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Today's Fleet Owners

moose

moose

Veteran Expediter
highway star said:
You're kidding, right?
Click to expand...

Holding my grounds.
by the time those trucks are fully paid for and ready to be sold or traded in, the Owner already made a good ROI. 7 times over.
i already gave away one good working truck, after it finished it's business cycle. i could not care less.
wanna be my friend ? :)
 
davekc

davekc

Senior Moderator
Staff member
Fleet Owner
moose said:
Holding my grounds.
by the time those trucks are fully paid for and ready to be sold or traded in, the Owner already made a good ROI. 7 times over.
i already gave away one good working truck, after it finished it's business cycle. i could not care less.
wanna be my friend ? :)
Click to expand...

Might work that way a time or two but unfortunately, that is really not the case for many. I can't tell you the calls or emails I have received over the last several years regarding these things. Many jumped in with the minimum down payment because of the three year warranty. Many had these trucks trashed long before they ever got paid off. That becomes a problem when you are upside down in the loan and it produces no revenue.
Then you find you can't trade it because it has essentially no value. This is where the ROI might matter.
Lastly, many drivers have no interest in driving these when there are other fleet owners in the pool offering at least the same pay and much better equipment. Some tried to offset this by offering more money but then that just perpetuated the original problem.

As for fleet owners getting a better deal at some carriers, that does exist. Probably for the reasons already mentioned as well as the investment the fleet owner has in the carrier.
Whether it is good or not depends on which side of the fence you are on.
 
moose

moose

Veteran Expediter
Absolutely, those machines are not for everyone.
i stated this myself here many times over.
they needs to be spec't ,driven and maintained right.
one should have a good grip in reality before buying those for others to drive.
from what i know, the new Hino's models went a long way, and are going to be a strong competitor in the Expedite market, and for a rezone. *
buy less, spend less, and you can drive less keeping the same money .
expedite is going to continue being a very competitive market, Hino will be my next expediters truck of choice. (unless someones can finely sell a good cabover... :( )

* : the new motors, among many other benefits, are by far the strongest of it's class .
the 660 Lbs Ft torque is almost unheard of, in a less then 400 HP motor.
but at 1,500 RPM , those trucks MUST be spect and driven right.

http://www.hino.com/trucks/story_942.php#4
 
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highway star

highway star

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
For me, one of the factors in choosing a truck is what the value may be when I'm done with it. I'd rather have a few bucks in my pocket that give away something worth nothing.

I chose Freightliner over Hino. I'm convinced that I'll be able to drive this truck longer without a major rebuild and have a better residual value, making it a better investment. Whether I'm right about that is yet to be seen, but I'm feeling pretty good about it.
 
davekc

davekc

Senior Moderator
Staff member
Fleet Owner
Maybe something in Hino's future, but looking at the 2012's, I am not seeing it.

According to their site.

260HP is the largest available.
5.57 rear end ratio
At 75MPH it is running at 2500 RPM:eek:

Way under powered and at those ratios, a fuel guzzler.
Running highway speeds I see why they prematurely quit at 300k to 400k. Expediting is just the wrong application in my opinion. Probably better for city gigs.

Maybe something better in the future? No idea.
I would give one another look if specs change, resale is respectable, and folks would want to drive them.
 
golfournut

golfournut

Veteran Expediter
davekc said:
Maybe something in Hino's future, but looking at the 2012's, I am not seeing it.

According to their site.

260HP is the largest available.
5.57 rear end ratio
At 75MPH it is running at 2500 RPM:eek:

Way under powered and at those ratios, a fuel guzzler.
Running highway speeds I see why they prematurely quit at 300k to 400k. Expediting is just the wrong application in my opinion. Probably better for city gigs.

Maybe something better in the future? No idea.
I would give one another look if specs change, resale is respectable, and folks would want to drive them.
Click to expand...

I don't have the spec in front of me but it is in some previous posts. There are 5 gear ratios offered. The 5.57 I think is what is specd for a roll off.
 
golfournut

golfournut

Veteran Expediter
They are coming out with a 300 HP with a tandem axle option. Possibly sometime in 2012 if not, then 2013.
 
