Start by considering the benefits of purchasing a used truck rather than a new model. Since a brand-new, straight off the factory floor eighteen wheeler can cost as much as a quarter million dollars, it represents a major investment for any driver. What's more, a new truck loses tens of thousands of dollars in value the second that it rolls off of the dealer's lot. With the glut in truck purchasing, however, it has never been easier to buy a used eighteen wheeler. Prices are low that the saved money can be used towards a down payment or upgrades for the truck's interior.
Remember the expenses that will prevent you from being able to be pay off large amounts of the truck at once. One of the major concerns for any trucker in any eighteen wheeler is the soaring costs of gasoline, costs that are sure to keep steadily increasing in the near future. The expense of transporting freight makes it difficult from making regular payments towards a larger commercial loan. Start small rather than going for the highest-end option.
Like any other type of loan or insurance, you need to look around at multiple sources in order to get the best rates available on commercial truck financing. Prime lenders will give good interest rates for truckers with quality credit. Remember that lenders are always looking for customers with good credit, so do not be shy about refusing offers. Those whose credit is less than stellar, on the other hand, should check around with different financing companies. Since sub-prime loans also apply to vehicle payments, you can apply for one to pay off your trucks financing.
Prepare everything you need for commercial truck financing so that you will have documents on hand for the final approval. You will need a down payment that can be anywhere between 10 and 20%, so the less expensive the eighteen-wheeler, the lower the down payment will be. Bring your license and proof of hauling contracts so that the lender knows that this enterprise will make money. While lenders can directly access your credit score, it never hurts to bring along a hard copy.
- Guest Writer
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The recent economic events have brought a great amount of uncertainty to the financial markets, but they have also brought a number of more personally relevant changes that are not often mentioned on the news. For example, the prices of commercial vehicles have begun to increase dramatically due to the changes in the market place and the financial markets around the world.
As people begin to tighten their wallets and knuckle down, the prices of all kinds of commodities and vehicles have begun to increase, including those of heavy duty trucks like Freightliner trucks or Kenworth trucks. This article will discuss some of the reasons why now might paradoxically be the best time to buy trucks despite the financial uncertainty that seems to be everywhere.
The reasons behind the price increases in commercial trucks are not intuitive, but with a bit of thought, they do make sense. When the stock market becomes less stable, the typical actions taken by people and businesses are not that different: both tend to stop buying, producing, or spending in general. The approach taken instead is to wait and see.
This means that fewer trucks are going to be made as manufacturers wait to see what the market will do. It also means that dealers are likely to increase the prices of the trucks they already have as a way of making sure that they will still make some money even if the markets continue to be unstable. What this means for the end user, such as a small business like a shipping or transportation fleet, is that it will become more expensive to buy the trucks they need to keep business as usual running.
Therefore, even though the natural thing to do when one does not know what the market may do from one day to the next is to sit tight and hold off any big purchases, the financially savvy thing to do is actually the opposite. If you need a quality truck like a Kenworth or a Freightliner, you should buy it now instead of later, because the prices of such trucks will only continue to increase in the future, and passing on a deal now might mean spending thousands of dollars more even just a few short months from now. Furthermore, getting a good truck now before prices start to climb higher will ensure that you make a reasonable purchase out of practicality now instead of out of desperation later.
Jim McCormack
President
Trucker To Trucker LLC
In my blog entry on September 18, 2009, I encouraged everyone to become familiar with the new CSA 2010 program that is replacing SAFESTAT. On 4/21/2010, FMCSA announced the implementation date for this new program will be 11/30/2010. In addition, FMCSA has provided a webpage you can use to look up your current rating on the new Carrier Safety Measurement System (CSMS). Every trucking company should check their CSMS rating immediately.
If your company rating is less than perfect you have 6 months to try to improve your company’s score. Remember that each carrier's scores are updated monthly based on fleet inspections, tickets, and accidents during the previous month. The bill, that Congress passed, requires FMSCA to focus their intervention efforts on those high risk carriers with the lowest safety scores. By acting now, know your score, and starting improvements, hopefully your company will not be in the pool of high risk carriers.
The second announcement was just made this week. FMCSA has completed the initial work on the new Pre-employment Screening Program (PSP) and carriers can now receive driver reports from PSP. PSP is a program that carriers can use to pre-screen their driver applicants. The report will show the last 5 years of crash data and the last 3 years of roadside inspection data for the driver. Carriers must register and pay a registration fee prior to accessing the PSP webpage and receiving reports. There is also a $10 charge per report. If drivers want to view their own report to check for accuracy, they can go to the same webpage and pay $10 to view and print their report.
Both of these new programs are designed by FMCSA to increase truck safety on the highway. No one wants their trucks and drivers involved in accidents, and hopefully these new programs will keep us all safer on the highways. TruckMaster® software can help monitor all safety requirements. For a free online demo of the TruckMaster® System, contact us. We are waiting to hear from you.
Craig Sorensen
TruckMaster® Solution Provider
TruckMaster® Your Trucking Company™
This led me to think about the preventative maintenance schedules we set up for our automobiles, how important they are and how strictly we adhere to them – changing the oil every 3000 miles, air filters at 12000 miles, etc.
What about truck and trailer preventative maintenance schedules? Are we as strict in adhering to these schedules are we should be? Or, are we letting them slide a thousand miles or so, or a week or so, or a hundred hours or so? Are our drivers really doing their daily inspections, or just walking around the truck and trailer and calling it good?
