Don't be surprised if you are assigned a brand new truck right out the gate. Even if it isn't brand new, most companies trade them in around 3 years old so you most likely won't get a clunker that breaks down every 100 miles, however, that happens from time to time also. If a company put me in a truck that didn't allow me to make the kind of money I need I would just request a different truck. Drive by any medium to large sized company terminal and you will likely see many many trucks parked waiting for a driver. This should really be a non-issue with most companies.
As for my company's maintenance records, I slip-seat so I don't care to request a copy every day. One advantage to slip-seating, our trucks are inspected generally every other day by a driver, a yardman and if anything is wrote up by one of the previous, they are run through the shop by a mechanic. Breakdowns happen on occasion, but they are extremely rare. My biggest concern when I get my truck assignment for each run is how well will the seat adjust and how hard will it be to unhook the radio antenna so my XM will work properly... I rarely find anything worse than a marker light out during my PTI.
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