A girl swerved to miss a deer going South, I was going North. She lost it, came across the median and I T-Boned here. This was not a roll-over, but I doubt anyone would wanna drive this after it was "repaired".

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...8/37204004.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...8/37204006.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...8/37204007.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...8/37204011.jpg

Was it ruled your fault..or did they cut ya some slack?

Have a friend who had an axle punched out just like that..the kid that hit him was doing the suicide deal....it worked.

It happened in between Bloomington and Peru Il. They didn't have to cut me any slack because it wasn't my fault. The girl survived with a broken back and a few ribs. I thought for sure she was dead, I refused to get out of my truck because I didn't want to have to deal with it. Finally the Illinios trooper gave me his word that she was awake and just beaten up a bit. He then took me down to Bloomington and paid for my hotel room for the night.

I'm curious... what did Werner have to say about it?

By the way, rigidsporty, you may check with Chattanooga Wholesale Trucks. Sometimes you can find a good buy with them. I have seen some junk with them, but also some good buys. Since you don't live that far away, you may want to check with them. The owner's name is Otis. I bought a truck from him when he worked for another dealer and he was fair with me. Some of their trucks are listed on their website.

They just asked if I was okay and if they could do anything for me. They are a very good company, no matter what you may hear. Most of the time it's from people who never stepped a foot in one of their trucks. If they had anything other than 48 state OTR, I'd lease on with them.

Thanks GMAN I'll look.

I haven't heard much good about them, but... like you said... none of them ever drove for them. I am pretty sure I wouldnt like the paperless logs, we had something like that at the food service place I used to drive for. Personally I think most of the big companies are pretty much the same. There are unhappy drivers at every company.

Found another one! :lol:

http://www.golsn.com/listings/automo...es/459970.html

He sent me a pic of it (actually a picture video slide) and it looks like its in great shape. You can tell its been well taken care of. The only bad thing is fuel mileage with it. Its a flat-top sleeper too. This is the only pic I was able to capture...

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...sporty/sef.jpg

;;; Like new tires,less than 400,000

Ya, except the guy needs to work on his sentence structure a little so one thing doesn't give you the wrong impression. lol

Leave the guy alone... he's proud of his Peterbuilt! :lol:

At least he isn't far from you.

I dont think I'm gonna buy a truck right now. Beacon just called so I'll probably jusy go back as a company driver for now and save up some money, then just pay cash for a truck.

It takes a lot of pressure off when you start out without any debt.

I'd like to start out with as little an overhead as possible. BTW, when you sign on with a carrier, are you required to stay with them for a certain length of time? Since they are paying for the plates and permits and such, I though maybe you'd be required to sign a one year contract or something. I was going to ask Jacobson but it never got to that point.


Also I got a reply from the guy with this...

http://www.golsn.com/listings/automo...ks/450860.html

... 98 Freightliner for $11,500. Its got his number if anyone is interested in it...

"I bought this truck back in Feb. with the intention of putting a driver in it and running it. That deal fell through and i have not run the truck on the road. However, the truck runs and drives good, i try to start it once a week and i'll drive around the community just to keep the fluids stirred up and to keep the seals from drying out. The truck seems to be a solid truck and i think that i would make a great first truck. If you have any more questions or would like to see and drive the truck feel free to call me @931-510-5586. I really need to sell the truck so i am willing to make a deal on it if you are interested. Thanks. Mark Davis"

Most carriers don't have a time requirement for staying with them on their contract. It is pretty much like an "At will" agreement. In other words, either party to the contract may cancel at any time without notice. As far as paying for base plates is concerned, it depends on the contract. Some carriers require the owner operator to pay for their own base plate. The carrier will often pay for the plate, but take a fixed amount out of the owner operator's weekly settlement. In that case, there could be some obligation to the next quarter. If the carrier pays for the base plates without charging anything back to the owner operator there may not be any obligation to the owner operator. It just depends on the wording in their contract. I have always paid for my own base plates, so it has never been an issue for me. I would call them and ask.

Unless you have daddy buying trucks for you (coughbanditscousincough), you have debt even if you purchased your truck for cash. That truck won't last forever, so until you have saved enough to pay to replace it, you are in debt to the piece of equipment.

I gave 2 weeks notice today to the boss-man (and I use that term lightly) ... his reaction was a text-book "You found another job? Oh... well... okay... I wish you luck in your future endeavors" as he quickly returned to his ever-important computer monitor... I feel so important. :roll:

I'm going to Beacon the 22nd... https://www.beacontransport.net/

Agree 100%. I paid cash for my truck but, and a big but, I HAVE to be repaid for the money I put out. I've set up an amortization schedule that has to be met. You either borrow from a bank or borrow from yourself but the money has to be repaid. Look at what you sacrifice for this purchase, vacations, RV's, new furniture for the wife :wink: , and belive me she wants it. :lol:

Business is business no matter where the money comes from.

