appreciate the link. I'll check it out.

In other news... out of the 6 brokers I've called today for local intrastate loads, none of them will work with a DOT # less than 6 months old. King of Freight even said their minimum is 1 year. Time to get creative and not be picky!

 

https://greenville.craigslist.org/cto/d/cliffside-1999-freightliner-9car/7177884030.html
I say @singlescrewshaker should step up to the car hauler ranks

 

Wow, 6 months & even 1 year!! That's rough man. I want to say it was 3 months for some of the better brokers when I got going in 2013..

Ok, so #1 Dont give up & keep ringing their phones. One may eventually need something moved bad enough they say yes. Or maybe one won't have length of time in business required.?

#2 Try central dispatch. Might be able to get a user that owns his own car lot with no MC age requirements, even a broker. Start with jeeps, trucks, SUVs, Van's, that might have sufficient ground clearance to go up the tail. Might be a tad over gross, but if only a few local miles you will never see a scale..

#3 You may have to go sell yourself. Look for local manufacturing. Try to use that hydraulic tail. Local equipment rental yards, scaffolding rentals, golf cart dealer, auction house, local car dealers.. I'm blanking on really lightweight freight. Maybe @Lite bug has some ideas too..

Someone will load need something moved, & will load that wagon of yours.! Keep at 'er!!

 

What in the crystal meth!!? Roflmao

I'm at a loss for words.. I mean, I probably belong on the short bus too, but man.. That's a new level of redneck right there I've yet to achieve..

 

Thanks. Yep. Website is done, business cards are shipped, and I have a list of equipment dealers to meet and greet next week. Trying to snag a load today with a couple of vans that apparently need to get down to the border asap, like now. Hopefully their rush will be enough to overlook my 'inexperience'..

 

Keep your truck posted all the time. When you pickup post it at your destination. Keep phone numbers of your contacts with you all the time. You never know when that ONE contact will bring a ton of business. Service every customer to the best of your ability. All this is basic stuff, but important IMO.

 

Those crane companies often need the Lifting Gear carried to them.

 

Just run the SRW Ford for a few months and see how it goes. I wouldn’t rack too many miles up on it though since it looks like an expensive high trim model that will lose a lot in depreciation if you run the p*ss out of it. try to find some light stuff to move in the mean time. You may have to cough up $25-30k for a nice single screw tractor with a sleeper that’s ready to roll. Then you’re in business. That’s a nice trailer you got.

 

Thank you Brandon. I'm with you on all of that. Don't want to depreciate the truck for too long, and may as well snag a single screw, makes sense.

In other news, ac just went out today and it's not going to be cheap. Compressor doesn't ohm out and there's a mystery leak of freon some place snifter couldn't pinpoint it. 9yr old unit, Might have to pull that trigger first, temps going back to 108 next week.. four kids and a baby at home... No ac in those temps is not going to be fun!