My beautiful bride and I drive a 2006 Sterling with a Merecedes MBE 900/926 engine. Beginning in the middle of last year, we began having problems with oil leaks. Having spent loads of dough having head and valve cover gaskets replaced, the problem kept resurfacing. In early December, we also had an exhaust leak. After two short runs in the Pacific northwest, and having a service buddy that lived nearby, we put the truck in the shop and enjoy some time with our friend and his new daughter. Two days later, the shop called and said that the exhaust leak was the typical flange breaking on the S-pipe leading away from the turbo, but that was the least of our problems. The cylinder head was removed, and the cylinders were mirror-smooth. The crosshatch pattern that is normally present, was gone. I called two other Detroit shops, and they all recommended the same thing: replace the engine.
We were told the repair was 40 hours of labor, but the biggest wait was to order an engine to be rebuilt and shipped from Mexico (Note to self: NEVER, EVER, EVER ship anything via YRC).
We dropped the truck off on 12/3, was diagnosed on 12/5, and were promised the truck back on 1/14/13. We thought no big deal. We have paid attention to others with this engine. Ours had 654,000 on the odometer. I have heard of others whose engines dumped between 450-650, but seldom more. Ran into one couple last year in IL, who had 850k on theirs. We knew we were living on borrowed time.
We bought our truck in 2010 with 315k on the clock. Having heard the above stories, we knew we would have to budget for this. We are trying very hard to live a debt-free lifestyle, and had about $30k in the bank, specifically for a catastrophe or unexpected downtime.
We thought this would be a decent time of the year to have off, so we bought a used minivan, and drove home to enjoy our holidays in Michigan. We planned on being back in Seattle on the 12th, enjoy a few more days with our friends, and then hit the road.
The shipping took longer than expected....the engine cleared customs in Laredo on 12/27. The engine arrived on 1/12, and only because the shop got tired of hearing me complain, and went to YRC's dock to pick it up. The old engine was already removed, so I'm thinking maybe 3 days left in labor...wrong. The Freightliner shop there is owned by Gordon Trucking. I can only guess that their trucks took first place when it comes to mechanic assignments. We finally got the truck back at 0330 on 1/19/13.
Our total bill came to $22,303.84, and 47 days of downtime. We estimated, using the previous 12 months' averages, that we lost $34,625 in gross revenue. Then there were December's and January's bills. We budgeted well, but it has gotten tight. One friend asked yesterday if we were down to drinking the juice from the sauerkraut jar instead of water. While we have emptied out the cabinets pretty well, and OVM's quip about making tomato soup from the ketchup packets at the Pilot popped into my melon, it hasn't gotten that tight. We always spend wisely, and SAVE.
We started in this business driving for a fleet owner. Five months later, we bought our own truck with the last $500 to our name as a down payment. We had bill collectors at our door. The process server and I are good friends to this day. When we first started as truck owners, we were so scared of judgments levying our bank accounts, that we took all the cash remaining from our load advances and kept them in our truck in an envelope. We were living with one foot on a banana peel, and the other looking for other work. ***NOTE: I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS FOR ANYONE IN THIS BUSINESS.......EVER.**** Those were scary times.
My wife is the nerd. I am the free spirit. I used to take large financial risks. Not any more. I made promises to her, when we bought this, our second truck, that we would climb our way out of debt. We have three debts left. We have paid off well over $100k, and there are no more wolves at the door. We own our own home again, and now have credit (though seldom use it).
The point of this post is this: DaveKC has mentioned a bazillion times about the need to be properly capitalized in this business. We laid out our 2013 plan, posted on a cabinet door in our sleeper, to rebuild the emergency fund, and continue to pay off debt. This escapade was a huge test, but it is one we prepared for. We knew the worst-case scenario, and planned well for it. We eat in the truck most days, and seldom buy new things. We don't skimp on or put off truck maintenance items, and drive with an eye on our fuel economy. We are fortunate to be leased to a carrier who keeps us fed well with freight, and has allowed us to prepare for this financially as well as conquer the debt. Having a decent savings account got us through this hump. Some drivers and owners complain about slow months, but December and January are usually decent months for us. If they're not at your carrier, could you survive this hurdle we just faced? We're back on the road now, doing what we love. However, we could have just as easily been looking for a job, because we weren't adequately capitalized.