What kind of lust for money do you have to have that you "HAVE to be repaid for the money I borrow from myself." Good Lord! do you people care about money THAT much that you'd be a loan shark to yourself???

"If I dont pay myself back I'll cut my legs off!" :roll:

Lets say I'm your best friend and I need to borrow $20. Do you HAVE to have that $20 back no matter what?

I have at one time given a CAR to a friend... simply because he needed one at the time and I had an extra. I never wanted payment for it and never did. I GAVE it to him I didnt LOAN it to him.
We have since parted ways, yet I still do not regret giving him that car.

There are so many people on here that need to realize there is much more to life that the "Almighty Dollar." :wink:

Wow. Tell us how you really feel.


It has nothing to do with a lust for money, and everything to do with the fact that equipment wears out and needs to be replaced. If you don't recoup your initial investment, then you are in debt, even if you paid cash for the equipment. The "debt" to yourself is the money it would cost to replace the equipment when that time comes.

Wow, where to start? Lust for money, no not at all, a head for business maybe. Don't even start on me about giving, I've given a hell of a lot of my money and time that came from hanging a hell of a lot of drywall, framing a hell of a lot of metal walls, and a lot of other construction related projects that cost me sweat, blood and tears.

I gave a truck to my wife's family member so he could sell it to by his medicine that he needed, I didn't want to insult him by giving him money. I gave free room, board and food to a friend of my daughters for a year to help him get back on his feet, oh yeah, he was also an alcoholic, and with that comes a whole lot of other things that needed to be done, and cost me money, that I never asked to be paid back. I also give to charities and give to the poor when I see they need help, be it money or maybe just a sandwich, or whatever. So Please Don't Start On Me About Giving, There's To Much To List.

Having said that, when it comes to business I don't give my time away for nothing. If you're not willing to track every dollar spent in business then don't get into business. You're only hurting the rest of us, no matter the trade.
If you had to borrow money from the bank to finance your operation start up, would they not want to be repaid????? Ok then, if you finance the operation yourself then you should repay yourself with Interest!

It's not greed or selfishness it's BUSINESS!

Wow, so many correlations between trucking and construction it's unreal. You're like the guy in an old p/up truck I see in Home Depot, working cheap doing half ass work............. but it's cheap, and it is so because he doesn't know his cost.

Geezuz man, this $hit ain't hard, it's numbers.

EDIT: I had to change a "than" to a "then" so Rev wouldn't bust my chops. Dammit!

double post

I thought I just did Padre.... you'll forgive me if you dont intimidate me Mr "Role Model." :wink:

Case in point...

Again... you'll forgive me if I dont hero-worship you like these other brain-dead morons do. Unlike them, I actually have a will of my own.

Is that the best you can do from two very specific posts about why a truck which is paid off still has debt? Seriously?


BTW, I didn't ask for that goofy title. TF changed it on his own. If anyone "hero worships" me, then god help them, because I'm nobody worth worshiping.

RostyC and Rev are approaching this in the right way....as a business. Rigidsporty...ya gotta look at this as a business and your business has to not only support you and your family but support itself as well... Business-101 man.

You don't replace a truck, you fix it. It's not something you throw away at the end of a predetermined amount of time.

Some people buy a new car every 100,000. Then, there are people like a friend of mine with over 1,000,000 on his Volvo. He's on his 3rd engine and kept the car in GREAT shape and fixes everything but his costs are FAR less then someone who's bought 10 Volvo's in that time frame.

Also, Volvo just gave him a gold plated medallion to replace his silver one on the front hood that he got at 500,000.

Sorry guys... I didnt mean anything and I do appreciate all the help and advice. Just had a bad day yesterday and I guess this post was my way to vent.

I really shouldnt drink and type. :oops:

Do like I do. Shut the computer off then do a crap load of shots all at once. By the time you feel like getting back in the computer you're so sheetfaced you can't see the keys.

Insurance for our trucks is $11,000 - $12,000/year but we are a Canadian carrier running stateside.

My insurance for cargo/liability/collision is $5,700

Wow, name calling, I'm impressed. You just told a lot about yourself, and your attitude.
Good Luck in your venture rigidsporty, I mean that sincerely.

You posted this when I was writing my reply.
Apology accepted rigid.

