I would not lease to any of them.

 

Why not?

 

None of them pay owner operators enough.

 

Oh, because all the advice I have seen from you guys has been about buying a cheap aerodynamic truck with small payments and nothing about the company you are leasing onto.

So maybe since you wouldn't consider any of these cheap carriers maybe my giving advice that it is much more important to consider which company they lease to than which truck they buy wouldn't seem so bad.

I don't care what truck you buy, I don't believe you can make even as much as driver wages leasing a truck onto one of the McMega carriers. My advice from the beginning was to buy a affordable truck and look for the best paying carrier you can find, which is anything but a dry van carrier these days. And doing L/P deal thru any of these carriers is a financial death sentence.

I maintain that if you find a good carrier that pays decent percentage of the load line haul plus accessorials that you can buy any truck you want(common sence applied), including a "dying breed" long nose Pete.

 

The pay you receive from a carrier is critical, but saving where you can is like putting money back in your pocket. It is much like some of the fuel discounts offered by many of the larger carriers. The money you save can be put back in your pocket. I don't care what someone else drives. I don't have to pay for the fuel. However, when rates are down and more sparse, any money you can save could make the difference between making money and losing your shirt. Personally, I like Peterbilt. I hope they continue making the hoods. I don't know if I will ever buy another one or not, but I still enjoy looking at them. As I believe I have previously stated, I have friends who won't drive anything else, even if it means that it will cost them more to run them due to the typically lower fuel economy. If I got a good enough deal in a Pete, I might consider buying another one. But at this point, I am not sure if I will buy any more trucks. I may just continue to repair the ones that I have. I am not that keen on sticking with any brand. I just look for something that meets my needs and then shop for the best buy.

 

I have two teams that run the same round each week,just different days. One spends approx 750-800 more on fuel,when fuel was up it was 1150-1200. They say they will not buy another truck or trailer. 50 rounds a year 40,000.00. Guess the different kinds of truck.

 

I'm thinking this is a trick question but.....................
That's a lot of difference in fuel. I'm wondering the difference in there driving habits as well.
Pete 379 (the less efficient) big cat and driver that won't keep his foot out of it.
volvo (small one) and a more efficient driver.

am I close?

 

I'm not so sure about that point of---keeping your foot out of it. I ran produce for an o/o and I ran two different trucks the same way- 80 mph everywhere even ca. Both trucks had 500hp 13spd geared the same. The pete 379 500 cat, the century shaker a 500 come a long, the shaker had the best fuel milage in the fleet of petes and w900's. No one ran their truck harder than me, yet I have to say the reason for me having the best fuel mileage is the more aero dynamic truck, because I ran them all the same---balls out.

 

I can't believe you still have a CDL if you drove 80 mph all the time in CA.

 

billy big rig, eh? lol