That's it! I'm getting a flat...
 

I'm trading up my 48 ft super-ultra-extra-uber low step for a flat. Here's the highlights of my future 'skateboard':

Make: Wilson
Model: CF-965 (heavy duty coil hauler)
Length: 48 ft
Width: 102"
Beam capacity: 65,000 lbs in 4 ft of deck's length; 67K in 10 ft; 73K in 20 ft
Fifth wheel height: 45"
Axles: tandem with a front axle slider; 121" and 72" position; the rear axle is at the very back (72" is legal in Western Canada; plus it gives you same weight rating in Ontario as 121"; good for tires and fuel mileage).
Kingpin: 30" (standard)
Composition: combo (steel frame + aluminum top)
Floor: 1 3/8" aluminum with 4 nailers (they now offer thicker floor; it was 1 5/16" before).
Wheels: aluminum, 22.5"
Tires: Yokohama RY023 295/75R22.5
Securement devices: in-rail chain tiedowns + quick tie-down plates (newly designed rail)
Winches: new design, where they don't scratch the heck out of the side of the trailer
Lights: 5 on each side (including the turn signal)
Tool boxes: 1 dunnage rack (10' long)
Approximate weight: 10,700 lbs
Price FOB Missouri: US$33,750

Dat'z a loooooooong wayz from being an RGN or lowboy!

Maybe you should pur a Conestoga (curtain) kit on it too! :) only five lights you need more chicken lights!

I bet after 2 montsh he is on here saying. Hey guys i bought this flat and was thinking of trading it for a Lowboy. lol

I really think you should wait and go to MATS at the end of this month can go check out the hundreds of trailer vendors before you make a purchase. Not to mention the show specials and discounts.

There are so many used flats for sale in Ontario I wouldn't even consider buying a new one. At Christmas a 05 MAC/side kit/michelins/good brakes/coil kit/extra led lights etc went for 15 grand. They're giving away plain jane combo's. Buy a cheap one and keep your drop.

yup thats what i would do, i would get a flay and keep the step. that way you will have the best of both worlds. i would also look into a mac trailer, there a very good trailer, their built in ohio, strong and light weight, and some pretty cheep ones online. and dont go and buy another brand new trailer, save money and buy a used one, the used one will do the same thing as a new one, but cheeper.

Guys, I'm TRADING the step. I'm not paying the full price for the flat. It's still financed through the same financial company. My monthly payments now actually will be smaller because the trailer is CHEAPER in Cnd Dollars thanks to the very favorable exchange rate and plus it's a cheaper trailer. If I had 20K cash, I'd definitely buy a used flat. I looked carefully into RGNs and such, and I'd love to pull them. Unfortunately I didn't see the amount of freight on LS boards that would justify the switch. You look at our board for 5 minutes and you see right away the best trailer to go across the border is a FLAT or - possibly - a 53 ft step. The step is $7,000 more for the same loads (90% flatbed loads). It doesn't make sense from the financial standpoint.

it'll have low radius tires and my fifth wheel is only 45.5" high. i bet when it's dark it WILL look like a lowboy ;)

The dealer and financial company will roll the difference between the two trailers into your new payment. Also, isn't the step a lease? So u won't own it anyways when your lease is up.

At least come to the Louisville truck show and talk directly with the Wilson rep and see what they have to offer and any discounts u can get. And personally, I'd get a Retinour

If your bound and bent to be in debt up to your ass then at least get an aluminum one. Nobody in Ontario or the northern states are buying steel trailers because of the rust issues. Wilson makes all aluminum trailers too. Get what you need not what they're trying to dump off on you.

I absolutely love following Tracer and his travels but if any of you have not figured it out yet, he is not going to heed your advice. If you follow him here or on his blog he seems hell bent on being in debt. I hope it works out for him in the end one of these days but it seems he is content to simply finance things and tread water. He was warned about using crazy specs and having that custom brand new step built, he did it anyway. Got tired of tarping and just had to have that expensive custom made conestoga that people said was not a good idea. He did that and now its setting in storage and now he is hell bent on speccing out another brand new trailer. And correct me if i am wrong but is this trailer not going to get turned upside and rolled into the trade? And I recently even saw you make mention on your blog not to long ago about brand new trucks. Man you gotta get smarter with htis stuff. I wish you all of the luck in the world and you are a very interesting subject to follow but man oh man, Its frustrating to watch as well. Listen to some of these guys, they have been right for the most part on every piece of advice they have given you.

