The Joys of of Truck Ownership and Being an Owner Operator
 

For those who have owned trucks for at least a few years, you will be able to relate to my last week or so. For those thinking about buying a truck, it may provide some insight as to why it is a good idea to have money in the bank before jumping into truck ownership.

Weekend before last I stopped in Indianapolis to have my truck and trailer lubed at the Speedco. It turned out to be a very good decision. My power divider was low about 6 pints (3/4 gallon) of fluid and I had a wheel seal leaking. I drove a couple of blocks to the Boss shop at the Flying J. I hoped they could just replace the seal and I would be on my way to my delivery in Maryland on Monday. This was Saturday. I picked this load up in Iowa and it was a two drop load. When they pulled the wheel they found my axle was damaged along with the wheel bearing. After calling around I found an Axle Surgeon who would come out to repair it. The axle surgeon charged me $1,050 and after paying the garage and him I spent $1,930 for the repair. I could have had the work done locally for much less. The Axle Surgeon finished about 4 am Sunday morning. I had to wait until the garage opened for them to put everything else back together. After all repairs, I was on my way and arrived in Hagerstown later that evening. Early Monday morning I drove about 30 miles to my delivery in Frederick, MD. I began to notice some noise that was unusual. Initially, I thought it was my engine. It became obvious that it was my transmission very quickly. I got my first drop off and proceeded to my final drop which was about 130 miles away. I noticed a noise when I was in 10th gear and also in 5th and 8th. It sounded like bearings. Since 9th was doing OK, I decided to keep the speed down to around 45 to 50 mph and made my final delivery in Charlottesville, VA. By the time I made my delivery, I was becoming increasingly concerned. After unloading I decided it would be best to deadhead home rather than taking a chance on breaking down on the road or having to deal with an overpriced dealer. It was a good decision. I took it easy and drove most of the way in 9th gear while keeping my speed down to 50 mph or a little less. I did not want to push the truck with that type of problem. I only replaced that transmission a couple of years ago. My usually mechanic was covered up as were a couple of other local garages. I knew that I did not want to pay Kenworth $135/hour. So, I finally decided to wait until my mechanic could check it. He was covered up and with only 2 bays, could not get me in until a day or so ago. After he pulled the transmission, he found I had some teeth that were missing from one of the gears along with at least one bearing. There was also some other damage. Parts had to be ordered. They came in today. He checked the clutch and found that there was only about half of it left, so I decided to replace the clutch, as well. I have found it is usually best to replace the clutch when it is worn and you already have the transmission out. I could not believe that I had to rebuild the transmission and get a new clutch after only a couple of years. I don't have the final figure on the repair, but the transmission should wind up costing about $2,400-2,500 and I paid $600 for the clutch. Those should be close to the final costs, which is much less than at the dealer or having to do the repairs on the road.

The problem with the axle was due to the mechanic who last replaced the seal apparently did not lock the nut, allowing it to back off enough to damage the axle. I had a couple of issues with the transmission in that it made a lot of noise, like a hammer hitting the transmission when I shifted from the right to left side of the transmission. The transmission problem likely resulted from the people who have been doing most of my pm's not checking the fluids. The transmission was very low on fluid, but I never noticed a leak. A few months go I got a pm at TA in Mobile. He didn't even grease the drive line and never touched my trailer. I was in a hurry and did not check it as I should. Had I checked him I might have found the low transmission fluid and avoided the problem. But, I think there had been something going on with the transmission for a while due to the noise.

I am making this post to remind others that you must be careful and follow up on any repairs or maintenance. Another reason is that you absolutely must put money aside for repairs. After I pick up my truck I will have spent around $5,000 in about 10 days. It happens. When it does happen you need to have the money to get your truck repaired. In my case, I was fortunate in that I was 588 miles from home and had the funds to repair my truck. I was also fortunate that I did not need to call a wrecker. My last breakdown involving a transmission, the truck was about 1,500 miles from home and cost me around $8,500. That included a tow bill for $954 and paying my driver to sit for several days in a motel. If I had to do the transmission repair on the road, I would likely have been looking at $5,000-6,000, possibly more. It isn't as much of a problem if you have the resources to pay for the repairs. If not, then you could lose everything and be out of business.

