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OTR O/Os - trucks?

Tiha said:
Yeah companies like that use you up. Trans am trucking says they need 6 months out of every new hire, after that they don't expect them to be around.
Have to shop for a company that fits your life style. I never did it full time because I wanted to be home with my kids everyday but our guys are usually home a night or two a week. No weekends or holidays. Get a mileage rate and an hourly rate for loading. They make a good living, more money than me, but not as much as being a team driver being gone 28 days a month.
Our guys typically run 2500-3000 miles a week.

In edit, we have one driver that was an owner operator most of his life. He just got tired of being gone and paying for his own truck. He loves it and says he wish he had went to a private company 30 years ago.
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We had a Cascadia in a few weeks ago with 70% idle time :homer:
 
Next door neighbor got laid off from a payroll company, bought a 20 ton dump and has more work than he can handle. Is literally raising his prices till he stops getting business. Steve Wynn said that years ago when people complained that Sigfried and Roy would soon be a $100 ticket, and he said "I'll raise the ticket price till people stop coming", and he was right, people would pay $100 to see that stupid show.

It's a sellers market right now, but that goes for everything, trucks, tires, fuel, repairs, etc.
 
Dump truck business slowed down here, but thats because it was oversaturated in the first place. Dump truck prices went down, truck tractors went up, and inventory is low.

An international with an isx may be the cheaper ticket to get started, but I want a double framed t800 with lockers.

and a snow plow on the front. :flipoff2:
 
OTR is not for me, I'll say that much. I like my home every evening/almost every weekend; assigned 2020 International LT midroof sleeper X15(100th anniversary)/10 speed.

Company driving isn't bad when you find a good company.
 
Unka-Boo said:
We had a Cascadia in a few weeks ago with 70% idle time :homer:
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Dang, I am not sure I have ever seen that even on yard trucks. LOL awesome.


It is difficult to get common carriers right now. If you want to haul liquid bulk it pays great. We get quotes of 4-6 weeks out is the earliest they can deliver.

It is a constantly moving market. Dump trucks, Tractor trailers. Few years ago price of meat scrap hauling went through the roof, everybody jumped on that band wagon. Then dry freight short runs, then something else.

As we speak I have been shopping for a used insulated SS tanker. If it isn't new or over 20 years old there is nothing on the ground sitting for sale.
 
A friend of mine's 21 year old son just went up to Indiana for English truckdriving over the road. It terrifies me that he is going to be driving something like that. I've known this child since he was in diapers. I wouldn't let him drive a 49 CC scooter if I had a financial stake in it.
 
junkytj said:
A friend of mine's 21 year old son just went up to Indiana for English truckdriving over the road. It terrifies me that he is going to be driving something like that. I've known this child since he was in diapers. I wouldn't let him drive a 49 CC scooter if I had a financial stake in it.
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English? Or CR England. If the former, I couldn't tell you what it is. If its the latter... Woooooooooooo boooooy, is he about to starve with three students in a truck together looking like a monkey fucking a football out there.
 
montrose818 said:
Anything originating or coming to CA pays bank. I hear from my students who go out buy a truck and run, it is pretty much stupid money hauling. One guy told me he made 16k hauling to WA and back. This is not one two or three guys, its a lot. I am not even talking about car haulers, those make even more. I know guys who were scams - who went bought a truck and now run legit and make $$. We have huge port work here too from Long Beach.

It is literally stupid of me not to try this.
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Are they leased on to somebody? Or their own broker? You'll still need your own trailer if the latter.

montrose818 said:
Dump truck business slowed down here, but thats because it was oversaturated in the first place. Dump truck prices went down, truck tractors went up, and inventory is low.

An international with an isx may be the cheaper ticket to get started, but I want a double framed t800 with lockers.

and a snow plow on the front. :flipoff2:
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Gravel buckets are all the rage down here due to housing. Pretty polar though, it's either the best truck money can buy and high because they show up on time. Or Chicano trucking with a 1.5mil cascadia and end dump who may or may not show up this week with questionable material... but their a lot cheaper.

I dont know why you want a set back axle for an OTR tractor.
 
Tiha said:
Dang, I am not sure I have ever seen that even on yard trucks. LOL awesome.


It is difficult to get common carriers right now. If you want to haul liquid bulk it pays great. We get quotes of 4-6 weeks out is the earliest they can deliver.

It is a constantly moving market. Dump trucks, Tractor trailers. Few years ago price of meat scrap hauling went through the roof, everybody jumped on that band wagon. Then dry freight short runs, then something else.

As we speak I have been shopping for a used insulated SS tanker. If it isn't new or over 20 years old there is nothing on the ground sitting for sale.
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Yep, need to be ready to switch with the market. When fracking was hot, you couldn't find a pneumatic. A new one was $80k and backorder. Blowers were getting cut off in parking lots.Now they're damn near useless because of sandboxes.
 
