And the New Truck is???

[Weave]

After about 4 months of off and on truck shopping, I have actually bought something! Ummm God, finally! Got credit approval today, and will be picking up next Tues. Bouncing baby 2001 Freightliner Columbia class 8.
Power specs go like this: 12.7 liter DDC Series 60 @360 HP, Rockwell 10 speed OD, 320" WB, 23000 lb. 3.58 rear, 2 stage Jake, 2x 150 gal tanks, Air ride, ABS, Traction control, 6 Alcoas.
Cab specs: 70" integral air ride sleeper, PW, Power mirrors, fridge, Tilt/Tele, cruise.
Box is 24' 102x102 Morgan.
Truck came with long frame from factory. It is only stretched 2' on the very back to accomidate 24' box. I plan on adding a drop axle in the near future.
I really wanted to buy a new Kenworth T300, but could not get a good enough deal cooking. I am into this truck with only 55k miles on it for $13k less than the T300, and it is a true class 8 where the T300 is a beefed up class 7. Got financed at 5% down and was offered close to $9k trade for my '95 FL70, two things the KW dealer could not come close to doing.
Look forward to some good (or bad) long term reports on this thing! Once I get my new C&M unit number I'll post it..wake me up and say "Hi."
-Weave-

 

[Olko]

Congratulations on the new truck. We test drove one of the Century trucks, and it was wonderful compared to that FL70 we had. What are you going to do with all your spare time, now that you won't be working on the old one all the time? Mark's brother had a class8 truck he was looking for driver's for, right after we left...wish we could re-think that decision. Can you tell I'm getting tired of this "freight" that talks back to us already.

Good Luck with the new truck, and I hope Cal sends some good loads your way to show off the truck (and to help pay for it...LOL)

Kevin

 

[louixo]

Nice wagon weave!....You going to paint it orange and get a suit to match?

 

[Lawrence]

Weave,

Sounds real nice. We would like to see a picture of it. Where did you get it?

Thanks,
Lawrence
Expediters Online.com

 

[RichM]

Way to go Mark,I am probably going to take that plunge soon also,rolled up 600 k on a 96 FL 70 today.Have no complaints,the truck doesn!t owe me a dime.can u advise what dealer you went with..

 

[Weave]

I would have ran my '95 FL70 another year, but I have nothing left to depreciate on it so I decided to get into something newer rather than just give thousands of $ to Uncle Sam.
I found the '01 Columbia at (you'll like this name) Crook Motor Co. in Albemarle, NC. www.crookmotorco.com
They are basically a high volume used class 7-8 tractor-trailer dealer. They get an occaisional expedite truck on trade or repo.
The pix. of mine might still be up on the site under used equipment. It's not a pimped out Columbia (No condo sleeper, fairings, etc. all to save some weight up front. It still has an EW of 19,400 lbs though. Unbeatable prices and they offered me more $ on the spot for my trade than I thought I could get even at auction. With the way the truck market is now my payments for the Columbia are only $200 more a month than my FL70 was. (Bought it in 1999.) With 130 more HP and more than double my FL70's torque, $200 is worth it. I'm in a sweetheart of a class 8 for $1300 a month for 52 months. This should work out good. I'm hoping for a good summer to put the truck through the ranks.
-Weave-

The picture is no longer up on their site. I'll post one after I get the decals put on it.