ARI's New High-Rise Package With Walk-Through Sleeper Opening

[ATeam]

If you're getting $4,000+ income per week from your house ya gotta keep lookin over yer shoulder......

$4,000 a week equates to $200,000 a year, which most expediting teams would consider to be an acceptable if not a good number. But the discouraging thing to think about when looking at trucks like this is the fact that $200,000 was considered a good year ten years ago too, and operating costs have skyrocketed in that time. Margins are tighter than they used to be.

 

[zorry]

Yes margins are tighter. Should I just go work at Mc Donalds ?
Or try to work harder and smarter ?
Take the hand dealt to ya.
That's the choice that has to be made.

 

[zorry]

Post deleted,was in wrong forum.

 

[zorry]

Post deleted, was in wrong forum.

 

[petercar]

if you order a new truck today would you buy a ARI or Bolt ? and why

 

[zorry]

Right now if you buy a Bolt you have few choices I believe.
If you want a Cascadia I think you must buy it from Stoops. No other dealers were allowed last time I spoke to Don Bentz.
You may be able to do a KW with a Bolt but then you are limited to a Cummins or Paccar engine.
The new roof option really makes me lean towards ARI.
The Detroit makes the Cascadia desireable.
The Volvo engine is a close second in my opinion.
Past experiences with Volvo dealers vs Freightliner dealers made my Volvo an easy choice for me.
I've owned at least 12 Frtlnr's thru the years and now have my third new Volvo.

 

[ATeam]

Yes margins are tighter. Should I just go work at Mc Donalds ?
Or try to work harder and smarter ?
Take the hand dealt to ya.
That's the choice that has to be made.

There is no way, ever, that I will take the hand dealt to me if I don't like the hand, and especially if I don't trust the dealer. There are always options.

If the game goes bad, or if a better one comes into view, I will change games.

 

[ATeam]

if you order a new truck today would you buy a ARI or Bolt ? and why

I would buy an ARI sleeper because the one we have now has proven to be very good over six years, as has ARI's service department.

Also, ARI survived the Great Recession when at least three custom sleeper manufacturers did not (Double Eagle, Bentz, Alumi-Bunk). If you buy a long-term, custom-built product like a sleeper, it is beneficial if the custom manufacturer survives to service it. ARI has deep pockets behind it and that is reassuring.

 

[dabluzman1]

I agree zorry and Phil.
I liked the ARI at the show as well. Very very nice.
As far as the new DD13 goes, it has been okay so far.
It does not perform as well as the MB4000 we had.
While the fuel economy is a tad better it lacks in over all performance.

 

[layoutshooter]

I agree zorry and Phil.
I liked the ARI at the show as well. Very very nice.
As far as the new DD13 goes, it has been okay so far.
It does not perform as well as the MB4000 we had.
While the fuel economy is a tad better it lacks in over all performance.

Why do you believe that is so Dave? Overall weight of the truck? Gearing? Type of transmission?

 

[dabluzman1]

Why do you believe that is so Dave? Overall weight of the truck? Gearing? Type of transmission?

Hi Joe, as with all complex machines "who really knows".

We thought we would see much better mpg with the new truck. So far
not so. We hit almost 9mpg running 65-67mph. The MB was giving us 8.75.

The DD13 is still not broken in so we hope to see it improve.
As for performance, with the front end being so heavy, 14.5k with the
tag up, we have to run with the tag down, all the time to scale at 12.5k.

The total gross wt of the truck is within a couple hundred of the 2007 Columbia.
So I dont think it is that.

I like the Meritor tran as it shifts much smoother than the 2007( Eton, I think ).

The DD13 just doesnt pull as well as the MB, from 0mph or going up a grade.
Its not horrible just not as strong, more down shifting going up hill. Both are dogs from a stand still, Hinos will kick their butt off the line.

The difference in performance is really minor as the truck gets us where we
are going.

Hope that answered your questions, Joe.

 

[petercar]

I just heard that you can get a cummins in a freightliner, so do you order a cummins ? DD ????