TRINDU said:
Yep, need to be ready to switch with the market. When fracking was hot, you couldn't find a pneumatic. A new one was $80k and backorder. Blowers were getting cut off in parking lots.Now they're damn near useless because of sandboxes.
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You are exactly right, fracking was another boom. Crude oil tankers are a plague on the market. You can buy a 2 year old one for $20k now. Lots of different companies trying to get them cleaned up, converted for other service and it just doesn't turn out well.
Too bad.
 
TIHA gave you some excellent points. Including axle advice. Bigger is better though hauling heavy equipment. Get the biggest bunk you can afford. You’ll be forever grateful. Same goes for HP. I retired in 07 so no advice on engines. Oh, and air ride! I loved the 20 year tanker job. EzPz.
Best ride and driving was a truck/trailer. Air ride semi trailer next
 
DRTDEVL said:
English? Or CR England. If the former, I couldn't tell you what it is. If its the latter... Woooooooooooo boooooy, is he about to starve with three students in a truck together looking like a monkey fucking a football out there.
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Probably England. And that is nothing new with this guy. He wouldn't know good money if he was pimpin a hundred whores.
 
junkytj said:
Probably England. And that is nothing new with this guy. He wouldn't know good money if he was pimpin a hundred whores.
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Their drivers are so inept that last year Hormel told the company they would only allow them to keep the contract lane if they changed over to live loads only (95% of loads out of the facility are drop and hook). They were tired of the drivers crashing into shit, getting stuck in the grass, etc. and screwing everything up in the yard.

Now we get to watch them take about 40 minutes to try and back into a dock door instead.
 
DRTDEVL said:
Their drivers are so inept that last year Hormel told the company they would only allow them to keep the contract lane if they changed over to live loads only (95% of loads out of the facility are drop and hook). They were tired of the drivers crashing into shit, getting stuck in the grass, etc. and screwing everything up in the yard.

Now we get to watch them take about 40 minutes to try and back into a dock door instead.
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He'll fit right in other than backing. He does know how to back a trailer.
 
TRINDU said:
Are they leased on to somebody? Or their own broker? You'll still need your own trailer if the latter.

I dont know why you want a set back axle for an OTR tractor.
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there is enough drop and hook, but I have no issues picking up a van.

Its not that I want a set back axle, its that I want a T800.

Having looked at truckpaper and commercialtrucktrader, market is DRY. Used Frightliner and International sleepers are twice the price I remember them being just a couple years ago. Its pretty bad
 
Tobias said:
Why is that? Or is it the single tire instead of two? One of the yahoo's at the dirt track loves them.

Not in the business so, curious.
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Well if you haven't noticed from other posts, Hired drivers are not the most vigilant when it comes to paying attention to things.

In the event they don't check tires or tire pressure and you blow one you are sitting. no limping it anywhere without destroying the rim. Plus, even today there are so many small shops that do not have even one super single tire or rim sitting around. Or 11R 24.5s anymore. So you end up buying two wheels and tires that are way over priced just to keep this person moving. Then you still have to fix it when it gets home.

A truck tire usually runs 100-120psi. 68 psi is considered flat. A re cap tire, running 68 psi or less on a loaded trailer will only last about 2-3 hours before it comes apart. New tires hold together a lot longer but it usually destroys the casing at it can't be repaired or recapped.

Thumping tires is better than nothing but even the best drivers have a hard time telling the difference between 70psi and 100 psi without a gauge.
How often do you see a driver using a gauge to check his tires?
I have been doing this a lot of years and it has been less than 10 people for me and that was here at our shop with everyone watching, so they were just making a show of it.

If you are an owner operator you usually are paying attention because it is money out of your pocket so its a big deal. Keep a close eye on the tires and they will be fine and that is true of any tire.

The idea behind them is great, run cooler, lighter, lower center of gravity, better fuel mileage. Real world application is not so great. Recapping technology really hasn't got them figured out yet either.

Tires are your 3rd biggest expense when operating a truck.
 
bump

so I am still considering this. Used inventory is stupid low, and prices are stupid high, so I will probably go with new (since a used emissions truck at 500k will be an exoensive can of worms anyway).

some questions..

1. Is running a t800 sleeper as otr a stupid idea, because of aero reasons? I want a versatile truck that can be used for hauling various loads, local or not, dry van, maybe machinery, and generally just have a thing for a t800 and want one. 550hp cummins, 13sp

2. What options are a must when ordering? What wheelbase is recommended for a versatile truck? definitely want lockers? extra warranty? what interior/sleeper options?
 
montrose818 said:
Well, kenworth with a cummins is out till february.... fark me
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Yep I am not sure anyone has slots open yet this year.