Yeah! It happened! I'd say you got off easy, could be much, much worse! But i guess you already know that, so i'm stressing that for the others. BTW, my possible tow bill, covered by my insurance, up to $5000 to the destination of my choice, with $250 deductible, i've got that option for less than a $100 a year. It's a very good deal for the over million miles truck!

One good thing on being local and only working in a 50 mile radius. Trucks come back to the yard everyday and deal with the same shops. Being broke down on the road must suck. Macks hourly rate is 125. I let mack work on my new truck with all the emissions stuff. But my older mack i take to a local shop who has been working on it from day one. Nice think about the Mack dealership is i have accounts there. So they bill me for all service and parts. Up to 7,500. So it gives you some time to get money together. I try to get accounts everywhere. It makes life easier. Plus i can send my driver for parts etc and he can just sign his name and leave

There is definitely an advantage to doing business locally. You are right, solo, I did get lucky with the transmission. It would have cost much more on the road and I might have also had a tow bill to boot. I spoke with the mechanic today and he told me that he didn't know how I made it home. I am very thankful. The point I was making is that when you own trucks you need to take care of the maintenance and have money set aside for repairs. I am fortunate that I don't also have equipment payments. Some get such a high payment and don't have any reserves to see them through a major breakdown. Who would have thought that I would need to replace a transmission that was installed only a couple of years ago? It isn't pleasant, but things happen. My truck may not be ready until Tuesday according to the mechanic. That means that the truck has not made any money for the time it has been broken. If you have big equipment payments, things can be much more complicated. I try to keep money back to take care of this type of repair. That is why we recommend to any driver thinking of buying a truck to have money saved. You just don't think this type of thing can happen. In this case, I had two different incidents that happened on the same trip. Hopefully, this will be the last of the big spending on repairs for a while.

Same exact thing happened to me, only on my trailer.............that sign that says"no customers in the shop"........means nothing to me, I watch them now!!

I agree with everything else you said tho..........so many are 1 breakdown away from bankrupcy.

same just happened to my dad. the mechanic told him he looked tired and go lay down. so he did. ran from ohio to fl on the way back up the truck started bucking bad. as you did he babied it (he was on the NJ TPK). there is a freighliner dealer at exit 8A. finally got so bad he had to get a tow. he had a load of produce on it so i had to run my truck down to him. anyway, turns out that the TA never checked his front diff. it had almost no oil. did not make a sound. the truck was serviced earlier in that week. he called the TA and they gave him the run around for a week. they paid for half the job.. because of their negligence it costed him a set of gears.

the only TA worth anything is Brookville PA. i get a lot done there will be there today actually became friends with the mechanics. they know my truck and how i like things done.


and if you want to go deeper in to the owner thing.. my dad has 3 trucks. his truck was down 2 weeks ago with the rear, last week his freight liner had a electrical issue fixed that, after that the injector tubes went (no idea.. must be a detroit thing) ended up having all 6 done, and his international really needs to be gone over. truck has been running for about 10 months with out stopping only for resets when the mechanic is out of course. i'll say it once again.. most stressful business ever.

First I'm sorry for the rough week GMAN, but unfortunately as much as you and the others that have been around post the stories people pick and choose what they want to hear. They are going to be the exception. I had a guy leave last year to be an owner op. Out of any, he was an old timer and knew how to run a truck. He didn't apparently know how to manage his money. He swallowed his pride and came back. He lost his house, his car, his truck and didn't even have enough money for a haircut.

