What would an experienced o/o buy?

It is a concept truck designed by Adriano Mudri...it is called RoadRunner. The driver sits in the center, no passenger seat. They have a picture of this truck on the new Fleet Owner.

Here are his sketches of the Roadrunner:



Here are three of them...

 

I am a little surprised that we have not seen more new designs that have made it to the marketplace. The Roadrunner concept would likely be pretty fuel efficient with that design.

 

I'm surprised too. There's quite a bit of innovation there the way it seems.

 

Thanks for a very informative discussion on the truck buying decision. These usually end up being a pissing match to see who can piss farthest up the wall.

(my record is 9ft by the way)

 

No problem. I suppose it comes down to personal preference and doing what fits your specific situation. We all have our preferences and different reasons for our choices.

 

I'm surprised Bill likes the Vulva better than the W900.

I owned a '96 W900 and it rode like a dream. I ended up driving a 780 for a different carrier for a short time & didn't like it at all. For me, the ride wasn't all that some people make it out to be, and I was not at all happy with the layout of the dash. At the end of a long day, I was cramped up after sitting in that Volvo all day, where in my W900 I could do the marathon driving sessions & not feel half as fatigued.

I like my T2 enough, but I have no doubts that my next truck will be another W9. Curved windshields, wood-filled floors, and plastic everything-else wears away the soul of anyone who grew up around old iron. If a hood is spec'd correctly for the job, driven by a conscientious professional, and taken care of with pride, it might not get quite the fuel mileage of a comparable aero truck, but it CAN come close while adding value in other ways: resale value, reliability and ease of maintenance. Some of the preventative maintenance that was stupid-simple on my W9 is a true PITA with the T2.

On the OP's query of which truck to lean towards, I can't add a whole lot to what has already been said.

Kinda disagree w/ BBBill on Auto crushing Standard on fuel economy. Still far too many constantly changing variables that a good driver can deal with without thinking twice about that a computer has to have yet another programming update to deal with.
Auto + Tanker? Sucks.. Been there, done that & waited for the stupid thing to find the gears when it sloshed.
Do a lot of drop & hook? A two pedal auto is all but impossible to slide under a heavy trailer without slamming the pin everytime.
Auto + heavy urban traffic? Have known more than one to have to pull off on the side because the clutch was frying from all the stop/go action.
I'm still of the belief that unless it says "Allison" on the tag, it's not an auto, it's a joke.

I think both trucks would be a losing proposition in the long run. As both are 2009's I'm betting they are both DPF equipped, and that's a huge red flag IMHO. Fuel is expensive enough with it being used in a flamethrower just to appease the tree huggers at the EPA. Either go earlier for a non-DPF engine, or skip ahead to a SCR equipped model.

 

You could also pick up a pre owned truck for alot less than 82 k

 

As an Owner Operator, this was my 1st truck. It had a bucket load of miles on it but tested out pretty well. My objective was to get very low priced decent truck, run it for a year and then upgrade


She started throwing some codes and I wound up trading her in a few months before I planned. I got the truck you see in my signature. It's still my current rig. Quite the upgrade as far as I'm concerned.

 

This discussion certainly offered many perspectives from which to approach a truck purchase. Some got me to thinking about my own approach.

 

For about $15,000.00 or less you can pick up a good used Western Star with a DDEC 4 or 5 and a 13 speed. Run it 'till it dies (years from now) and use the cash you made to retire in Belize. Forget new trucks, they're crap.