WHY SO MANY COMPANIES JUST RUN FREIGHTLINERS AND INTERNATIONALS

The service network is the advantage. TA is an authorized Freightliner repair facility and the obvious FL dealer network. The same can be said about International, as there is normally an international dealer in just about every small town in the USA.

 

I don't think any of them are cheap to repair, much less to keep running, as those days are long gone...

 

To me, I would want a Freightliner. They are good dependable trucks. My first truck was a pre-emissions Freightliner with a Detroit series 15 engine. That truck would haul 45k up the Rockies without leaving 7th. And it was castrated by a mega.

 

The trucks are cheaper.. The network for repairs is larger. 500k warranty. And I don't think the trucks are bought. But leased instead. they're traded every 3 years.

My last company was leasing through some type of England program the dealer has around here. It's cheaper for him to lease then keep his old fleet. And since he mostly hauls Cali and back.

 

Nothing wrong with Freightliners or International ( once the best truck out there) It's how these clowns spec and abuse them.

 

Also, a lot of these megas are big investors with Freightliner.

 

Used to be, there really was a difference in trucks, but today, under the plastic, they are all pretty much the same. ( except maybe Volvo,,just kidding, I suppose Volvo is ok too)

 

They're built cheaper, and lighter. Big carriers aren't keeping them much past 500000 miles, so they don't care about a truck being able to survive a million miles of Billy Big Rigger and his crusty paws breaking everything they touch.