Rates are crashing and fuel to the moon!

That's a common practice in so called "white Volvo Chicago world". While one MC with multiple trucks gets trashed, the 2nd with 1-2 units just sits there " aging".
When time comes drivers get transferred to that another MC and cycle repeats.

 

I’d highly recommend aero and the endurant auto trans. If you’re going to be out here trucking, then maximum efficiency is the goal. Saving money is the same as making more. So, any more money you would have strived for to pay for that hoods mpg, goes right in your pocket. Hopefully after some years you can trade it on another new one and pay cash.

To use your own words, you need to do what’s best for making money and a manual hood certainly isn’t that. I hate that reality but it is reality.

Id run all hoods if making money wasn’t the ultimate goal. However, you can still look good and have a #### nice truck while keeping costs down. This business is too difficult not to focus on making as much money as you can. Not out of greed but out of longevity when things are difficult.

 

Has a manual but this one in York NE would be a good flatbed truck. It catches my eye every weekend when I drive by it.

 

Don't get these guys started. Fuel is gonna be too cheap to worry about for them soon. Ha Ha For real a good write up and anyone doing OTR should be doing this. To much money blowing out the stacks.

 

I am already talking to my dealer about getting a 2026 t680. 215k currently speced with x15 or 200k speced with paccar (I still have some things I can take off the order to bring it down a little). So I might end up with paccar again. I figure since I will sell the truck when it hits 500k miles as soon as the extended warranty goes, that will be ok. I actually wouldn't mind an automatic transmission, but Im more worried about transmission fault codes and repairs. A manual is cheap and reliable. I even save a little money getting the manual.

 

This is the body style I want to go with. I've had skirts before. They wont last 6 months before I get a ####ty delivery site that causes them to bottom out and crack. I think this style looks better too.

 

I am running that exact truck just a 2025.. you won't be dissappointed.. it's the perfect rig for flatbed work

 

Hard to justify a new rig over an old one for fuel savings when your one box cost as much as an overhaul on my 3406E, your ISX overhaul cost as much as my whole truck and will be lucky to make it half as long as my 3406 and your turbo cost 10k vs my Cats 1k turbo. That's not even considering that your truck has to go to the dealer for $170 an hour because of the proprietary software while I can take mine to my independent shop for $110 an hour and they can read and program my 40 pin ECM.

Not to mention that a new truck goes from being worth 200k to 50k in 500k miles.

It may not be easily scalable to run old iron, but it can sure make sense for a 1 truck guy. I'm getting 6 mpg while guys running new aero are 6.5-7. When you consider everything above I'll be happy getting 6 mpg the rest of my career.

 

Exactly. Might save a hundred dollars per trip on fuel but losing more in other ways over time. I didn't bring it up because it's different for each owner but I can't help to agree with you.

 

I don't think the aero argument ever works for open deck work.. but i think the horse has been beat to death in that argument.. I am in a 2025 and doing good to get 6mpg. Never really got more then 6.5mpg in a aero truck doing open deck