O

osumike33

Seasoned Expediter
davekc said:
I don't really see and increase with sprinters other than replacing some of the standard vans. More like airport courier work than what I would list as "expedite loads". Primarily because of the short distances. I do see straights taking more van freight than the other way around. Just look at the border freight.

As far as less fleet owners, that probably is true. Higher financing and operating capital requirements have kept many out compared to several years ago. Kind of a high dollar hobby.
Couple that with running for dollar carriers and buying the wrong equipment did many in.
By wrong equipment, I mean many fell for the cheap financing of Hinos only to find out their investment was worth half after a year in. Put that with many drivers who wouldn't drive them, and that investment went south in a hurry. Many were warned, but some just have to find out for themselves.
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As someone who is just getting back into this after many years away, definitely agree that the financing and capital requirements are higher than they used to be. It's not going to dissuade me but just making it take longer trying to find the right situation. One thing I've noticed - trucks sold by individuals in the classifieds for instance are dramatically lower than what appears to be a similar truck at a dealer. (Speaking straight truck here, not vans/sprinters.) And as a 'new' corporation, financing is more difficult. SO, there may be fewer new fleet owners...but I will be one of them.
 
Dakota

Dakota

Veteran Expediter
paullud said:
No I did not think of that movie, I'm so stupid, I can't ever do anything right, plus I was 10 when that movie came out so I never watched it, I'm going to edit my post and just make your's look like you are crazy.

Posted with my Droid EO Forum App
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Thanks for making me feel old;)
 
S

Swanny

Seasoned Expediter
If a fleet owner had 5 trucks that were geared properly for maximum mpg's, reliability, and comfort, wouldn't the toughest part be retaining 5 teams?
 
jjoerger

jjoerger

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
US Army
Swanny said:
If a fleet owner had 5 trucks that were geared properly for maximum mpg's, reliability, and comfort, wouldn't the toughest part be retaining 5 teams?
Click to expand...

IMO, Yes.
5 teams that would stay out long enough and run enough miles to make money.
 
G

garyatk

Seasoned Expediter
My experience as a new fleet owner has been very bumpy. At the direction of an unnamed company, I bought a tractor to lease on with them. I was willing to buy a straight, but they said they had tractor work and needed tractors. It took them 6 weeks to finally approve a driver (that I had to find myself through an ad on EO) even after they told me that they had a "stack of applications on the desk". Then after two weeks, I got 1200 revenue miles out of the deal. After two months, I cut my loses!

My truck is now working in the refridgerated/frozen freight industry, and making excellent money! I look forward to building my fleet to 3 to 5 trucks and trailers within the next few years.

I have not given up on expedite freight. I believe that if I return to it, I will get straight trucks and maybe a tractor or two. I found it very hard to find drivers interested in running tractors. It seems that all the tractor drivers are coming to expedite to get into straights. As a tractor driver myself, I can't say I blame them. But as an owner, it is very hard to find tractor drivers, let alone a good team situation.

I am not ignorant enough to believe my situation is the real deal in expedite. Let's face it. I was lied to several time by the management at the carrier that I tried to work with. If they would have told me to bring them a straight, I would have, and this entire situation wouldn't have happened. I would also be making decent money with the truck, and most likely have a second truck going with them as well. I learned that this company is not reputable, and when I return to expedite, I will not even consider them to lease on to. I have talked to a few other companies, and when the opportunity comes I have one in particular that I am interested in leasing on with. I intend to watch them very closely.

Thanks EO for the opportunity!!!
 
nightcreacher

nightcreacher

Veteran Expediter
Sorry to say this,but having 1 truck doesnt qualify you as a fleet owner.The refridgerated business or truck load business is not even close to the same as in expediting.I'm out of expediting now,and doing very well,but if I had a driver in my truck,first I dobt he would be willing to stay on the road as much as I do,and second,If I paid the driver a real wage,there wouldnt be enough money for me to stay in business,and I'm averaging 1.50 per mile loaded and empty.
 
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