Truck Load Rates Halt 8 Week Slide 2.0

Well I think that's because the old iron guys unless they just dove into the get-rich-quick scheme, the old iron guys have their trucks paid off a long time ago. $200,000 or whatever it is takes some time to pay that off.

On top of that some of these new trucks have a problem and go into the shop for a month or more waiting for sensors and all that type of thing... and even if it does almost pay your note as you said, when it comes time that you do need repairs for that it's going to cost A LOT of money, whereas many of us just do our own repairs.

Not being funny at all but a big cam Cummins cost under $1,500 for the in frame kit. Injectors are $75 a piece. It is a very inexpensive engine to work on.

When it comes time for that new truck to work on the emission system someone with old iron, at least with a Big Cam, could rebuild the engine many more times than you could ever need in a lifetime for just what it cost for the emission repair, and that does not include on the newer truck any fuel injection problems or rebuilding engines or anything else and it doesn't include cost of diagnostic for computer problems, wiring harnesses, def fluid Etc.

And it also depends how far you drive. If you really are criss-crossing the United States it helps to have a fuel efficient truck but if you're someone that doesn't go that far it affects you but not nearly as severely.

I'm not suggesting one is better than the other or being argumentative or anything like that. I think everybody has their own way of doing what they're doing. And I get what you are saying but some of that at the very least is a trade-off.

 

I'm with you. It is a trade off and it is personal preference. My 2015 has been paid off for years. It's also never had any sensor or aftertreatment problems at 930,000. Blackstone reports are perfect, uses no oil. I've also never waited on a part. I have gotten online and found a part my dealer couldn't find and had it sent to them. They couldn't believe I found it. It's all in how they're taken care of and at the same time total luck of the draw. I realize I'm on the luckier end. If my truck blew a motor tomorrow it would not be worth the price of the new motor, but it might to me because I need to make a living.

Anyway, my point was that if they made new trucks that got 15 mpg and old iron got 2 mpg there would still be a ton of guys on here driving them and complaining about the fuel prices.

I hope Long FLD and some others chime in with fuel cpm. Do you ever calculate yours? It's a fun number to play with and see what you come up with. If I could get a new truck today (without the year wait) I would look hard at the fuel savings vs. note. I'm not saying I would for sure go for a new one. I do not at all miss having a truck note.

 

I almost made an old iron post earlier but held off. The thing is a lot of guys like to say it’s because it’s paid off. We’ll, if you’ve been holding funds to split the difference from the trade to the new truck then the new truck is paid off anyway.

I understand the appeal but dollars and cents you need to be running new fuel efficient trucks. I’ve been calling for this for a long time and Long FLD is just proving it. At this point he can sit back and set the cruise so to speak on truck ownership and make more money. If things get mega tight then he’ll have a competitive advantage.

I’m sorry guys but the days of old are coming to a close. I can try and sit here and say oh regional or local will be ok but truth is efficiency is efficiency. Fuel isn’t going to get cheaper anytime soon an anyone running a hood probably already saw this coming from their politics alone.

 

First quarter fuel was .602 per mile. Def was .028 per mile.

As far as down time with my old truck, I only had two times when I actually lost time that wasn’t planned on, and only one of those was at a shop away from home. Feb of 21 I lost a week because of a NOx sensor. I dropped it at Lincoln and then because of the weather they had problems getting one shipped in. Then Sept 21 I lost my def level sensor in Mankato. Truck was there for a month but it wasn’t really that big of a deal. I worked October and then parked my truck Nov and Dec.

Unless it’s purely a hobby truck there’s nothing that can get me to sit in an old truck up and down the road every day. Been there and have no interest in doing it again. I’ll take my chances with a new one every time just from a comfort standpoint.

Many of the problems people experience with emission trucks happen when they are the second owner and the first owner didn’t do any maintenance on the emission system. I was the second owner of the 2017 I had. I knew the owner, I knew the service records. I replaced 2 NOx sensors, replaced the DPF (it was cleaned when I bought it so I replaced it instead of trying to clean it again), and that’s it as far as emissions are concerned. I did the alternator and water pump but that could happen with any engine.

 

This!! ^^ 10 times over. Mine was a fleet truck but I got really lucky.

Thanks for sharing your numbers FLD. I have not broken mine down quarterly, it's just averaged in the app since I started using it early last year. I'll take a look at my quarterly numbers.

 

Well it’s for the quarter because I just put the truck on the road mid-January. Lol.

 

Hood guys probably yes, but old Volvos and aero Freightliners with 12.7 Detroits get just as good mpg as new trucks. In my trucks 8mpg is easy if I just slow down to 65mph.

All in buying and completely rebuilding it's $70k for me. Way cheaper than $170k for a new truck.

 

All good brother I’m confident that you have a handle on your stuff. I’m sure your right but I feel like you have your own little niche there which is great.

Im at the point where if we’re below 2.85 hub miles then I feel like we’re losing money. Sure, I have plenty of fluff in there because that’s what a good business owner does, inflate expenses and deflate billings.

Truth is it’ll be the 5.5 mpg guys that provides the buffer to where I survive until enough capacity leaves to where rates increase again. That’s a blanket statement and I’ll run niche freight and lean on customer needs to keep my rpm bumped up as will plenty of 5.5 mpg guys but by and large the lower efficiency guys will struggle first.

The thought that folks who saved money back to survive and will do so only do it because they like old trucks does seem on the end of the spectrum that could be called silly. Who knows, I may one day find myself in the same boat when everyone is powered by batteries and I’m holding into my diesels!

It’s just like ####, be frugal and be efficient is my stance.

 

Usually those 5.5 mpg old truck guys do repair work themselves, which they won't be able to do on new computerized trucks.
The money lost in mpg they get back in maintenance labor and no downtime savings. It's amazingly easy to work on long hood pre egr trucks, everything is just so easily accessible.
Those guys can outlive any freight crisis, just because of their repair skills.

IMO the first to go down are the people who bought 600k miles DEF Volvo and Freightliners from Megas.

 

I thought way back when that the megas could have done away with that model 20 years ago. There's really nothing special about "OTR" fleets getting drivers home weekly. Except for megas Covenant and USXpress I couldn't name a single Tennessee based carrier that treats their drivers like that and don't how they continue to seat drivers.