Purchasing truck and trailer from out of state without past experience.

Why not buy new? I don't keep track of the current tax codes but a cpa or truck tax specialist could tell you of any benefits. This might be an option just for the peace of mind and reliability, not to mention the write offs, depreciation etc. Besides buying a unknown 600K truck will likely lead to emissions issues amongst other problems. And would most likely attract a better or more experienced driver for your operation.

 

I have been running a box truck under my own authority for four years, and will be buying a tractor in the next six to eight weeks, so I am thinking about truck inspections like the OP.

I have never used them, have no experience with them, but would love for someone to be the guinea pig and report back here how it went.... or hear from experienced forum members any thoughts on how to screen trucks during a nationwide search.

There is a company called Nationwide Inspection Services that claims 300 inspectors nationwide,,, they advertise, "With over 300 trained inspectors around the country we can quickly and economically inspect units. We inspect daily in auction lots around the country, for leasing companies, dealers, finance companies, insurance companies and the general public. Our inspectors each day are also at dealer's lots, private homes and businesses to inspect for our customers. Our state of the art dispatching system can handle and manage your inspection needs and send you back a comprehensive report. We strive to have all inspections done within 72 hours, with a full report and digital pictures in our customers hands."

Prices start at $199 and I have no other information on them.... just starting to do the research on this myself.

The above might be an option to do a first screen and economically weed out the problem trucks. 888-586-2289.

Pittsburgh Power is a diesel shop with a good reputation. They are a couple hours from my home, and I plan on using them as my primary shop. They offer a remote diagnostic service... they have many relationships with shops nationwide where either you bring the truck to the local partner for dyno testing while hooked up to Pittsburgh Powers proprietary software that sends the info back to Pittsburgh to be read by them. I believe they can also send a Tech to the truck from the local partner with a laptop to do the testing on a road trial.

I haven't contacted PP to confirm, but my plan is to first screen the truck, then fly to a promising one, and preferably dyno the truck using this remote diagnostic service.

One of Pittsburgh Power's strengths is that they have two degreed electrical engineers on staff. You are (wrongly IMHO) considering an emissions truck with the amount of miles where they really start to cost money. Many of these problems are actually electric/electronic in nature, not mechanical. PP has the staff with the correct background to properly diagnose these sensor related, wiring harness related, ground related issues. If I can't bring a prospective truck to PP for a dyno test, this seems to be the next best thing. I will definitely be at the truck at this time to review the records, watch the dyno and ask questions.

Alternately, my plan is to contract with a shop that has a dyno near the truck and hope they know what they are doing.

RigDig as previously mentioned, and verify the records of past inframe of major work claimed by the records.

Hope these ideas help the OP.

Any input from forum members appreciated.

 

Yup! Have you priced used cars and trucks recently? KBB value on a 2013 Honda Fit that I bought 3 years ago is higher now than when I bought it........with 30K more miles. We are living in crazy times.......not good crazy.....bad crazy

 

There is some new inventory
It’s just weird spec’ed trucks.

Western star dealer south of Atlanta has an entire row of new trucks.

 

We started our Penske experience with 2014 Volvo daycabs. and the 2015 -2016 units all had DEF system nightmares until they re-flashed the programming.

Since Volvo was far from out Penske shop and Freightliner real close we switched to Cascadias having [4] 2019 to 2021. Body parts are currently a real issue. One of the 21's was hit at three weeks and the body shop bubble-gummed the grill to get it out for now.

New unit wait times is getting longer BUT nothing else is the same. Starting with new [minus new design issues] you get the benefit of the 'newness'; my PA Deutch Pappy would have said 'New means you get the 'goody' that you never get from used.'

I proved this with my boss we have over 500 inter-modal chassis on long term lease and over 400 were new. We had the option to recycle some old ex-pier units for either new or refurbished and he was frugal and went refurbished. Big error, most were 2000-2003 units after their second rebuild and they are tired.
Our PM invoices and repairs prove there wasn't any 'goody' left.

OP Why not rail from LA/Long Beach to Vegas and somewhere near Miami? Use common carriers to exchange between Las Vegas and Miami and two local draymen at each end. Eliminate transload costs; eliminate the need to keep a good man in the seat; eliminate equipment and insurance costs and avoid the massive migraine of having the truck out in the middle of nowhere when you need it for your own stuff.

 

Be careful buying a truck that was spec'd by someone else. If I were to make the investment in a new truck, I'd sit down with the dealer and specify exactly what components go into the truck based on where I am going to operate the truck and at what weight.

If you buy whatever is available now, you may end up with a truck that is totally wrong for your intended use/route. You don't need a truck spec'd for heavy haul with 18 gears, short rears etc. That would be a fuel waster for your use. Fuel is is biggest cost after labor. A mountain goat spec'd truck for running the Rockies is wrong also.... this type of mismatch will cost tens of thousands in unnecessary fuel expense, and when times get lean again in the boom and bust cycle of trucking, that extra fuel expense, which is nothing but waste, can take a huge toll. I'm sure there are trucks being assembled with completely stupid specs given the hot market... you can just see some dealer with a build slot telling them to stick whatever gear ratio rear end they have in stock rather than the one he spec'd before the supply shortage hit. He just wants to get something that rolls forward on his lot... you want something you can make money with and can sell to someone else eventually.

Have you shopped your hauling business among small outfits, even single truck operations who can easily beat the rates you quoted earlier? If you were to offer a one year contract for your entire needs, a one man operation could build their entire year around your fixed price (plus fuel surcharge) contract, and fill in with board freight the time in between your loads and backhaul. You'd save money, and the owner operator would have a direct customer that would anchor his year. Require a one truck operation to have a Penske lease agreement in place to cover breakdowns. In a year prices for trucks will be down, new one's will be able to be ordered, and my guess is, you'll decide you don't really want to add this complexity to your going business... just re-new the contract.