Trade in program for old rig?

Im trying to think of how to explain it but cant come up with a simple answer.

Im a 1099 company driver at a tiny company that is like family so a lot of my pay and freedom is immeasurable. The truck i drive hauled 6 loads of my equipment from massachusetts to TN at no charge, he wouldnt let me repay it actually. I cant afford not to work there due to this resource. In exchange there is nothing i wont do for him. My 40th birthday and valentines got cancelled because a load really had to get run. Its a committed relationship and i dont just drive. I also wrench and quarry rock, which is a big business here that im learning fast. So its not a simple pay vs hours situation at all, i cant compare it to anyone elses gig or replace it with one. Our relationship has expanded both of our resources by quite a bit.

Snapshot for this week

I ran a load of stone out to durham monday, then searched dat to find something right back with no luck. Our usual direct backhauls are all dead between winter slowdown and low rates getting other players to snatch them. So i triangulated a load from winston salem to atlanta then bounced to piedmont alabama and took lumber to sparta tn which is basically home. I was in my bed wednesday night then meandered over thursday just to drop lumber and chitchat a while, it felt like a day off after a 3 day week. No phonecalls from base or anything, i get left alone. Made a relationship with the rcvr in sparta who buys 4 loads of lumber per week and will let us self unload 24/7. If he switches to lumber out of NC we will have a perfect dedicated bachaul that puts us right home and saves him $. He wants lists and addresses of sawmills i pass and Lord willin somethin will come of that.

I ran 1139 miles in 3 days home to home, then that thursday 20 mile away delivery and chitchat. $2400 gross to the truck, $600 to me..i think of it as $200 a day. $2.10 all miles to truck and i wont call the office again until monday. Owner had a load of stone to.go back out and offered it to me but i said give it to darryl since hes got a big mortgage and needs the $.

Most of the owners money is made by the sale of his stone and not on the freight [my pay is % of freight bill only] so we dont just run for nothing. The more you run the more you break the trucks. Stone is slow in winter so its run just enough to keep everyone employed but not wreck the trucks. Come spring itll be balls out and ill make a grand a week but itll be out and back fast as ya can hauling all stone outbound.

My land and vehicles are paid, wife and i run a frugal family and our kids are healthy so i guess thats how we make it thru slow spells. Few times truck was down and it was $100 for the week. Thats truckin.

Avg miles all year is probably 1500 with around $3k to the truck in 5days. My best was $5700 in 7 days running spot market, maybe 2400 miles. Nothing incredible.

 

Can't believe that truck hasn't sold for $40K yet.

 

It indicates that buyers are short sighted. If rates are high right this minute overpaying for a truck is fine because high freight frenzy justifies jumping in now now now. But if rates are presently down, better pass up on a great cheap truck until rates [and truck prices] climb.

Its kinda like housing. You can fix a bad loan rate by refinancing in a year or 3. But buy at a bad price and youre stuck with it no matter what the economy or interest rates are doing. You cant refi your purchase price.

Buy cheap whenever you can buy cheap. Rates will fluctuate regardless.

 

The rock throwing can begin, but an old truck in need of a lot of money is worth maybe 10 large.

 

Right you are. but an old truck truck ready to go is worth much more.

 

Then i will buy every one of them youve got at $10k, and put my kids thru college by selling them for more than they are worth.

Every truck is in need of a lot of money. Pay now or pay later.

 

I met let Casper go for that in a couple hundred thousand more miles.

 

Do people actually pay the over priced asking prices of some of these older trucks? I sure see a lot of them advertised over and over, but I don’t think they are selling.

 

My bet is the ones in good shape sell. But you also get guys wanting 40k for a rusted or beat up truck, and those sit there.

 

One of the guys I use to load up with paid big money for an ex-show truck. One of those 400k mile rebuild ones. Swore he’d never do it again, said he was replacing more stuff on that truck than his old one (2014 vs 1997). I remember thinking his deck plate was awesome till I see it was cheaply built and put together.