He didn't exactly leave on the best of terms either, cussed all the way out the door. But he came back in a humble fashion and I'm not going to kick a man when he's down. He's fine now rebuilding his life.

This mechanical stuff is why I prefer to lease. I haven't thought about a clutch in years. Now the new trucks (we just got 20 new Freightliners) come with a tire pressure monitoring system that alerts them right on the dash when a tractor tire is low. It's already paid for itself.

Well again sorry for your week. I know you've been around long enough you know these things happen, still never pleasant though.

I appreciate it, Merrick. I got my truck back yesterday. The bill was about 20% higher than I expected. My mechanic said that he made a mistake when he figured the parts. Still, the transmission rebuild was much less than the dealer. It turns out there was a line going to the cooler was broken or leaking and that was the reason my transmission went. I replaced the clutch while the transmission was out. Total cost for the transmission and new clutch was about $3,600. The axle repair was almost $2,000. With both I spent almost $6,000, which did not include the fuel to deadhead home and lost revenue. It was an expensive week, but at least I don't have big equipment payments. It could have been worse. Had TA done a proper check on my fluids, I would not likely have had a problem with the transmission. The lack of fluid to the rear bearings is what ultimately resulted in a failure of the transmission. Several pieces were broken off one gear and another had a piece out of it. The mechanic did not understand how I made it home. Fortunately, I did make it home and without a tow. I have a good friend in Pennsylvania who has a garage in Cresson that has done a good job for him. If I had spoken to my friend earlier I might have tried to make it to his garage, but I was glad to make it home where I could sleep in my own bed. It took my mechanic several days to get to me. He is covered up. Most of the time he can work me in, but he only has a couple of bays and was doing an overhaul in one and it took a few days to free the other bay. It took him a day or so longer than expected. There was a delay of at least a day due to parts availability. I think I will go back to Speedco or another facility for my pm's. It isn't worth taking a chance with TA.

It is times like this that I would have preferred to not own my equipment. I see what you are saying about leasing rather than owning, Merrick. But, my equipment has been paid off for some time. If it sits then I am not making payments while repairs are made. If you look at what I spent and compare it to making payments, I am way ahead of the game. If you look at the expense over a year I spent about $500/month. That is much less than most truck payments. Hopefully, this transmission will last more than a couple of years. With the new cooler line, the transmission should last for a number of years.

My main point in posting this is to show those who are thinking about buying a truck that it is very important to have money put aside so you are not out of business should something like this happen. You just never know when something will break on a truck. I keep my maintenance up on my equipment, or so I thought. Having put a transmission in my truck a couple of years ago, I would not have thought that I would have needed to do a rebuild so soon. Even new or newer equipment can break down. Not only would you have the cost of a breakdown, but the payments go on whether the truck is moving or not.

Merrick, I would suspect the driver who left you and came back probably had a major equipment failure and did not have the resources to make the repairs. I have had several former owner operators who have worked for me who were able to buy a truck but did not have money set aside for those inevitable breakdowns. Like your driver, most of them lost everything they owned. It was good of you to take him back. We all make mistakes. You are right about breakdowns being part of this business. It isn't a matter of "if," but "when." Breakdowns are a part of this business that none of us like, but it is all part of our responsibility of being owners of class 8 equipment.

to add to this.. my bad luck hit this week.

not as bad as gman but still not good. going out on my second load I go get fuel and for once I'm early. get on to I80 and I hear a bang. of course when I'm early right? pull over and look.. all tires are fine. I look under the trailer I blew an airbag. I have rayco suspension in this trailer I take it to one of my mechanics in nj. bring it in.. its 4 now. still be where I need to be relitivily decent time. the guy gets under the trailer and right away says "you have more issues then an airbag". I'm anal with my up keep. trailers are lubed once a month and all is looked over.. so I asked what. a bolt backed out spring moved popped the airbag and I have a crack in my spring hanger. that was on Tuesday. yesterday goes by I call at 2. it'll be done late tomorrow. now that's bad because I cant get a reload and I have a wedding over the weekend. call at 5 its done. I pay and I'm on my way. now earlier in the week my exhaust manifold is cracked. I'm done with this junk cat one I'm ordering a pdi one. there is also other things I need done. brakes on 2 axles, apu serviced, bunk heater serviced, manifold, replace manifold and get this trans. looked at.. its always fun.