Typically some slots open up later in the year as fleets run out of budget money and cancel orders.

You can probably find a new one sitting on a lot somewhere easier than a used one, but same problem not exactly what you will want but rather just what you can get.
 
montrose818 said:
Well, kenworth with a cummins is out till february.... fark me
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I think you are gonna find that with just about every manufacturer.....at one point last summer we couldnt get axles...had a few hundred trucks all built just waiting....all component manufacturers have been hit, we couldnt get Detroit oil pressure senders...normally stock 20-30 ( multiply that by thousands of dealers )...Cummins was out of ISX exhaust manifold gaskets for weeks (!!!)...its been hit and miss for the past year. We are also back logged on new trucks...fleets are getting some, but cant remember the last time we had a stock truck show up other than one or two Western Stars...
 
montrose818 said:

525 vs 550 big deal? can lockers be added?
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Dang that is spendy. Anyway, yes lockers can be added. Right now probably cost $12-15k

Cheaper to have the dealer do it before you buy it.

You won't notice a difference between 450 and 550 hp. Torque is probably the same anyway.

You asked about fuel mileage, it is about .5 mpg running a T800 over any of the aero nozes. That is what driving your tuck of choice will cost ya.
 
Tiha said:
Dang that is spendy. Anyway, yes lockers can be added. Right now probably cost $12-15k

Cheaper to have the dealer do it before you buy it.

You won't notice a difference between 450 and 550 hp. Torque is probably the same anyway.

You asked about fuel mileage, it is about .5 mpg running a T800 over any of the aero nozes. That is what driving your tuck of choice will cost ya.
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.5 is manageable.

spendy is a 6 year old truck with 500k miles for 100k!
 
montrose818 said:
.5 is manageable.

spendy is a 6 year old truck with 500k miles for 100k!
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Used are always scary. TMC is a well known flatbed company around the midwest. They have a lease trade deal which is pretty common for fleets anymore.
So basically the day they buy the truck they will know what they will sell/trade it for in 4-5 years. They did their best to get everything warrantied out that far. It's been a few years but last I heard all they had left was AC, they could only negotiate 4 years.
And my point? Well how do you reduce expenses from there? Make more money?
Maintenance.
Last I knew they were trying to get their trucks out to 80K oil drain intervals. That means they would typically service the truck maybe 5 times over their time of ownership and neglect as much as possible.
Freightliner dealer says when they get a TMC truck back it needs everything, it is worn out and neglected, trashed inside and out, as opposed to a Barr nunn truck that is pretty much ready to set on the lot minus some cleaning.

We have bought a few used Ruan trucks over the years and regretted every one, they always have with weirdest crap, weird parts, weird configurations.

Even with all of my experience, contacts, all the tools available to me I hate buying used trucks, it is always a huge risk. We typically plan on spending $20-$30k on fixing a used one after we buy it.
So apply that to the $100k used truck and you have pretty much bought the $140k new one already.

I cannot imagine someone who doesn't do it for a living go and try to buy a used one to run across country.
 
Tiha said:
Used are always scary. TMC is a well known flatbed company around the midwest. They have a lease trade deal which is pretty common for fleets anymore.
So basically the day they buy the truck they will know what they will sell/trade it for in 4-5 years. They did their best to get everything warrantied out that far. It's been a few years but last I heard all they had left was AC, they could only negotiate 4 years.
And my point? Well how do you reduce expenses from there? Make more money?
Maintenance.
Last I knew they were trying to get their trucks out to 80K oil drain intervals. That means they would typically service the truck maybe 5 times over their time of ownership and neglect as much as possible.
Freightliner dealer says when they get a TMC truck back it needs everything, it is worn out and neglected, trashed inside and out, as opposed to a Barr nunn truck that is pretty much ready to set on the lot minus some cleaning.

We have bought a few used Ruan trucks over the years and regretted every one, they always have with weirdest crap, weird parts, weird configurations.

Even with all of my experience, contacts, all the tools available to me I hate buying used trucks, it is always a huge risk. We typically plan on spending $20-$30k on fixing a used one after we buy it.
So apply that to the $100k used truck and you have pretty much bought the $140k new one already.

I cannot imagine someone who doesn't do it for a living go and try to buy a used one to run across country.
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Our lease turn-ins were the same way. ISX 15s blowing through a gallon of oil every 2-3 weeks, various issues the lessor couldn't/didn't want to figure out. The last truck of the batch had to have new crank/rod bearings at 340k because the lessor kept ignoring our service requests for low oil pressure. The last year that truck sat because there was an electrical fault that would kill power to the cluster (no air gauge and speedo=out of service) that they refused to figure out properly.

I would never buy a former lease/rental class 8 for the same reasons I wouldn't buy one as a personal vehicle. 95% of the time they are driven into the ground to save profit.
 
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