How not to operate your business

[moose]

Sorry to hear about that ,Steve .
hope you will bounce back soon .
i think that major breakdowns are tricky .
in a case of an accident ,you can plan for and be insured .
'deer or not'
in a case of business reserve ,having money on the sidelines always cost money !
when i first started business ownership i took a business class, the instructor said having 10,000$ on the business saving account ,and 12,000$ on the business credit line ,per truck- and you always be good . all the rest goes to pay for the highest interest business loan .
if it's goes below ,you won't spend a dime or take any break.
the hard part is seeing all this money just sitting there for years ends ,not working for me ... this money is the laziest money i ever owned .
your story reminded me once again ,that this money is actually at work 25/7.
thanks.

 

[geo]

with my 2007 sprinter had a few issue and 6,000 sents aug
it was time to trade
had 7 months to go on it

 

[AMonger]

Ive been expediting for over 25 years.

Could we all pull up chairs and listen to you tell us of the good old days? You know, the days when you had to shut your phone off if you needed some sleep because the load offers never stopped? Tell us about them, huh?

 

[nightcreacher]

Could we all pull up chairs and listen to you tell us of the good old days? You know, the days when you had to shut your phone off if you needed some sleep because the load offers never stopped? Tell us about them, huh?

You know way back in the good old days,I don't remember ever having to turn my phone off,didn't have one, or turning down the beep on my QC.I remember back when we had beepers,and trying to find a pay phone before the load would go to someone else.I can remember, there were not enough loads even though we didn't have many trucks.Yes, many things have changed over the years.My truck has almost 1,000,000 miles on it. The motor, needs liners ,pistons, and bearings.New head and head gasket,everything else has been redone,and I'm just going to try and sell the truck as is.Meanwhile,have somone that want's me to take his truck,so,yes,I have something to do,which is much better than sitting around living on my social security as I am now.
Wish I could just sit around,but it's not in my make up.I'm like a cat,I always land on my feet.I wont be down for long.The easist comodity to replace in this world is money.You just need a positive out look in life,and know how to make you Uncle Sam cover your losses

 

[nightcreacher]

with my 2007 sprinter had a few issue and 6,000 sents aug
it was time to trade
had 7 months to go on it

I have paid off 7 trucks over the last 25 years.This last one I should have traded and I didnt.Murphy finally caught up with me.

 

[nightcreacher]

Moose, it's not I cant fix the truck,I don't want to,To me it's not worth putting another 9000 dollars in a million mile motor, with the drive train still being original.Truck is worth 22000,take off 9000 for motor repair,puts 13000 in my pocket,truck is paid for.Just going to work as a driver for now and see how it works out.Who knows,might even buy a van,but doubt it seriously.That price is the wholesale price.When repaired, the value is about 30k

 

[ATeam]

I have paid off 7 trucks over the last 25 years.This last one I should have traded and I didnt.Murphy finally caught up with me.

Seven trucks in 25 years averages out to one new truck every 3.5 years and an end result of a truck that is too old to fix that has a modest salvage value that will be collected when the truck is sold.

Yours is not an uncommon approach. I know of many owner-operators who buy a new truck every three or four years. If they pay them off at all, it is not long before they are making payments again on the next truck they buy.

Diane and I are taking a different approach because we prefer to keep the money that would otherwise be paid in interest to bankers and in profits to truck builders.

The approach is to buy one truck new, spec it to last a long time, maintain it well and run it as long as we possibly can. At some point, we too will collect a modest salvage value when the truck gives up the ghost.

We expect to easily get a million miles out of the truck and hope to get a million and a half. At our current rate of running, it will take ten years to put 1 to 1.5 million miles on the truck.

We practice what we preach regarding reserve funds. If the engine and transmission both blew out today (extremely unlikely), we have the funds on hand to replace them both. Indeed, we plan to pay cash for the truck that eventually replaces the one we have now. Our present truck cost $251,000 to build in 2006 and was paid off in 22 months.

But our hope is to get to 1.5 million miles without a transmission or engine rebuild or replacement. It's looking good now at 570,000 miles but if major repairs are needed, they are more likely to appear in the truck's second half of life. On the other hand, diligent preventative maintenance could very well carry us to our 1.5 million mile goal. Time will tell.

One approach is to buy three trucks in ten years or so and then buy three or four more to carry you to year 20. Another approach is to buy one truck in ten years or so and then buy one more to carry you to year 20. (In our case, the old truck will be scrapped and the ARI sleeper will follow us to the new truck.)

The tax deductiblity of truck loan interest and depreciation enter into this decision, but I urge readers to think twice before jumping in to say that taxes alone make it worth it to buy a new truck every three years. Do the math first and be sure to consider the true value of such deductions.

Diane and I have already made our choice, but for the purposes of discussion, let me ask, which is the MORE PROFITABLE (not better) way to go?

Is it more profitable to buy one truck new and run it for ten years, or is it more profitable to buy and run three new trucks in those same ten years? Whichever answer you give, kindly explain why it is so.

 

[moose]

Moose, it's not I cant fix the truck,I don't want to,

Sorry if you misunderstood me, Steve. they say that if the student fail the test ,it is only because the professor did not do a good job explaining to the class.
my comments where an add on respond to business ideas earlier by others .

 

[ebsprintin]

with my 2007 sprinter had a few issue and 6,000 sents aug
it was time to trade
had 7 months to go on it

Sounds about right, geo. I had $12,000 in repairs on my 07 last year.

eb

 

[davekc]

Tough question there Phil. There is no right or wrong answer. Does one pay a up-charge of 15k to have tree hugger equipment with no other benefit? Tough call that we are wrestling with.
Any benefit in fuel economy is negated from all the downtime many are incurring with these vehicles. Changes in emissions over the upcoming years may also change some of those strategies. The current administration wants "to change behaviors" with regards to the environment. What does that mean? Can mean a whole lot of things.
One would have to also put this up against the many lease plans. Many went for that with the three year Hino leases. The bad news was most went under when they found the vehicle to be in the wrong application. Or for fleet owners, just finding folks who will drive one. Wouldn't be any takers in our fleet.