I am sorry for your misfortune, firebird. Sometimes, these things seem to come in waves or several things at the same time. As we all know, things do happen and it is all part of being an owner. That doesn't make it any easier to digest, but you have to take it in stride. Other than taking care of your maintenance, there is little you can do to prevent some things from happening. I expected to get a load out yesterday, but things are very slow and rates are not at all good around my neighborhood. It seems to be the same all over the country. From what I have observed, the economy is much sicker than normal. We expect to see a slowdown this time of year, but it has a different feel this year, at least to me. Perhaps it is what else is going on in the political arena. Hopefully, I can get something out tomorrow.

Cresson Ridge garage, at the Cresson exit on rt 22, just east of Altoona never done any buisness with them, but other friends have, all good reports

And so it goes with most buisness owners, not just trucks either, have seen lots of other talented, educated people fall the same way............

no misfortune really just one of those times. i learned a while ago doing this no point of crying over spilt milk. the rates are nothing more then awful. i do think the economy is a lot worse off then anyone thinks. this is all part of the game i guess. oh to top things all off.. thursday night i'm sleeping really well.. its that time of the year you need heat but don't.. so i left it off. sleeping really really well. wake up cold reach over to put the bunk heater on.. nothing. i just laughed got up got the other blanket and went to sleep. all getting mad does is make you feel worse and the situation the same.

Good point Firebird! In my mind, i'm with you...Still getting pissed off tho... That's human...

Gman your tranny sounds alot like what mine did way back in 96 when I was in AL when I was driving for a Smaller Mom and pop outfit in IL. Truck was an 88 KW T600A model lightweight and I mean Lightweight even full tank all my crap in it it was 13K out the door. Well I am in AL and the transmission is hanging up in gear and also sounding like a washing Machine. Called the boss he said Deadhead in we do not need it broke down on the side of the road. Get back to the shop with my empty Trailer. Drop the wagon and pull the truck into the shop. The check the Transmission oil level WHAT OIL in the transmission. The shop pulled the transmission and the top plate off. They find the Main shaft is Busted but being held together by 2 gears. I drove her home with broken Main shaft 800 Miles. Bossman never doubted me when I said I could get a sick truck home after that one.

Yep, that is the shop. They have treated my friend very well at that shop. I have cards from shops across the country where I have been treated fairly. When possible, I try to get to the one that is nearest to my location. I have a shop in Arkansas that did a good job for me once and I have used him several times since. The shop is near Fort Smith. When my driver broke down, I called this guy. He got the truck towed by a friend of his and got my driver back on the road in a couple of days. The thought the price was very fair. I would recommend that any owner keep a file or list of shops where they have been treated fairly while on the road. There are too many who are more than willing to take advantage on the road.

You were very lucky to get the truck home, ironeagle. Unless it is something that must be dealt with on the road, I nearly always try to make it home. In this last case, it took me about 5 days just to get into the shop. Had I done this on the road, I might have had to spend that time in a motel rather than in my own bed. That was a very light weight truck you had there, ironeagle.

Alum Framed and wheels 60 inch Flat top single 140 gallon tank single Screw with a tag axle M11 Cummins rated at 350 we joked as the drivers if it could be made out of Alum on those trucks it was. This should give you an idea of what I did haul weight wise with that old girl. Was told go scale out one of the bosses old 40 foot vans make sure I was full of fuel and go to the local bolt blank plant. I hauled 55 Thousand Lbs of Blanks to Philly and still had 1 ton I could have hauled. My Backhaul was 54 K of Honey and I was like that's it.

