Carriers ordering fleet trucks

[Midnight Flyer]

Was just wondering if truck manufacturers offer discounts to trucking companies for various options they order on their trucks. For instance do they have fleet packages consisting of 500 HP Cummins engines, 10-speed transmissions, polished aluminum wheels, 70-inch condo sleepers, mid-level interiors, etc? Or do the trucking companies have to check off each individual option they want on their trucks?

[chris1]

Percentage of list price that you pay depends on the volume you buy.

[firebird_1252]

i think it varies from company to company. walmarts trucks are basicly loaded.. the internationals anyway.. the freightliners.. not so much.. the petes not sure.

jb hunt their trucks are almost loaded

swift nicely optioned.

but what i do think is that they have so many of x combo and they just cut a deal.

[Maniac]

The large fleets usually but at dealer prices or below, especially the large orders, Most usually buy between 3 and 500 at a time, you can see a steady brigade of Freightliners (stacked) heading north out of Brownsville Tex on hwy 59

Swift for example has upwards of around 16,000 power units alone

The trucks are almost like cars now, they pretty much build all the options in, of course you can add stuff, but most come set up pretty well these days

[Steel Horse Cowboy]

I know in 2004 Schneider ordered over 400 Centurys at $70k each according to their news letter back then. I know the trucks were basically stripped down, only option they had was an air slide 5th, not even a suspension dump! They got the discount cuz of volume and they bought them with only a 90day warranty.

Now they lease KW's, Volvo and Petes from the factory.

[chris1]

The trucks are almost like cars now, they pretty much build all the options in, of course you can add stuff, but most come set up pretty well these days

You have a base truck and then add the options you want. Base truck is pretty bare,lowest cost motor,trans,ect. Most dealers order in their own "stock" trucks with a few upgrades. You don't get anything free.

[classictruckman]

You have a base truck and then add the options you want. Base truck is pretty bare,lowest cost motor,trans,ect. Most dealers order in their own "stock" trucks with a few upgrades. You don't get anything free.

Your right you don't get anything for free, but he's right too, they load them up at the factory hoping to sell them for a higher price later. last time we ordered a truck from the factoy we ordered it without a/c and the dealer told us that it would only reduce the price by the cost of the a/c tax because it would cost sterling money to stop the assembly line and not put the a/c on.

[Windwalker]

I know a guy that used to be a salesman for Kenworth. For a buddy of his with a small fleet, he would order the trucks on Millis's account. Yeah, he lost his job when the dealership found out about it, but the small fleet owner saved thousands on the deals.

Another small owner bought a lot of 15 Freightliners that were orininally ordered by Burlington Motor Carriers (before they went bandrupt). Brand new trucks, one year old but with zero miles, and it came down to about $35,000 each. You and I would have paid about $115,000 each. The bigger the company, the better the deal they get. And, if they order something special, like APUs, they get them for a fraction as well.

The catch for buying trucks cheap, like the 15 that were a year old, is that you can not buy just one of them. You have to buy all of them. So, if you're looking to become an O/O, you're not likely to be able to spend half a million of more than one truck in order to get the deal. You'd have to get 15 or 20 others together and pool the money to be able to get them. I doubt that happens very often.

But, do companies get discounts? You better believe they do. And, the larger the company, the bigger the discount.