i feel the same way, not many new trends in sleepers. i do however agree, that if i were to build a new truck, it would be a glider kit. i have no plans to do this, but a second option is to simply rebuild the one you own.
Even in rebuilding a truck you own, the options are limited by EPA and CARB rules.
These rules have proven to be a moving target as they are announced, changed and changed again. I am not up to speed on the current set and therefore cannot discuss specifics. Our truck is years away from falling under the rules (at least as they stand today) so I have not tracked the specifics.
But to cite an example, we once looked at replacing our existing reefer engine with a new one that complied with the CARB rules then in effect. While the original engine ran like a top (and still does) and there was no good reason to replace it beyond the CARB rules, grant money was available to help pay for the change so we considered it. We ended up rejecting the grant money that was awarded but that is another story.
In that process, I was shocked to learn that we could not sell the old, perfectly-good engine to some reefer owner somewhere who might love to have it to replace a blown engine of his or her own. Now days, when you replace a reefer engine, you must destroy the old engine by drilling holes through it.
Financial value that might have been retained in the old engine was wiped away with a stroke of the rule maker's pen and we are poorer for it. That kind of loss must be accounted for in your business, Those kinds of costs must be factored into decisions to buy a new truck or rebuild an old one.
If and when the time comes when we need to replace or rebuild our truck, it is not likely that we will be able to do so under the emissions rules that were in effect in 2006 when we bought the truck. Expensive emission control add-ons will likely be required if we rebuild our truck engine years from now. It is a planning challenge and source of frustration that we do not know today what the rules will be a few years from now when the replace/rebuild decision must be made.
It is not a truck trend but a regulatory trend that rules are being made and retroactively applied. We see this in CSA 2010. We have seen it with our reefer. We have seen it with our truck.
The effect of retroactive emissions rules is to shorten the useful life of our truck and reefer and to significantly increase the expense of any rebuild we may do in the years ahead.
These are costs that must be passed on to our customers if we are to remain profitable, and thus in the business. I believe we will be able to do so because the higher cost of new trucks will force carriers industry-wide to pass their higher costs on to their customers. This will be a trend that we can ride.
Jason, as you work on your new truck trends piece, note that the new truck trends that can be identified are not being driven by market forces and consumer demand. They are being driven by the government's idea of what trucks should be and how drivers should be permitted to live and behave on the road.
