Taking the Conestoga off!
 

That's it: with the winter coming, I decided to get rid of the sliding tarp system. Most of the loads I've been doing lately don't even require tarping! Last winter when I got caught in a snow storm in the North East the wet snow bent the ceiling frame members. When I asked the dealer about this they said, "the frame is not load bearing." They replaced one beam only but the other 3 or 4 would bend again for sure as soon as some snow gets on the roof; and I'd have to pay again for all this.

The dealer agreed to take the system off for $1,000 and keep it on consignment in his yard till it's sold. I'll have to keep paying the financial company of course but I can use the $10,000 the dealer promised me to pay off and sell my car, which will improve my cashflow by almost 700 bucks. I use it 3 days in a month anyway ... so taking the Conestoga off will actually improve my bottomline (after the car is sold) and now the rig will be:

- 2,500 lbs lighter (the system + the roof deflector)
- able to take loads that stick out in the front and rear (like those utility trailers)
- more fuel efficient when empty (no side walls!)
- easy to drive under trees, bridges, and inside plant/factory doors (most of these are 14' tall and I always had trouble backing it with my 13'6" wagon).
- easier to load and unload
- safer to operate: the 107" wide system blocked view through mirrors and I could hardly see the rear wheels

I'll probably get a 4' tarp eventually but for now I'll look for loads that don't require tarping. There's plenty of these on the Landstar board. I won't be able to do oversize loads till Spring 2011 (company's policy).

Now I'll have to do something about the holes in the rub rails on the trailer where the Conestoga was bolted on ... can probably get new reflective tape and cover the holes.

Wait until the first load you wish you had it. You'll be like "Why did I get rid of that damn thing !" :) But really you are probably better off without it in the long run.

How does the 10k work?

Basically, the financial company I have a lease with, bought the system from the dealer. So, the dealer made their profit already... Now I'll pay the dealer $1k to take it off and hopefully they'll be able to sell it at a high enough price to give me $10,000. They said they'd give me a check and it'd be up to me what to do with it. I talked to the financial company thinking $10,000 NOW should be worth more than the same $10,000 over the lease term, but they wouldn't give me any discount. Whether I keep this 10k for myself or I give it to them, I still have to make ALL the payments under the lease. So, it makes more sense to use it to pay off the car, so that I can save almost 700 bucks a month ($430 financing + $170 insurance + $50 fuel minimum) on something I rarely use.

:eek2: I thought I paid a lot for insurance. My 2008 pick up and Trans Am is $220 for 10 months with collision. $170 seems a lot for 1 car:cool:

Here in Canada insurance is expensive: both for heavy trucks and cars. It used to be 120 bucks then they renewed it at ... $165 for no reason at all. Their explanation was "the bank rates are going up... all insurance companies are raising rates." Yeah, right. I had no accidents and no tickets. Part of a reason why I want to get rid of the car. It's much cheaper to use a rental (when I need one). I"m now in Sasketchewan, Canada and been on the road since the beginning of the month and my car is just gathering dust in Ontario, Canada - 1600 miles away! It's one thing when you have family members that can use it while you're away, but if you're single like me, it's' a total waste of money.

Some guy from Toronto called me this morning.. He has 10 trucks and he wants to lease the entire thing: the trailer and the Conestoga. He didn't seem put off by the combined payment. Probably made too much money and needs to write off something against taxes.

Why don't you try and sell it to him? If you know and trust him not to destroy it then lease it to him. Then you could lease on old junker. Landstar as a rule doesn't haul a lot of heavy loads so you don't need an expensive alum trailer.

If only we would all have that problem. LOL

that's a serious problem by the way. my truck is pretty much written off - i've used all the depreciation since i bought it in 2007 and i'm making 2 last payments in november. time to jump for joy or tear my hair out because my 2010 tax bill is going to be astronomical?