First Straigh Truck?

[Wayneptl]

Howdy!

I’ll be starting with Try-Hours soon and new to expediting. I’ve been self-employed my entire work life, so I know high times as well as plenty of low. Anyway, I’d like some advise on buying my first used straight truck. I’ve gathered that I should avoid Hino, but what else? What are the must haves and the avoids? What make, how much HP, Axel ratio, stick or auto…? You get the idea. I’m looking to spend between $30-$40k.
Thank you so much for your time.

 

[cheri1122]

There are just two items that I feel qualified to advise: first, get (or add) an APU (auxiliary power unit), because idling is throwing money away.
Second, an automatic is preferable from the point of view that the human body wasn't designed to perform the repetitive motions required by shifting, and at some point, it will rebel. Usually with much pain.

 

[moose]

Welcome to our little forum .

are you going to run as a team ?
how long do you expect to do this line of work ?
are you going to pay cash , or make payments ?
are you aware of the steps needed to check a used truck ?(will be happy to go over this one ...)

go back to try-hours , and ask them what they need !
ask to speak with at least 3 owners that have being with them for more then a few weeks , and ask the same question .
do they have freight for Lift Gate ?, how'bout reefer ?,can they keep you busy under 33K ? ,26K ? , ...Ext. , ...

in your price range , its look like a "D" unit ,class 8 truck will be a good choice , if you going to drive a fairly used (and abused ) truck ,you might be better off with a chassy that was build to last .

as stated , do not drive without an APU or alike system .

buy a truck that will work well at low speed and high fuel prices.

do you "need" a custom sleeper , or will you feel good inside an integral one ?

the more you tell us about your expected operation the more we can help you make an informed decision.

good luck ,




Moose.

 

[Fr8 Shaker]

Hi Wayne, Hey first of all I don't want to sound like a stick in the mud and I'm going to keep this as short as possible. 1) don't do it. expediting right now is about as close to dead as it could get. yeah you might read on this site some are making money but giving it a guess I'd say for everyone thats making money right now in expedite there are 10 that are not. I've been warning about this for a couple of years now but alot of people just tend to hear what they want to hear. You'll read on here alot of people telling you how to do this and do that but what it really boils down to is they just want everyone to know how much they know. LOL. It really irks me when they try to tell someone if you have all your ducks in a row you'll make money. B.S. If you currently have a job now stay there. if not try to find something else. Now is not the time to invest 30 - 40 thousand dollars in this business. you would probably have a better shot putting it all on red or black at the roulette wheel. There have been to many lately coming in this business thinking it's easy money and then going broke. If your also the main support of your family, really, really think twice about this. If your still determined to buy a truck then first call all the truck dealers in Mi. and surrounding states and see if you can get a good deal on a repo. there should be quite a few around. Oh one other thing, You'll probably hear the standard answer of drive for and owner for a year and see if it's what your looking for. I'll tell you right now you'll still go broke. If you don't have family and don't have ties to anything and don't mind ( LIVING ) in a truck, well then maybe you can make it. If you don't need the money and your just bored or want to travel the country, buy an RV.
I know this isn't what you were hoping to hear but I'm really tired of people thinking this is the answer and losing even more.


Best of luck,
Fr8 Shaker

 

[Wayneptl]

I’ve been a builder in MI for 21years. For the past five years I’ve been a private home inspector (my company). In the past six weeks, I’ve inspected three homes! I’ve been looking for other work for well over a year. There isn’t any in MI.

Of course, my calculations are based on T-H’s “average miles / week”, which is clamed to be 1,200 on the low. My “planed” weekly budget looks like this: .33cpm – Fuel, .15cpm – Maintenance & Repair set aside, $200/wk - truck loan, $100/wk – weekly deductions (Q.C., Ins., etc.), $50/wk – living exp. At a $1.40/mile even with 1000 miles I net over $500. I know it’s a lot of work for only $500, but things have been tanking here in MI a good bit longer than the rest of the US.

So, am I on Crack?

 

[miguy1957]

Fr8 Shaker , I agree with you. If people would be totally honest with the newbees its not the time to enter expediting. To many trucks for what little loads that are out there, the Pie is already being sliced to thin. Someone that has never done this kind of thing before should take all the Posts where people are complaining of low miles , Discounted load offers , or no offers at all , sitting for days without an offer trying to stay warm. ETC. Take them to Heart and really think about it. Maybe before you get in to this go to your local Wal-Mart stay in you car /truck for 24hrs. and get a little taste of what waiting for load is like...................Then dont go home Pretend you didnt get a load and sit there another 24hrs .............Then take $20 and throw it out the window because thats about what it cost for Qual-com and insurance for 2 days and dont forget the the Truck payment is comming due.. ................................... Try it before you decide..
________
Paradise Park Jomtien

 

[Poorboy]

You Just Might Want to talk to a Few Owner Operators who are Leased to That Company. I Personally would NOT Reccomend going there For My Own Reasons when I was Leased On to them And That I Can't explain cuz I don't want to get Sanctioned by the Moderators For Slamming a Company. But I will Tell You That If you do Decide on Going with That Company Then Good Luck Cuz You Sure are Going to Need It.... If You PM Me then I would Gladly tell You the Problems I Had with them.. Nuff Said