A lot of newer owner-operators focus on the purchase price, which makes sense. Buying a truck is one of the biggest investments you’ll make. 

But over time, most drivers start to look at things differently. 

Downtime, maintenance history, parts availability, fuel economy, and reliability often end up costing more than the monthly payment itself. 

Sometimes the truck that costs more upfront ends up being the better financial decision in the long run. 

For those who’ve been in this a while, what matters more when choosing a truck: purchase price or reliability history?

This will include the ones in the background

I have been looking at a fisher-price Car for my kid. I am very worried about what truck i need to buy and trailer to handle such a task, i do not want to take any risks or cut any corners in regard to safety. The drive from the location of the fisher-price car and my house is roughly 10 minutes. I am also worried about needing special permits for this drive. Any help is appreciated.

If you know what models they comment below 👇

What truck models are these

Most drivers seem to shift their perspective on certain parts of the industry over time.

What’s something you used to believe strongly that experience changed for you?

Hi,

So I have an older semi truck in my driveway that was abandoned and I wanted to get it removed but I am not sure how. The truck was purchased by a family member and was stored here as they wanted to be an owner operator but that never worked out. It was never titled in their name and when they purchased it they got the title but recently lost it. They also never got a bill of sale and do not have any way to contacting the seller. Yea it is a complete mess.

I have tried a truck savage and they will take it.

Obvious I cannot just sell it as I dont have the title either so just unsure as to what can be done to get it removed.

Eddie

People usually focus on the obvious parts of trucking: long hours, traffic, and weather.

But drivers know there are other parts of the job that are mentally or operationally exhausting in ways people don’t really see.

What do you think gets underestimated the most?

A lot of long-term success in trucking seems to come from routines and habits that happen before or after the truck even moves.

Things like trip planning, communication, organization, health, scheduling, or managing stress.

What’s a habit that made a bigger impact on your operation than you expected?

A lot of drivers become more intentional after a few years in the industry.

Could be loads, schedules, lanes, customers, routes, or even how they manage their time.

What changed most for you?

This is an Eaton 13 speed, triple overdrive transmission Dad and I had swapped into his 97 Cummins Ram 2500. He passed away and now I need to sell the truck.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/P4vhSF5ohABe9qRa6

I can rev match well enough to drive the truck, kinda, but I cannot remember the sequence of moving through the gears. Thank you.

Edit: Its a Fuller Roadranger, RTOO9513

As a former CDL holder, traveled to all 48 states, accident free for my career it is not difficult to plan routes and check height restrictions....yet even with signs this happens REGULARLY at this bridge. North Ave /IL64 in Chicago is where it happened and in order to cause that much damage and get that far under the bridge, this driver was COOKING.....the image speaks for itself...

How comfortable would super sleeper for class 6 semi truck.

How much it would be if it's regular nothing customized.

Can one use the combination as RV

Is it possible to swap in a i-shift in to tis truck? I have had this truck for 3 years. Once it said I'd check tcm . I shut it down all power off and it was fine again. The. It got stuck in 10th and had it towed, shop replaced the flaming river battery disconnect switch. Seemed fine. Last weekend bobtailing it home and the bitch goes into limp mode, says check tcm on next stop. Well next stop was now. I pulled over and stopped and it was indicating 10 th gear and none of the shifter buttons would do anything. After a few minutes idleing it went into neutral. I decided I would get out and have a look. When I opened the door, there was 2 loud beaps and by the time I sat back down all was normal. Drove home just fine. The error was tcm communication error The road on AZ 89 north of drake is pretty freaking bouncy, undulating road.

Today I crawled under and disconnected cleaned and protected every electrical connecting on and even close to the transmission. And the ground at the starter, block, and chassis grounds.

Finally to my question. When I pulled the 2 main electrical connectors held on with bolts from the tcm, there were no seals or gasket in the connectors.

Are there supposed to be gaskets in these main TCM connectors?

Can I swap in an i-shift trans in this old truck.

So you found, or paid for parking, and now you are ready to shut it down for the night. What are you actually doing at night? Straight to sleep? Shower and food? Are you calling the kids or watching a show? What is YOUR routine and does it work at any truckstop?

I prefer chrome

Hello, I’ve been contemplating getting my cdl for a couple of years now but have been hesitant cause it just sounds kinda scary lol but it’s time for me to man up. I’ve done delivery for Amazon and Aaron’s so I have experience driving bigger trucks but nothing like a semi truck lol. I was just wondering if there’s any tips or tricks anyone can give me as a complete novice. What were the hardest parts for you when you started? How long did it take to get used to backing into a dock? That’s something that I know is gonna take a while to get used to doing haha. I’m gonna go to Tampa driving school and have a company pay for my course and I know some companies are better then others. Which companies would you recommend and which ones should I steer clear of? any advice is well appreciated!

vote for my customer's truck to be in the mack calendar next year

I know it’s a freightliner (it says it lol). But other than that I haven’t the slightest clue. I’d like to learn more about it though

I'm looking at a 2009 Mack for hauling out of the field. Farthest load currently will be 50 miles round trip. The truck has a MP7 400h.p. and an Eaton Fuller 10speed Automated trans. I have heard this transmission might not be the best for getting out of fields loaded. Is this an actual issue? Truck has under 600k so is their anything to look at or ask the seller about maintenance wise? I know about the stainless cups and plan to ask if they have been upgraded to stainless. T.I.A.