78KW
Regional OTR Driver
Hard Time don't last...Trucker's do!
Posts: 2,467
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Post by 78KW on Mar 22, 2008 2:12:04 GMT -5
I've been absent for awhile, as I had some big decisions to wrestle with. To all of you with whom I have exchanged thoughts in this forum, thanks for your kindness. Including, and especially, remembering my birthday. That wasn't a good week for me. I had to do what I vowed never to do, and that was to return my tractor. It was getting ready to fall apart again, and repairs were putting me behind, so I had a choice to make. It was a tough one. I am, however, in a truck that is an absolute pleasure to drive, and I'm staying busy. This truck is a dream come true. A definate keeper. Here she is with a load of army surplus generators and storage containers I delivered last week. There have been other things going on as well, but getting away from that other truck was the best thing that's happened to me in a long time. The other things I'd rather not mention, but a few of you knew how that other truck drove me nuts. Thanks again to all the people who put up with my frustrations, this was the only good distraction I had from life's pitfalls.
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Post by Bri on Mar 22, 2008 12:24:26 GMT -5
Our local paper had a huge story last week on the number of truck drivers who were no longer able to afford to keep driving because of the climbing cost of diesel. It has gotten to the point where the drivers are just either driving their trucks back to the dealer or calling the bank to come and get them from their yards. Owner Operators are hit especially hard with the fuel taxes, rising cost of diesel, maintenance upkeep, and the other climbing costs of operating a truck these days. My hat goes off to any guy or gal who can make ends meet driving a truck in today's economy. I miss driving something wicked, but I honestly can't see myself ever getting back into the profession now that the cost has gotten so outrageous. It kills me the government stepped in and helped our farmers when they couldn't afford to keep harvesting, but those same officials can't understand how our goods get from point "A" to Point "B". Who knows, maybe a nationwide truck parking would be in order for a week or two to make the powers that be realize just how vital our truckers are to our economy. I'm sorry to hear about your truck going back, but, as they say, when one door closes, another opens and it sure looks like a big door opened for you with that sweet Pete. I'm also glad to hear this community was able to ease your pain and frustrations during a very trying time. Let us know if we can do anything to help you out!
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rignroll
Local Delivery Truck Driver
Posts: 3
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Post by rignroll on Mar 22, 2008 21:33:37 GMT -5
I dont know if I am allowed to post links so I wont. But you can goto thetruckersreport www.com for alot of info as far as the industry goes, and there even is a shutdown thread in the forum.
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locoengr
Local Delivery Truck Driver
Gluebombs Inc.
Posts: 276
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Post by locoengr on Mar 23, 2008 19:22:58 GMT -5
These rising oil prices have to stop. I don't think it all can be blamed on BIG OIL, as much as I'd like to anyway. It will take someone alot smarter than me to get it straightened out. I've heard that this low sulpher fuel is partially to blame too?! Fewer gallons of fuel from a barrel of crude plus lower fuel economy too? Any truth to this? Anyway, thank you drivers for everything that you do for us everyday! How the hell you put up with the stress and some of us idiots out on the road with you....plus all the other things. FlatbedKW...glad to hear things are going the other way for you. Take care!
Bruce in Fargo
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Post by cdntrucker on Mar 24, 2008 0:15:57 GMT -5
Being in a business that is natural resource driven, I could go on and on with my synopsis of what I think is driving the oil price but, One thing is for sure. The price of fuel is outrageous. Diesel at $1.06 per litre?
Put it into perspective, even when oil was a slumbering and stagnent $10.00 a barrel, we were still approx. $0.75 per litre at the pumps. The curve doesn't make sense. Big oil companies with small refining capabilities which are not efficient and not up to todays standards is what I point my finger at.
Supply and demand. Hey big CEO's, put a buck back in instead of taking it all out to make your fatcat shareholders happy.
GC
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78KW
Regional OTR Driver
Hard Time don't last...Trucker's do!
Posts: 2,467
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Post by 78KW on Mar 24, 2008 15:24:27 GMT -5
Thanks everyone. I think in the end I just ended up with a lemon by purchasing that KW. My theory is that we all end up with one in our lives. The sad thing is that there is no lemon law for truckers regarding used equipment. There are 2 states(I forget which 2) that have it for new trucks only. Yeah, I had a warranty with it, but the warranty people didn't seem to mind leaving me to sit for 3 1/2 weeks on the first engine failure, and then nearly 7 weeks on the second which occurred only 2 1/2 months later. Had that not happened, I would still have the truck. Sitting for 10, alomst 11 weeks, waiting for reapirs to be done, will kill any savings. Bear in mind these periods all happened b4 June, so that made '07 my worst year as an owner operator. The rest pf the year was spent catching up. After all, there are other bills aside from the truck. I don't blame the shop, or Kenworth, or Cummins though. Their hands were tied, as they could only do what the warranty allowed. Which, is usually not the complete and proper repairs, but, rather, a band-aid at best. That is one thing I wish would change. Had they allowed the proper work the first time, they wouldn't have had to pay for a second round of repairs. With that kind of downtime(adds up to almost 3 months), you have to remember that you don't get that money back, you just have to make up for it. I made some sacrifices(no a/c working last summer), but I never caught up with that truck. At least the personal finances are ok for the most part. I kept them up, because I refused to make my girlfriend and stepson suffer because of that truck. They were always fed.
In the end, that truck was getting to me. Seemingly everyday, something else would fail. Finally, I had to ask myself, is this truck worth it? When I got the call from the finance company asking if I was going to return it or not, I didn't hesitate. I actually felt relieved, and didn't look back as I walked away from it. My struggle was with the fact that I felt like I gave up, but I knew I had to keep going.
As to oil prices, they are ridiculous. After all, diesel is cheaper to produce than gasoline(it still is as far as I know), yet, it costs $1.00 more per gallon on average now than gas. I know the new ultra low sulfur diesel costs a little more to make than the old diesel, but it should still be cheaper than gasoline. Of course, I don't want John Q Public overpaying at the pump either. I don't remember the diesel price increasing during the winter in the past like it does now, but they say that's for home heating oil demand. I thought we had less homes heated by oil than we once did. So why the winter increase?
Oh well. As I've often said, this is a business you have to really want to be in to put up with what goes on. I still love it after almost 11 years, and wouldn't trade owning my rig for anything, as I have the power to make more of my own deisions. It would be nice to see some things(especially the often counter-productive regualtions) ease. This is the only segment of the transportation indusrty that has to fend for itself. The airlines got essentially bailed out after 9/11 because no one wanted to fly. I would love to just see the gov't get out of our back pockets. That's better than a bailout, since I don't want the taxpayers paying our bills.
Thanks for the encouragement, everyone. I learned a few lessons from this experience, and I learned a few things about myself. You never know what you can withstand until you're tested.
And for those curious, I still insist on Cummins power, and that's what I have. N14-525 with and 18 spd.
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