Life on the Road – Trucking News Blog

In 1999, after months of soul searching, bank statement searching, and just plain searching I decided to buy a new truck. After that it was pretty easy. I just selected a dealer who would give me a decent trade on the truck I had at that time (more searching), decided just WHAT I wanted in a truck, and plop down a fairly hefty deposit, and then wait.

About six months later the truck showed up at the dealer. I drove in with my ‘ole Pete, swapped for a brand new shiny KW and drove off.

That was it. No worries beyond the “normal” worries. It worked out pretty well.

That was nine years ago. The OLD KW has been rode hard and put up wet too many times and she’s showing her age. In creaks, rattles, moans and groans if not in looks. She still looks pretty good for an old truck, pretty good. Some clearcoat is gone, a couple of nicks, a scratch or two, but she looks pretty good.

Still, the writing is on the wall. I’m going to have to do one of two things. I’m either going to have to invest a LOT of money in this old truck for various things that are fixing to go wrong, like (gulp) an engine overhaul.

Or buy a new truck.

If I invest in fixing up the old truck I could probably spend thirty or forty thousand dollars pretty quick. I spent more than that over the last two years just fixing things that wore out and broke. If I did, I’d still have an old truck.

If I buy a new truck. WELL, then I’d have a new truck.

A VERY EXPENSIVE new truck.

If/when I buy a new truck I’ll put into play what I’ve learned in the last ten years and make a few changes. That is going to cost me. Such things as a double frame, forty six thousand pound rears/suspension, twenty thousand pound front ends/suspension, factory installed steerable lift axle, APU , traction control, GPS and lockers don’t come cheap. I’ve priced a few trucks that I think will suit me. Let’s just say they’re pretty far north of a hundred thousand dollars.

Also things have changed since the year two thousand. The EPA has gotten their grubby little paws on some laws , rules ,and regulations and have mandated things which caused major price increases in trucks.

California- ditto.

With more to come.

Some more things to consider. We’re in a Recession. We HAVE been in one for quite some time now. It has to do with the high cost of oil and some really STUPID shennanigans pulled by some immoral real estate agents and bankers. The sub-prime lending scandal if you’ve been paying attention to the news.

This Recession is just a tiny bit different than the one’s that I’ve lived thru in the last fifty years, almost without noticing that there WAS a recession.

This is just my own home spun analysis but…..I don’t think the rest of the world is in a recession with us.

China, Russia, Asia, and India, is their economy faltering? Not sure. Consider this: In the same Chicago Tribune story in which Wayne and this Blog was misrepresented as being Pro-Strike:

“….repossessed trucks are hot properties. The weak dollar makes them especially attractive in such emerging markets as Russia, Vietnam, Panama and Africa, said J.D. Larsh, an official at Adesa Auctions. If the export business were not booming, he added, “we would have fields of trucks.”

I haven’t seen any fields of trucks.

That leads me to speculate that in order to be an “emerging market” Russia, Vietnam, Panama and Africa, (and presumably other countries) aren’t experiencing a recession, other wise they wouldn’t be buying our repossessed and used trucks.

The point is that it sounds like the used truck market is going to get pretty skimpy shortly. Used trucks will become short in supply and hence higher in price. A good trade-in in other words. But not just yet.

The other thing is that the Greenies via their stooge the EPA have legalized another round of “emissions controls” for new diesel engines beginning in the 2010 model year. Naturally the engines will be utter crap for a while since hurry up and get it out the door politically mandated changes are much less likely to work than reasoned, careful thought out and debugged engineering enhancements , AND they’ll be way more expensive.

If I wait TOO long I’m going to have to buy a crap engine or my current engine (or something else) might crap out on me making my old truck worth less (or worthless).

If I buy too soon I won’t get the expected higher trade in on my old truck, and the recession might continue long enough and get bad enough that I couldn’t make enough money to keep up on payments and lose the truck

So, what to do, what to do,

And when to do it.