Time to buy a new semitruck, but not sure what brand

My company does weekly service on the trucks, roughly 2500-3000 miles. They get greased, gone over for about 20-30 minutes by two techs (tires, lights, brakes, connections, etc) including looking at everything from underneath. Oil changes are every 40,000 km for highway units (25,000 miles) and 20,000 km for every regional unit (12,500 miles).

They don't catch everything (mostly because they are going over at least a dozen trucks and trailers per day per pair) but it's the kind of preventative maintenance that saves money in the long run. I can notice right away if my truck has skipped a week of grease, without even looking under the hood.

 

If a tire has enough air and enough tread and isn't unevenly wearing, it doesn't need replacing.

If a motor is running on sludge because you are trying to squeeze a few thousand extra miles out of it, you'll notice a difference a few hundred thousand miles later when you have to prematurely rebuild it.

A truck doing a lot of idling or heavy pulling will wear the oil out faster than cruising down the interstate at 60 mph.

 

I don’t pull anywhere near 1.10 a mile and I think you should double check the current maintenance intervals on these new motors. It’s 300k miles to replace my DEF filter, 600k miles to replace my DPF, valve adjustment at 150k then 300k then every 300k after that, oil change is standard at 50k miles, and it doesn’t burn oil between changes . There isn’t much to do with them. Any motor, pre emission or not, can go a million miles, but how many actually do?
The difference in fuel mileage alone, in your example, pays the truck payment; that’s at current prices and fuel is cheap right now. And, if you factor in the less intensive maintenance, it definitely comes out ahead.
I like the pre emission motors, they’re simple and, if your passionate about diesels, there’s a lot of cool things to like about them. I want to like them from a business perspective, I even had one spec’d with Fitzgerald; it was a Columbia with their S60 build, super singles, direct drive, spec’d for maximum mpg. In the end, these new ones, 2017 and beyond, are the better choice.

 

I’m not going to get off in the weeds just to argue with you. I know the oem has extended service intervals. Will it hurt anything? Idk. Probably not. Oil has come along ways and so has engines. My main concern with those long service intervals would be the length of time before someone crawls under the truck. I know you said you would start doing it. I suppose the reason you hadn’t is because you haven’t thought about it. Well there is a #### load more than you who hadn’t thought about it.

I’m not going to be a dramatic and say they are going to kill someone. People can do that in a well lube truck. It really doesn’t effect me one way or the other. I just don’t like stupid people trying to sound smart. (Not calling you stupid). There has been stupid remarks on both sides of this post.

 

That remains to be seen, but I hope it works out for you.

 

So, you have real world experience with these intervals, or are you just throwing out what the manufacturer tells you? The A26 is untested in the real world, you don't KNOW that these intervals are actually GOOD for the motor (when are manufacturer intervals ever good for heavy duty diesels?).

What you aren't considering is that for a $12,500 Columbia, I'm paying cash and can walk away from the truck if something goes catastrophic. You are indebted to the bank until it's paid off, and if something happens that could void your warranty (dealers spend most of their service time these days looking for ways to avoid doing warranty work) you are going to have to shell out more than the cost of a used Columbia to fix it.

I find it funny how easily you try to deflect from everyone in this thread who brings up valid points. You are the very definition of a typical "super-trucker". You already know the answer to everything, don't need help or advice from people more experienced in different areas, and are the best owner-operator in the universe because you read something somewhere by someone that says THEY know everything about trucking.

Fuel economy isn't the be-all and end-all of trucking. Especially with the bottom falling out on prices again. But let's be a little more realistic here. A 20 year old Columbia running a 12.7 S60 Detroit, would likely be getting 7 mpg on a regular basis, making the cost difference between it and your truck...

Running my 2500 miles a week for a month in North Dakota, diesel price at the Minot J is $3.039.

7 mpg Columbia: $4,339.69/month + $0.00 truck payment = $4,339.69
8.9 mpg A26: $3,415.84/month + $2,500 truck payment = $5,915.84
Difference = $1,576.15

And remember, I'm getting 6 mpg in a 379 with a C13 CAT burning oil, running winter fuel on the same run, with my foot to the floor at 64 mph/1450 rpm. I can imagine getting probably at least 8 or more in a Columbia with a rebuilt S60 geared for 65 and 1300 rpm.

What's the point in paying more for a new truck again? The comfort of knowing that I'm stuck using an elog and know that at some point I'm going to have to shell out for a DPF/SCR service before 1 million miles? And paying extra for the privilege?

 

I live in Oregon and operate (by choice) in WA/OR/CA. California doesn't allow (legally anyways) pre-emission trucks. I'm required to operate an emission standard truck since California (unfortunately) is part of my business lane.

My home is in Oregon, my wife, children & grandchildren all live in Oregon, so I'm not moving anywhere. I'm darn sure not going to operate and chase loads in other jurisdictions, being away from home for days/weeks at a time, just so I can drive an old pre-emission truck that allows me to run paper logs Yes yes, I know, old iron guys don't run old iron ONLY because they can run paper logs LOL.

One size does not fit all...

Each person/fleet has to evaluate what is in their best interest business wise, develop a plan and run with it, My experience over the years is that circumstances change for one reason or the other and I've had to adapt one way or the other. Such is life.

I'm interested in what Misesean is doing. I've not gotten the sense that he's telling everyone else that his way is the best or that everyone else should do what he's doing. He's in process and only time will tell whether or not it was beneficial or not. In the interim, he seems to be content with his routine, margins, etc. It's his choice and I say more power to him

 

Going back to the OP original question, what was it again? Oh yeah, it's time for him to buy a new semi-truck, what kind should he buy? Man, what a loaded question! LOL

 

I run car haulers. We have 6 gliders that all average 5 mpg or better at 72mph or better loaded to around 75-78k with 10-15% deadhead. All of our trucks are spec'd exactly alike. And our 50+ emissions trucks even the regular tractors struggle to see those numbers. Unless the driver drives around 65-68 mph.

 

I use to drive a 2001 C-16 powered w900 with 3:36 rears and a 18spd that would run 7 + mpg at 70mph or better. My 2019 w900 with a 565 X15 performance 3.08 rears and a 13spd at 70 isn't seeing those #'s