Boss used these 5 and he had 5 of them normally for hauling heavy Liquid loads in his tanker fleet. Why because he could get another 4K lbs of product in the trailers and paid alot more. I did not sweat weighing a reload out unless I had one of our Heater Trailers on and it weighed over 47K.

Aluminum can really lighten up a truck. I have a friend who owned a 9200 International with a 51" sleeper. I bought an East all aluminum trailer and could scale over 51,000 pounds with that combination.

I have been saying this for months. Something is not right. I don't care what they put in the newspaper. We on the ground can see it. Funny just a few months ago Time magazine had on it's cover that trucking was one of the best small businesses to get into. I said once it it's the cover of a major media outlet you've missed the boat. Last couple of years was great. But the party is over for now. Then just the other day now all of a sudden there was a WSJ article saying things aren't looking good for trucking. I've lost a few people lately as they wanted to buy their own truck. All about timing. They should have done that a couple of years ago. Now is the worst time to get in. (Well trucks are cheaper but there is an obvious reason for that).

I know the Economy is about to BLOW up in Obama's Face and there is NO WAY he is going to be able to HIDE it. Why Railroad Year to Year Shipments are DOWN 5% on a Tonnage and Carload and Intermodal Shipment Basis. The last time the AAR said they saw this was in the 70's. Every MEASURE they use to measure Traffic on the Railroads is OFF at least 5% over last year and down 10% from 2007. Then throw in Obama saying he is going to VETO anything that extends the PTC requirement for the Railroads and the Railroads saying they need more time and if they do not GET THAT TIME they will SHUT DOWN rather than be Fined. Word to the Wise about Jan 1 if the Railroads do not get the extra time they need to Get PTC installed LOOK FOR THE RAILROADS TO STOP MOVING FREIGHT. Get ready for one hell set of Gridlock on the roads. Why the Fines for the Railroads are in the order of 10 Million a Day Per Train if they run without Positive Train Control installed by Jan 1 2015.

Obama and his Cronies fails to understand that you can not put in 200K miles of Rail under a Brand New from Scratch System with 40K locomotives and 1 Million cars plus switches and all the other Gear with equipment that was not even INVENTED until 3 years ago put into Production until 2 Years ago and oh yeah the Railroads do not have the MANPOWER needed to do all the installs needed and the FCC until this Year Blocked the Radio Freq needed out west for the PTC to work. Gotta love the Government. This system has cost the Class ones and Regional Railroads that haul Passengers and any kind of Haz Mat over 20 Billion dollars so far and they still have 15 Billion more to go. Even the BNSF with all of Buffets Cash could not make it happen.

No disrespect Ironeagle2006 (and I didn't even know about this issue until you mentioned it) but you blaming Obama is one of the major problems in this country. I'm not an Obama fan, I'm not a Republican nor a Democrat. I'm American. People waste so much time and hatred on a person that doesn't even know their name. All our system has become is sports in suits. Democrats Vs Republicans. And when I looked this issue up here is the first paragraph of the article I read:

A recent confluence of events calling for an extension of the Congressionally-mandated December 31, 2015 Positive Train Control (PTC) deadline saw another development this week, with new legislation introduced by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

So you see it's not the President who implemented this it was Congress. People forget we don't live in a dictatorship. There are I think 535 Congress members (Of course they are playing the sports in suits too game) but nonetheless...

Anyway, thanks for mentioning this and informing us, or those that don't know, about this issue.

Sorry just to mention that you did point out that he was going to Veto it not mandate it. But nonetheless but I think 2/3 of congress can override that veto. And from the little I read it is a bi-partisan bill to extend the deadline.