Are you prepared?
We were told the repair was 40 hours of labor, but the biggest wait was to order an engine to be rebuilt and shipped from Mexico (Note to self: NEVER, EVER, EVER ship anything via YRC).
We dropped the truck off on 12/3, was diagnosed on 12/5, and were promised the truck back on 1/14/13. We thought no big deal. We have paid attention to others with this engine. Ours had 654,000 on the odometer. I have heard of others whose engines dumped between 450-650, but seldom more. Ran into one couple last year in IL, who had 850k on theirs. We knew we were living on borrowed time.
We bought our truck in 2010 with 315k on the clock. Having heard the above stories, we knew we would have to budget for this. We are trying very hard to live a debt-free lifestyle, and had about $30k in the bank, specifically for a catastrophe or unexpected downtime.
We thought this would be a decent time of the year to have off, so we bought a used minivan, and drove home to enjoy our holidays in Michigan. We planned on being back in Seattle on the 12th, enjoy a few more days with our friends, and then hit the road.
The shipping took longer than expected....the engine cleared customs in Laredo on 12/27. The engine arrived on 1/12, and only because the shop got tired of hearing me complain, and went to YRC's dock to pick it up. The old engine was already removed, so I'm thinking maybe 3 days left in labor...wrong. The Freightliner shop there is owned by Gordon Trucking. I can only guess that their trucks took first place when it comes to mechanic assignments. We finally got the truck back at 0330 on 1/19/13.
Our total bill came to $22,303.84, and 47 days of downtime. We estimated, using the previous 12 months' averages, that we lost $34,625 in gross revenue. Then there were December's and January's bills. We budgeted well, but it has gotten tight. One friend asked yesterday if we were down to drinking the juice from the sauerkraut jar instead of water. While we have emptied out the cabinets pretty well, and OVM's quip about making tomato soup from the ketchup packets at the Pilot popped into my melon, it hasn't gotten that tight. We always spend wisely, and SAVE.
We started in this business driving for a fleet owner. Five months later, we bought our own truck with the last $500 to our name as a down payment. We had bill collectors at our door. The process server and I are good friends to this day. When we first started as truck owners, we were so scared of judgments levying our bank accounts, that we took all the cash remaining from our load advances and kept them in our truck in an envelope. We were living with one foot on a banana peel, and the other looking for other work. ***NOTE: I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS FOR ANYONE IN THIS BUSINESS.......EVER.**** Those were scary times.
My wife is the nerd. I am the free spirit. I used to take large financial risks. Not any more. I made promises to her, when we bought this, our second truck, that we would climb our way out of debt. We have three debts left. We have paid off well over $100k, and there are no more wolves at the door. We own our own home again, and now have credit (though seldom use it).
The point of this post is this: DaveKC has mentioned a bazillion times about the need to be properly capitalized in this business. We laid out our 2013 plan, posted on a cabinet door in our sleeper, to rebuild the emergency fund, and continue to pay off debt. This escapade was a huge test, but it is one we prepared for. We knew the worst-case scenario, and planned well for it. We eat in the truck most days, and seldom buy new things. We don't skimp on or put off truck maintenance items, and drive with an eye on our fuel economy. We are fortunate to be leased to a carrier who keeps us fed well with freight, and has allowed us to prepare for this financially as well as conquer the debt. Having a decent savings account got us through this hump. Some drivers and owners complain about slow months, but December and January are usually decent months for us. If they're not at your carrier, could you survive this hurdle we just faced? We're back on the road now, doing what we love. However, we could have just as easily been looking for a job, because we weren't adequately capitalized.
Are you prepared?