 

[EasyDoesIt]

Company put me in a brand new 2010 Cascadia with a DD13 and Eaton Fuller 10 speed, no idea which rears. I drove it 1 1/2 years and broke down twice. Average 6.7 mpg all miles and idling. Very quiet, a lot of room and plenty of power. Other units were less reliable so they switched to International. Still problems and unhappy drivers. Now this was T/T. Best trucks used to be Western Star and Mack but somebody thought they had a better idea and screwed up both lines.

 

[zorry]

Years ago, a Cummins N14. One of the best engines ever built.
Today,definitely the Detroit.

 

[ATeam]

Company put me in a brand new 2010 Cascadia with a DD13 and Eaton Fuller 10 speed, no idea which rears. I drove it 1 1/2 years and broke down twice.

Our Volvo D-12 engine : Put in service new in June 2006. Six years later with 725,000 miles on it, zero engine failures that left us brokedown on the road (or any other truck failures for that matter). Never been towed.

Called road service one time when we were home in a bitter cold winter. Road service came to our driveway to get the truck running. Mechanic found a fluke ice buildup in the charge air circuit. Had we driven the truck instead of idling it in the driveway in sub-zero temps, that fluke would not have developed.

No breakdowns on the road, no tows in six years and 725,000 miles. Not bad, methinks.

There have been repairs, of course. It is an engine, after all. But nothig major. Biggest complaint: EGR valves that need replacing more often than we expected when we bought the truck.

 

[zorry]

When I sold the COE,n-14, 960,000 miles.
Towed in once for an injector that I was going to fix later in the week.
Towed in the final month I drove it. It was sold and ECM decided to die at a customer.
Our new D13. You wouldn't know you had a new engine if you didn't add DEF
Sitting at 9.9 mpg,ungoverned,no attempts at all to be aerodynamic. Full screw. 500 hp.
Aerodynamics coming in the spring.

 

[Thomkatt]

I have a Volvo '12 670 with the D13 Volvo engine, 3.42 rears. Two years, Idling and avg 65mph I run at a 8.5. It is a T/T, my avg load in the reefer is 42k lbs. It's not fast off the line, yet it climbs avg grades of 6% with minimal step down. 13 spd Eaton.

Quieter than the Detriot and has, IMHO, better torgue. Besides a mechanic in a Salty city damaging the injector sleeves during an Overhead adj. I have had no issues with the truck, Beyond wer and tear. Replaced the EGR once before the sleeve damage, once after.

It took 3 shops and me demanding a Dyno test to 'fix' the coolant leak from the damaged sleeves. I know of two Mechanics that are no longer working for Volvo.

Only true drawback of Vovlo, '12 and newer, every repair goes thru NA for review and approval. It is all done by the Computer. Even when it is known what the issue is, it still goes thru NA. Warranty or not.

350,000 miles and still running strong at 8.5 mpg on the flats, 7.1 mpg in the mountains.

If I could stretch this frame, set an ARI or Bolt with a 22' box, be done in a heart beat. It's leased.

 

[Jenny]

The issue I found with this was functionality. All of the cabinets were unaccessible to me, unless on a stool, which is not safe while moving down the road. I could not reach into the microwave at all, and Nick even found that were a bit tall. Also there were a few that he could not even reach all of the way to the back of, and he has MUCH longer arms than I do.

 

[BigCat]

The issue I found with this was functionality. All of the cabinets were unaccessible to me, unless on a stool, which is not safe while moving down the road. I could not reach into the microwave at all, and Nick even found that were a bit tall. Also there were a few that he could not even reach all of the way to the back of, and he has MUCH longer arms than I do.

You just need to eat your veggies Jenny.

 

[zorry]

Since ARI is a custom sleeper you can put things where you want them.
My wife dropped a dish of stuffed peppers coming out of a competitors microwave.
We lowered the microwave in this sleeper. We have a low roof but still had to get a step stool because the ARI cabinets are very deep.