The Railroads in 2012 told the FRA and the SEC of Transportation and President OBAMA there was NO Way in HADES that they could meet the 2015 Deadline 3 Years ago. Obama Ignored them and this YEAR accused them of Dragging their Feet even though people Like Nancy Pelosi the President of Amtrak all 7 CEO's of the Class 1 Railroads the Head of the AAR the Head of the Chemical Shippers Alliance and multiple OTHER groups told his Administration that there is NO way to meet the Deadline. Then when the Railroads all Started to Announce that they will be Shutting Down Jan 1 to not be running Illegally Obama still did not get the Message and is threatening to VETO ANY Bill that has an Extension.

PTC is the largest project taken on by the Railroads in the US since the Transcon lines where laid over a century ago. They have to Replace 200K miles of Signals Resurvey every inch of their Tracks with GPS more accurate than what an ICBM uses plus equip every locomotive in the fleet with computers and software that can determine with 100 Percent Reliable Certainty where and when they are and operate in an operation that makes OTR trucking look like a Walk in the Park. The Western Railroads alone have to place 15 Thousand New Radio Towers Each system wide get all those new towers to talk to each other and the main computers plus every locomotive in the fleet. Now just when was the Tech made that could do all this the Boxes for the Locomotives where not even on the Drawing Boards in 2008 they where Prototypes in 2010 put into mass Production in 2012. The FCC blocked the Railroads from the Needed Radio Waves until Last Year and was holding up all Tower Permits until THIS YEAR due to EIS and Indian Burial Ground Worries. Then to top it off this is an UNFUNDED MANDATE from the Government and oh yeah every Locomotive Nationwide must be able to use the Same Systems regardless of what Railroads they are on and so forth.

Now the Kicker here is the Fine Structure 100 Grand Per Train Per Day Per Line that is NOT Equipped. All Lines that haul even 1 Load of Haz Mat or 1 passenger train a year are Required to be Equipped with PTC. Since you never know when you might be forced to reroute a train due to a derailment the Railroads are being forced to install it on all their Main Lines and some Secondary lines.

Merrick you may think this is not going to affect you in Florida well it will. Why because most Chlorine that is used to purify Water is shipped via Rail most Fertilizer like AH Ammonia is shipped via Rail into Florida. Additives for Fuels are shipped via Rail Ethanol for Gas is Rail Shipped. The Railroads have all said they will Shut down if they do not get their extension and Obama I bet will not care thinking I can blame this on the Congress.

I agree that this is not the best time to buy a truck. Rates have been soft for much of this year and there is a lot going on in the geopolitical arena. Global confidence is pretty much non existent with Obama at the helm. There is a lot that could push the country over the tipping point. I just read that congress is about to give Obama another $80 billion to blow. I think most people can sense something is not quite right with the country or economy. I am very thankful that I no longer have equipment payments, especially if the economy does falter. Obama can no longer blame Bush for his mistakes. He has had 7 years to prove himself. What he has done is prove himself to be incompetent at all levels. As we have discussed previously, trucking is the first to see a slowdown and first to see a turnaround.

well... it hit me again. this time something simple turned in to a "big" job. my exhaust manifold was leaking.. again.. (time#5..) I brought it to a cat dealer. they went to take everything apart to find that the turbo is missing 2 fins, has massive shaft play, and was hitting the housing. no wonder why lately the truck has felt soft.. $6500 on this one. pay pick it up and lick my wounds. live to fight another day in this rat race business.

I am sorry to hear that you had a problem with your truck. At least you have one less thing to worry about breaking. That seems high for a turbo. The last one I replaced on a CAT cost me about $2,700 for labor and parts. That was several years ago. I guess the difference may be the time spent finding the problem. I stay away from dealer whenever possible. I have a local mechanic that charges about half what KW charges. I can't believe the labor rates dealers charge!!

it was also a new manifold as well. they also fixed the oil line going to the compressor as well. so far seems to be like a different truck. power is so smooth now, pulls amazing and I think I gained .3-.5mpg back.. I don't know because my bunk heater quit 2 weeks ago. I'm happy with the work