Pre ELD law, how long with the pre 2000's be exempt?

I have been thinking about what you wrote for several days. There are a few, very few, 359s still working out on the road, but you will see fewer and fewer each year.

But never have I seen as many old trucks on the road as I see now! I've been involved with trucks since the day I was born. My dad was on the road that day. I loved to see the old butterfly hood Kenworths, as well as the bullnose cabovers, along with the bubblenose Freightliners. Butterfly hood Peterbilts were technically not old, as the 358 and 359 came out after I was born.

Quite simply, I never saw a bubblenose Freightliner nor a bullnose Kenworth on the road, I only saw them in junkyards or in shops where they had been stripped. The oldest of these would have been no more than 20 years old in 1970 when my memories become much clearer, and the newest would have been around 13 years old from my earliest memories.

Virtually everyday I see as many FLDs as I saw of the butterfly hood Kenworths from my earliest memory until 1970.

When I used to go cross country with my dad in the late 70s, you saw for all intents and purposes, no butterfly hood trucks, even though for Kenworth they had stopped making them 14 years earlier and 10 years for Peterbilt. You saw virtually no small window W9s and 359.

Yet at one shipper alone there are 2 W900L that are at least 24 years old every other day. I see many FLDs still on the road. It is my belief that 90s trucks were the best quality. That there are so many, although not that many as a percent of all the trucks on the road, is proof that it is true.

There, I've channeled my inner x1heavy![/QUOTE]
You go back to about 2004 how many 80s cabover Pete's did you see in fresh paint rolling down the road, I know one guy who has 2. People are digging their old trucks out of the barn and fixing them and you see more of them every month.

 

I really don't disagree on the number of older trucks out there. Consider this though. Everyone I know has had a comment similar to this when getting a new car, or new to them anyway.. "I never noticed there were so many Ford Escapes out there"

Before no one noticed the older trucks as there was no reason to. Now people are seeing them because of the ELD exemption. Are some pulling some out of barns and fixing them up? Of course. Are there enough to matter to Congresscritters? I doubt it.

And remember, that's what it will take to get the exemption removed. It's part of the MAP-21 law, it's not something the FMCSA just made up on a whim.

 

The truth be told, I only like looking at classic trucks, hoods and cabovers, so I notice them.

You're right, there aren't enough sitting around to be resurrected to make a difference.

 

I fear the insurance companies are going to be the reason you'll start seeing them disappear. They will assume a risk factor for coverage of non eld trucks as an excuse to raise insurance rates stupidly high.

I hope they don't ... But we will see.

 

My fleet of 50 trucks are all older model Peterbilt 379's(1996 - 2000) with the exemption. My trucks are rebuilt every 2-3 years, and i keep up on the maintenance, and preventive maintenance of my trucks. You could not give me a newer model truck, even if you put a gun to my head, and told me if i did not take it, you'd shoot me in the head. The older trucks if well maintained, and maintenance is kept up on. They will last longer than these new electronic, plastglass trucks. In storage i have my grandfathers 1962 Mack with a 5x4, camelback suspension, and one stack in the back that will outrun any new model truck on the road today. Older trucks were made by hand, with steel, and metal, not plastic, and fiberglass. The guys who drove these trucks were the true pioneers of the industry. They did not have, nor needed all the electronics devices, GPS, lane change warning, ELD's, and such. A folded map of wherever they were delivering to (city, or town), a cb, common sense, and guts. Sleepers were coffin size, A/C was a block of dried ice on the floor board with a fan blowing on it, heat was clothing for the season, and plenty of blankets. No modern conveniences like T.V, DVD players, GPS, and so forth.

 

My insurance rates are probably lower than the newer model trucks as they are less likely to have the damage to them if they were to get into an accident, as the new models of plastic, and fiberglass. As for insurance rates i am self insured, so my rates never change with or without running an in cab babysitter box.

 

Im not saying that. Im saying if you have a 5EK and blow a hole in the block you can still have that same engine just with an acert block. Or if your going to build a glider, you dont have to find a 1999 engine and pay premium prices for one. You can simply turn any engine into an exempt one.

If im building a glider with a 60 series I can use a 2007 engine and swap some parts and numbers around, now I have a pre 2000 12.7. Or if im building a glider with a cat, pretty much any c15 will turn into an exempt 3406, or a early 6nz.

So the argument of that there isnt many pre 99 trucks on the road so the government is going to continue the pre 2000 exemption is invalid. Not when every glider built/ being built can be exempt.

 

Ok, I misunderstood your original post.

 

You can convert any acert to an e model? As in a 40 pin ecm or would it have to be a 70 or whatever the acert is?