What is Good Truck for owner operator!

What's wrong with $1.60 a mile? With a classic 1 million mile, 20k dollar truck, a guy should be able to clean up at 4k miles a week!

Wrenching everything himself on the side of the road, in the middle of the winter in Laramie, WY, etc, a guy can really make some bank, even at $1.60 a mile! I'm thinking at least $4,000 a week NET after expenses, no?

 

hell after he drives a million miles in it he will have 1.6 million dollars! He can retire.....

 

See, that's what I mean! If a person just does the math correctly, you can make a fortune in this industry.

I'm just glad the masses haven't figured it out yet or our $1.60 a mile pot of gold will drop to a $1.00 or even $0.75 a mile! Let's hope they don't all come to TTR and figure it out.

 

Vampire's post #10. Excellent advice. Read, reread until memorized.

 

Stay compagny for now .
This is not a good time to go on your own.

 

Just like any power train all in how they are maintained. I know several emission DD15 and DD16 with well over a million miles with no overhaul. The new emissions trucks are pretty reliable. Takes new driving style and maintenance. Idling long term is death to the new engines. Must stay on top of maintenance and keep def filter changed and doser clean. I have very little issue with my emission engine in my star car.
But your right no way in hell would I buy a used fleet truck under any circumstances. Been rode harder than a $2 ##### at a truck stop

 

I honestly don’t know why anyone would want to buy a Truck, get Authority these days. Between the cost to run, especially repairs, and insurance. VS. High Demand for Company drivers, and the current good pay, that can be found. Add in the headache factor. Better to Drive, and have nothing invested. If you want to Own a Bussiness. There’s much better opportunities than Trucking with less regulation, more freedom. It’s not an easy get rich quick thing. Just the opposite. High Debt, High Risk, and flat out not worth the effort involved. Factor in the total amount of your time involved, even a couple local Jobs, with average pay, would add up to more income, more freedom, and less frustration.

 

One things for sure, the guy with the 20 yr old paid off Truck, doing his own work, will still be in Business, when the others are filing Bankruptcy and giving Trucks back to the Bank.

 

OK I'm pessimistic about the timing with anything to do with buying a truck right now.

There are hundreds of trucks out there that are pure junk, to be polite.

With a glut of trucks, finding one or three shouldn't be a problem, but don't get hung up on the make or model.

By the way, I tell people to look for at least three trucks and do Due Diligence for each one.

See it isn't as important to look at the brand or they type of truck as it is to determine what you are going to haul and what driveline you put behind the engine. Most engines are all the same, but there is a divide between ~13 liter and ~15 liter, which then brand comes into play.

However this is the important part, when you look at what you need, then you need to make sure those you look at meet the requirements of reliable.

This is done by testing the truck and getting paper work from the manufacturer, and so on.

Dyno with a blowby test is a must.

Fluid analysis on the engine, trans and axles.

ECM dump (full not a summary).

ANY work done by the dealer - they can pull this up for you and print it off. I also ask for the build sheet which tells you the model numbers and serial numbers of the components like the engine and axles.

Having an INDEPENDENT mechanic go through front to the back of the truck to find anything wrong with it.

A DOT inspection is crap, it tells you nothing.

All of these things cost YOU money, and it is use to make sure there is nothing wrong with the truck or minimize the risk of a break down.