I wish you would have bot a 53'.....I could've made you a good offer on it. How much are they giving you for the step on?

An all aluminum flat (same model) is extra $6000.

Probably 25K in trade. Dealer said the retail value should be around 27K. I still have the Conestoga for it too...

I would look at an EAST. If they make their flats anything like their dump trailers then it would be one hell of a trailer.

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Click on the picture above and you'll see an example of my typical (not so typical in some respects) freight. This time I got light posts, 50 ft long, 27,000 lbs total. I AM hauling them on my step, but it'd be much easier and less stressful to carry them on a flat. By the way, this baby pays over 3 bucks per mile from Oklahoma to Alberta. So you cannot do it on a regular flat: you need either a 72" axle spread or a tridem. That's why I'm spec'ing a front axle slider.

In response to folks who hate leasing and financing: either you use new stuff and make payments for it or you use junk with no payments but then you have to take out a mortgage on your house each April when taxes are due. With my truck paid off and the $32,750 LEASED trailer, I'd be able to write off $10,000 in taxes during the first year. The payments are going to be the same or lower per month, but I'll get a much more useful trailer. The lease is structured in a way that I buy the trailer back at the end for $1. It WILL be mine.

I'm also getting rid of my apartment and that will improve my cashflow by almost $1,000 each month. Next in line is the car that is costing me $600/mo.

I know what I'm doing.

Am i just completely clueless and off base when i ask why would you have to go broke and mortgage your home every april at tax time to pay the taxes? Shouldnt you be anticipating the cost of your taxes throughout the year and stashing some back into your savings or business account to cover this every year if you do end up having to pay? Im not an owner yet but I kind of just figured you would need to set aside money for taxes every settlement just like you would for maintenance or anything else involved in the cost of operation? Am i wrong or just missing something?

I see guys hauling loads like that all the time on a step they use a bridge or whatever its calle on lower declared to even them. What happened to hauling equipment?

I put $500 each week into my savings. I use ATBS for my accounting and pay their estimated quarterly taxes, which is about $2500, then once my final return is completed, I pay that. This year I paid $7800 so far, and going to owe $0

So now I get to decide what I want to spend the $12k I still have in my savings. Most likely gonna just keep it un there tho just in case the new rig takes a crap.

I put $500 each week into my savings. I use ATBS for my accounting and pay their estimated quarterly taxes, which is about $2500, then once my final return is completed, I pay that. This year I paid $7800 so far, and going to owe $0

So now I get to decide what I want to spend the $12k I still have in my savings. Most likely gonna just keep it un there tho just in case the new rig takes a crap.

Tracer on the other hand has himself so far under, he want able to save any $ and sometimes doesn't even get a check. I know he struggles to buy fuel too, but if this deal makes him money and starts him on a up swing then I say good for him. It honestly can't get any worse. At least he is trying to get it all taken care of to get him out of the hole he's dug.

No your not missing anything





Not likely.




No, you don't, basically you can't afford the car and the apartment, thats because you are not paying yourself, read ANYTHING on small buisness and it says ALWAYS pay yourself.

You can't pay yourself because you make bad decisions, you would be better off in a company ride, probably make more too

Hey Tracer. You're an inspiration to guys like me. Thank you!

Only thing i think he needs to do is keep with 1 type of trailer and stay with it. Seems like everytime you see a couple loads bring in a couple more dollars your ready to up and sell your trailer. If you buy a high flat then stick with it for a couple years.

Your losing your ass money wise. Buying and selling all the time.

Those loads are like 1 in 10. The rest is basic flat or step. OR: DD stuff that is either 12 ft high or over 50,000 lbs.

If I followed advice from maniacs, I'd be in a worse position that the one I'm in now. I guarantee it.

Solo, talk to him in Russian, I'm not getting thru

It seems to me that you are really upside down on your equipment, Tracer. If I were you, I would sit down and decide what I really want to do. You have a good trailer that is working for you. Every time you trade you are losing money. And contrary to what you may believe, just because a trailer is used doesn't necessarily mean that it is "junk." There are some good buys on used equipment around. You can save a lot of money buying used. And you will get more of your money back should things not work out for you and you decide to sell it.

