The most successful business work on revenue as well as cost, as much as possible.

Trucks are definately tools, I've always likened mine to a hammer. You buy a tool, you use the tool to earn, over time the money you make pays for the tool, everything after that is considered profit therefor the tool is a profitable expense.

There are some that treat their truck as an "investment".

I don't know of any investments that depreciate as much as trucks do.

The question should be not "most profitable trucks", but "most profitable loads". Even if your truck does only 1 mpg (like a tank), you can still make a killing if you haul an oversized load that pays 50 bucks per mile :lol:

"Capital Investment"

-p.

There is no such thing as "The most profitable truck". It all depends what you are using it for. You get a truck, the same as you get a rifle, for what you want to do with it. If you want to hunt Squirrels you don't get a 458 Mag Weatherby or 500 Nitro Express (well some might :D ) the same with trucks. If you are going to pull light vans regionaly you don't need a 600 Cat or Cummins with an 18 speed but if you are going to haul 150,000 lbs coast to coast with a 300 FL and a 10 speed you may need a little more :D Look at what you want to do on a regular basis then find the happy median. My truck gets 2 to 2.5 mpg on a regular basis and is real profitable so I am real happy with it.

More like "Capital Punishment" :lol:

I'm not an O/O but i worked for an independant with a small fleet hauling boats. The combination of a late winter, fuel prices and a staggering economy almost put him out of business in late 2007 witch forced me to get another job. His regular customers just wern't moving thier boats south anymore and new/used boat sales almost came to a hault. Not to montion every other starving boat hauler was doing the work for so cheep he was forced to take 2 trucks off the road for a while. He has 2 stingers and 2 conventionals. He was able to get it going again but tells me he's not making the same numbers like when i was there. He is a smart businessman.

Although it's been said you need to be a good businessman to make money not have a cheep truck. I agree 100%.

Here are the numbers:
1998 Volvo 770 with a Cummins N-14 and 13 speed did about 6.3-6.9 mpg.
1998 K-dub T2000 with a Cummins N-14 and 10 speed did 5.1-5.5 mpg

Most profitable loads
 

Ok, topic changed.

What is considered cheap freight? I assume that when I see a TMC flatbed hauling straw or hay, that is a cheap load. When I see flatbedders hauling oversize heavy equipment, my mind tells me that is probably a high dollar load. Break it down if you can. For each type of truck, what is considered good paying freight?

1. Flatbed
2. Reefer
3. Dry Van

What type of loads will you not touch with a 10-foot pole? What parts of the country have the highest paying freight?

Felix,

The back of that boat in the pic must catch a bunch of wind killing the aero affect of your truck.