:lol:

Next Time I'll try to take Steve's advice... just get so hammered that I cant see to type anything stupid. :D

I actually understand where you are coming from, but I disagree completely. A car is not a truck, and there comes a point where it isn't cost effective to continue replacing or repairing things on the truck. The older a truck is, the more there are large scale items wearing out. One of the big things that gets overlooked is downtime. Many of those large scale items require long periods of downtime, and can very quickly eat into the bottom line.

Sure, there's no predetermined time that you get rid of a truck, but it's pretty clear that there is a time when it just makes more sense to replace a truck rather than constantly repairing it. Keeping up maintenance will help prolong that, but then when the time comes to replace, the truck isn't worth nearly as much as you have invested in it. A truck is never the sum of its parts. Yes, new parts help to increase the value of a truck, but not nearly as much as you would think. I know a guy who just bought a 1996 379 Pete. The truck itself had about 1.5 million miles on it, but the engine had been overhauled about 200,000 miles ago. It had a 120 inch big bunk sleeper on it, and the entire truck looks brand new. He picked it up for a whopping $54,000, which is less than what the sleeper itself cost new (and had only been put on the truck 2 years ago).

Plus, if you have a truck with millions of miles on it, and a build date that is in a different century, the insurance value of the truck is nil. One major accident, and you suddenly are left with a pile of junk that the insurance company only throws a few thousand dollars toward you for at best.


And for rigidsporty, apology not accepted, until you debate what I posted (assuming it was you who disagreed with the concept, and not the alcohol). :wink:

That's right - a truck makes you $$ no matter how old it is.

Wrong. You can always rebuild a truck for less than the price of a similar new truck. And your rebuilt truck will be new without the crappy EPA engines!
Unless you have to pay a mechanic to turn your wrenches. But then you ain't much of a trucker in my book. Just a steering wheel holder.


Down time is beer drinking, garage stereo cranking, napping under the truck, greasy knuckle, wrench turning time. Some of the best quality time one can spend with their truck. If you can't afford to take a few weeks off you're bankrupt and just don't know it yet. I just came off my 4th of July vacation this week. Enjoy them lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer. Life's too short not too.

Good drivers don't break their trucks. Repairs should never be frequent. If so, you're in the wrong line of work.

Truck book value is irrelevant. Why would one sell their old truck if it is in great shape and they have half a brain? Keep it and make more money with it and stay with the plan: Don't break the truck and keep it maintained.
Also great drivers don't have accidents.
(Me: trucking since'84 - wrecks: 0) So insurance value is irrelevant. If truck gets totaled, take the crumpled wreck and rebuild it. Why sell a good old truck just because you are worried about getting in wreck? With that logic why truck at all? There's a million things to worry about.

And for the cartoon crowd, here ya go: 8) :o :shock: :? :P :x :sad: :wink: :evil: :twisted: :x

While you are busy keeping an old POS together, consulting Miss Cleo on what parts are going to fail without notice, I'm busy turning a profit. I'll be sure to wave as I pass your broken down bucket of bolts on the side of the road.

Life is too short to spend vacation time trying to keep an old truck together on my downtime. But hey - if spending 2 months of your summer rebuilding a scrap heap floats your boat, more power to you.

So how's that '84 model truck holding up?

Your decision.

I'd like to put a stop to Soggy's falsities right now.

My truck hasn't broke down since in the last 10 or 11 years. Don't assume we all have experiences like you with your truck.

The only time I touched it those 2 months were to vacuum the carpet, squeegee the windows inside and out, dust off dash, add a 120V AC line, and made a professional looking cover for my gen.

Nothing needed fixing or replacing. Oh yeh, I greased it even though it had been only 3,000 miles since I had done it before. I only checked my maintenance record after I greased it and said "Doh!" I just wasted my time.

My truck is a '96 I bought brand new. All original except the front bumper thanks to a four wheeler who challenged me on the wrong day and a suicidal deer the second time.

And I still regularly get comments about how good looking she is.

When your Pete is is paid off you might start to get a clue. No payment - slow down.

BTW how many paint jobs has that thing had in only what, 4 years? 5 years?

You're hard on a truck ain't ya?

My truck broke down? Why didn't anyone tell me?

Probably still looks like :dung:

And you wasted my time telling me about it.

Hypocrite.

Nope. I changed the color once due to a leasing requirement, and the second time because I felt like it, not because it needed it. And it's 3 years. :roll:

Hell of a truck you got there buddy..one hell of a truck...It looks good on blocks does it?



It looks good on blocks, because that is the only way it doesn't breakdown in 11 years.