There are better ways to pay less taxes than buying equipment. I have had friends who would try to justify buying a new piece of equipment because of taxes. You could either find some investments which would grow and save taxes or you could take some time off and enjoy life rather than work to make payments. You haven't really had your equipment long enough to really see the potential. The less debt the better. You don't make money by accumulating more debt.

I dont think he is upside down on his equipment. I mean after all his truck is paid off. More then i can say lol.

I dont think no one will get thur to him.

Hey tracer what ever you do keep updating your blog. I read that thing all the time. BTW no one will buy them railroad ties for firewood.

If doing this deal lowers his monthly payment, then I truly think he should go for it. He has not made any profit yet, and won't unless he changes his budget and so on. If it saves him a few bucks each month then why not? I know it will take longer to pay off and prob cost twice as much, but right now he is working with 0 and it can only improve. Only other way out is bankruptcy, and if he goes that route, he might as well try this first.

I read it daily too. The guy has some good writing skills!

And firewood prob not, but down here in Texas they would call those the "El Cheapo" car lift....your be able to drop a trans in no time lol!

But how much does it extend the payments? And it is still the 14%+ interest deal that he was complaining about just a few months ago. I don't know how he can justify buying new equipment just because he can't break the lease.

Stick with your current trailer Tracer, there's nothing wrong with it. Putting loads on load levelers is no big deal at all, as long as it's done correctly.

So you came to Oklahoma and didn't stop by and say hello. Looks like you got some of Arrows old freight.

Yeah, I did that with about 10 Suburbans. You get the advantage of 100% deductibility (instead of the capital cost allowance/depreciation) but you still wind up owning it in the end. Not sure how it works with trailers but there was a monthly maximum payment that they would allow on my trucks....$675/mo IIRC. Also, Revenue Canada can say the low buyback of $1 makes it not a lease, but in fact a purchase and reassess you. I did it anyway and got away with it. Just be sure to save some money for taxes in case they disallow it.

I know there is a bit more work with levelers but IMO that is the price to pay for being able to carry tall freight.....and to have a built in headache rack.

I understand what you mean about the stress of moving something like that on levelers...I felt the same way at first but after a while I realized that the stuff never budged on the levelers and I got used to it. I don't think twice anymore.

If it was me, I would keep the step BUT since you're still making payments on the step I agree with Steel Cowboy. If you can lower your payments without a revenue penalty, they why not? Trouble is....I think there will be a revenue penalty. You say the equipmnet loads are 1 in 10.....well maybe....now. You're only just getting started Tracer. They will call you if they know you have the right trailer for what they need.

By that way, can't LS hook you up with some Baltimore to ON? My phone is ringing off the hook and the brokers are all saying trucks are tight. $2.50 - $2.95 without even trying....legal, SD, no tarp.

i dont think he realizes how valuable a trailer you have. i look at it this way, if you had load levers and a good set of tarps you can pull almost any step or flat load that comes your way. this means that it gives you better load/ reload options. as much as you hate to tarp, having the tarps can mean the difference between you sitting or hauling loads and making cash. i've some people get an extra $500 a load to tarp it, and it may only take an hour or two. the load levers can allow you to get a load that can get you back to where you need to be.

a quick story, theres a guy in ohio who has a flatbed trailer that is convertible to a hopper trailer. by doing this it allows him to haul a steel load out and bring a load of corn/or whatever can go in a hopper back, while others take a load out and come back empty. this guy found a way to make what he had work without going in the poor house. to convert your step into a flat all you need are some load levers and that allows you to handle a good amount of flat load while still being able to haul step load when they come.

Not to be a turd, but he did have load levelers when he first got the trailer but he got rid of those just like he got rid of his tarps when he decided he needed that high dollar conestoga that he no longer wants or uses.Its his business and he can do as he pleases but it is very frustrating to watch sometimes. I really do wish him the best but he has the strangest business practices I have seen since i have been on this site and i have been on here as a poster and lurker since about 2006 or 2007.I do love following his blog though. The guy can write.

This is an idea I could use. How in the heck did he do that? Cut a hole in the floor then what?

That style trailer has been around a long time. Wilson and Tempte both build them...Fruehauf used to.