Drivers should be inspecting the following every day:
Make truck and trailer wash a mandatory weekly requirement. Not only does a clean truck look good for customers, shippers, receivers, but a clean truck lets us see potential maintenance problems before they become expensive.
It is extremely important to work with equipment manufacturers and mechanics to set up the right maintenance schedules for each of the trucks and trailers. A newer truck with synthetic oil will need less maintenance than an older truck using conventional oil. Remember whatever the schedule; adhere to it like it was an unbreakable rule.
The savings in time and the cost of unscheduled, preventable, on-the-road maintenance will be far more than the cost of the preventative maintenance. Consider the last time a truck was late because it was in the shop for a minor repair such as a wheel seal replacement – an item that would probably only cost $200-$300 if performed at the proper time, by the proper shop, but ends up costing over $1000 in an emergency shop. Remember, this doesn't include the costs associated with late pickup or delivery fees (which may include loss of a valued customer).
If you would like to learn more about Preventative Maintenance Schedules and how they can help you with your trucking operation, please feel free to contact us at TruckMaster Logistics Systems. You can find us on the web at www.truckmaster.com or just pick up the phone and call 888-891-9550. We will be happy to help you.
Dale Clark
TruckMaster Solution Provider
TruckMaster Your Trucking Company™
Ps: Looking for the ultimate in Fuel Finder Routing? Check out www.findfuelstops.com.
]]>The minimum insurance coverage required for Vehicles with a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) of 10,000 pounds or more:
o be sure that there is an accident packet in all of your equipment.
Here are some things to do in the event of an accident:
It's an unhappy fact of transportation companies that accidents happen. But being prepared and knowing what type of insurance is needed, and knowing what to do in case of an accident will help you immensely.
Donna Bratton
TruckMaster Solution Provider
TruckMaster Your Trucking Company™
It is also nice to see some encouraging signs from the leading economic indicators in the first two months of this new decade. The numbers are up, 1.2% in January and 0.3% in February. Manufacturing increased by 0.9% in December and 1% in January. These figures are directly related to our industry; freight movement has also been improving.
I have the opportunity to speak with a wide variety of trucking companies, freight brokerages, and logistics companies each week, and while far from scientific, the mood in general is shifting. Spring may not quite be in the air, but optimism is, and it is infectious.
Trucking companies are purchasing trucks to replace older equipment and for expansion. In some cases, they are simply taking advantage of amazing deals on equipment. Some companies are refitting their operations with different types of trailers so they can meet their customers changing demands. Many are purchasing or expanding their transportation management systems to prepare for increased business as the economy continues to grow.
With the shake up in 2009, many people have been moving around in the industry, finding new employers, or starting up their own companies. The results of these changes and realignments will be significant as we move forward into 2010.
How has your new decade begun? How do you feel the trucking industry has changed in the last couple of years and where do you think it is going? What changes are you preparing for?
Kurtis Brown
TruckMaster Solution Provider
TruckMaster Your Trucking Company™
What about the transportation industry? What role, if any, have we had to play in this decline in traffic fatalities?
According to the Fatalities Analysis Reporting System (FARS) Query System, 4,301 fatalities were truck related in 2007, while only 3,787 fatalities were truck related in 2008. This is a 13.5% decrease in truck-related deaths. The transportation industry is getting involved in making our highways safer for not just truck traffic but for all traffic. How can we help make this trend continue?
What are the great concerns we, as the transportation industry must continue to work on to make these statistics drop even further?
There are three major issues on our highways today that need to be addressed:
Are our roads, byways and highways safer than they were 10 years ago? Yes, they are. But are they safe enough? As long as one person is killed on our highways in a preventable accident the answer is no. The transportation industry needs to be applauded for the strides we have made in making our roads better and safer. But now is not the time to sit back on our laurels and relax. We must continue to lead the way in safer and more efficient equipment and in safer and more focused drivers.
Dale Clark
TruckMaster Solution Provider
TruckMaster Your Trucking Company™
Truck driving has typically been a male dominated industry because of physical requirements. For nearly 80 years, women have been present in the trucking industry whether it was inside the cab, under the hood, or in the terminal. Today more and more women are taking on important, leading roles in management, safety, dispatching, sales, and recruiting.
The workplace is changing for women across the country who decides to take on a new challenge and start driving over the road. At first, many women have reservations about driving the big 18 wheelers over the road, but after their initial fears are over; most find much enjoyment and great success. Many companies are surprised to see that the women truck driving students seem to out perform the majority of male students on written and physical truck driving tests! The fact is women make excellent truck drivers and it is arguable that they make better drivers than men.
All truck drivers encounter dangers and hardships associated with truck driving jobs, more so, however, for over the road trucking. Women truckers are more vulnerable to these dangers and need to adhere to far stricter rules of safety. Being street smart is one of the most important things you can learn as a woman in trucking. Knowing how to conduct yourself can protect you not only making terrible mistakes in judgment, but also from others who may view you as prey.
It is a great testimony to the strength and determination of our country's women to take on the demanding career of over the road trucking. It is not the easiest way of life, but it is a good life with many opportunities. Anyone wishing to seek a better livelihood should be encouraged to apply and give it a try. Many companies are missing hiring potentially excellent drivers by not reaching out to the women who have set their sight on a new horizon and started a career in truck driving.
Women view trucking as a well-paying occupation and one in which they take great pride. With that being said, I believe it is high time to rewrite some recruiting pitches to draw more women to where they are sorely needed – in your fleet's driver's seats.
Donna Bratton
TruckMaster Solution Provider
TruckMaster Your Trucking Company™