Diane and I began thinking about the kind of truck we would one day own long before we ordered it. One day, in the Fall of 2003, we sat at a truck stop with new expediting friends we met on the road, and of course started talking about trucks. Like us, they were running with a fleet owner at the time. We mixed thoughts and sketched our our ideas on napkins...a typical expediter truck-talk visit.
That conversation got the other team thinnking about making the move from fleet driver to owner/operator and they soon went out and bought a brand new, reefer-equipped, lift gate-equipped AlumaBunk truck off the lot, and equipped it for White Glove service (pallet jack, appliance cart, hand truck, dollies, pads, straps, and more). We continued to run as fleet drivers and think about our truck.
As things turned out, we became close friends with these folks. We speak by phone and visit when the freight brings us close. The other day, they informed us their truck had fully paid for itself. By running hard, as we also do, they paid for the entire truck in less than three years. They maintained a nice house and worked in a couple overseas vacations along the way.
As we continue to run in fleet-owner trucks, it has not been lost on us that we could have done the same. Every now and then, the thought still rises about simply buying a truck off the lot and being done with it. But we don't. We don't, because we have very particular ideas about what we want in a truck and why.
Getting the truck we want, with all the bells and whistles, adds complexity to the project and tests vendors to their limit (sometimes beyond their ability to perform). The result is delays as posters above have indicated.
Nevertheless, we remain patient and focused on our truck-feature goals. The truck we want is a truck worth waiting for, in our opinion. And since we're the ones writing the check, our opinion is the only one that matters. For now, we're banking the profits we earn in a fleet owner's truck to help pay off our own truck that much sooner.
I'm not going to comment on the project or vendors. Several vendors have changed. The specs have changed. Brand names have changed. Manufacturers have changed. Had I talked in detail about the specs, vendors, brands and manufacturers before, it would have been misleading since what we thought we were getting before, and from whom, has changed so much. I'll speak in detail about the truck and the vendors that built it AFTER it is on the road; but not before.
Finally, kindly note that the setbacks we've suffered in this project have helped us maintain a healthy perspective. At one time, we so-looked forward to the truck and the lifestyle differences it would make for us on the road (creature comforts, reliability, etc.). But after running in fleet owner trucks much longer than we wanted to, we came to realize that we already have the lifestyle we want in expediting. While the truck we want will make life more profitable and comfortable on the road, it is still just a truck. It's not a core component of our existence by any means.
Not long ago, I read a book about the Amish. The author asked his readers to name the five most important things in their lives. As Diane and I did so, the truck was not on the list.
While it's going to be a very nice truck when complete, it will never be anything more than a truck. If it were to go up in flames one day, it would be an inconvenience of course. It would also be simple matter to run once again in a fleet-owner truck and build a new one for ourselves, following the specs and using the vendors that would be then proven.
Life is not about a truck. Life is about life. Whether we own a truck or not, and however fancy or basic a truck may be, happiness comes not from a truck, but from within.
While we'll not miss the cold winter walks across the parking lot to use a public bathroom (new truck will have a bathroom in it), we do not expect the satisfaction we find in expediting to change much when the new truck arrives. Its a truck. Nothing more. Nothing less.
