Buying Your First Semi Truck: 5 Key Research Questions - Bobtail

Buying your first semi truck is a bit like buying a car and a bit like buying a home. It is a vehicle, after all, and you’ll want to compare manufacturers, engines, transmissions, and more. The price tag is more like a home, though. A brand new cab will run you at least $100,000 on the low end—and if you drive over-the-road routes, your rig is a sort of residence.

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But a semi truck isn’t just a vehicle or a shelter. It’s also a business investment. The best way to think about buying a semi truck for business is as an asset—machinery you buy now that will provide a financial return (and then some) through years of use. Manufacturers do a lot of research before buying new factory equipment. Truckers should do the same for their trucks.

So, where do you start with the research? The answer is with a list of questions. Here are the top five questions to ask as you begin planning for your first semi truck purchase, whether you’re an owner-operator just setting up shop or an experienced fleet owner making the leap from leasing to owning.

(PS: if you’re starting your own trucking business, check out our interactive checklist by clicking below! It’ll help organize all the steps and documents you need.)

5 Decisions To Make Before Buying Your First Semi Truck

1. Should you lease or buy?

Leasing outsources many of the responsibilities of ownership; your leasing company may handle maintenance, DOT compliance, vehicle registration, and even roadside assistance. It’s what some business owners call a “turnkey solution.”

However, there are also advantages to owning. There’s the asset value, for one thing. If you want to take out a loan, banks may require collateral. Your own trucks pack a lot more value into your business and can open up more funding opportunities.

Plus, when you own your truck, you have the freedom to use and modify it as you see fit. Ultimately, ownership gives you more control over your business—but also adds a lot of responsibility. Leasing may be the safer bet for a new operator.

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All that said, you are reading an article about buying a semi truck for your business. From this point forward, we’ll assume you’ve rejected the option to lease. Here’s what to look for when buying a semi truck.

2. Should you buy new or used?

The next high-level decision to make is whether to go for a brand-new unit or pick up something used. There are advantages to each option:

Advantages Of Buying A New Truck

• Reliability. Needless to say, mechanical systems weaken as they age. When you buy new, you can be more confident that your rig will stay on the road, with a lower risk of costly breakdowns. New trucks usually include factory warranties, too, so even if something goes wrong, you’ll know it’s covered.
• Fewer maintenance requirements. Similarly, new trucks usually require far less scheduled maintenance than used ones. That adds up to less downtime and lower operating costs—at least for a few years.
• More potential business opportunities. Some brokers and shippers require carriers to have newer equipment. Even if your 20-year-old rig is shipshape, running used vehicles may knock you out of the running on certain bids.
• High-tech perks. Looking for advanced telematics built into your cab? What about pre-installed auxiliary power units or digital safety features? The newer the truck, the more likely it’ll come with these features ready to go.

Advantages Of Buying A Used Truck

• Lower cost. This is the big one. Many first-time truck buyers simply can’t afford a new rig. You’ll face lower initial and monthly truck payments when you buy used.
• Availability. We’re publishing this article in the midst of global supply chain disruptions. Even if you order a new truck, the manufacturer may not be able to deliver immediately. Used vehicles are already sitting on the lot, ready to go.
• Matching driver experience. A more mechanically inclined owner-operator may be comfortable handling maintenance—or even breakdowns—on their own. That could make the lower cost of a used vehicle more attractive.

3. What about a day cab vs. sleeper?

Sleeper cabs tend to be more expensive. Is the extra cost worth it for your trucking business? That depends on a few details about how you operate:

• Do you offer (or want to be able to offer) over-the-road trucking services? If you operate local routes and your drivers are home every night, a sleeper’s probably not necessary. But if you plan to drive coast-to-coast, you’ll get a return on your investment in hotel savings alone.
• Do you offer both local and over-the-road hauling? If you operate a fleet that travels both locally and over the road, you might consider sticking with sleeper cabs. That way, you won’t have to worry about getting the right truck to the right driver; your whole fleet will be capable of any route.
• Do you run team drivers? If you offer team trucking, where two drivers take turns driving to keep freight moving 24/7, not only will you need a sleeper—you’ll need a sleeper with dual bunks.

4. What technical specifications does your business require?

There’s no one perfect truck for every situation. Start by considering your routes: Are you running light loads through the flat Midwest? Look for a fast, nimble rig. If you operate in mountainous terrain, however, you’ll need to focus on torque and towing power. Here are just a few of the technical features to consider when comparing semi trucks:

• Engine.Are you a Detroit Diesel fan or a Cummins partisan? Both have proven reliable, depending on use. More important than the engine’s manufacturer, perhaps, are its power ratings. We’ll discuss those in our horsepower and torque entry below.
• Transmission. While the industry continues to move toward automatic transmissions, experienced truckers may still prefer the feel of a manual gearbox. Many new drivers train on automatic transmissions. If you operate a fleet and plan to hire, this may be your safest bet. As an owner-operator, however, you might simply prefer the greater control of a manual transmission.

• Year, make, and model. Leading manufacturers include Volvo, Freightliner, International, and Mack; ask around for preferences, and you’ll find champions for them all. Maybe don’t get hung up on the manufacturer, then. If you’re buying used, definitely do research the reputations of various model years. You may find there are plenty of such-and-suches available in the used lots; that could be because that year’s model ends up in the shop more often than not, and no one wants them. You don’t either.
• Horsepower and torque. Horsepower measures the power of the engine, while torque, a measure of twisting force, determines how quickly you can take the rig from a full stop to full motion. Higher torque will help you move smoothly up steep grades, while higher horsepower will help you move those heavy loads at speed. Most of today’s semi trucks put out between 400 and 600 foot-pounds per minute and torque in the 1,450 to 2,000 pound-foot range. Choose to match your routes and loads.

5. When should you replace semi trucks?

You’re considering buying a semi truck; it may feel a bit early to think about replacement. In fact, large fleet owners rotate their stock on a regular basis, and it’s never too early to put a plan into place. Most leasing deals operate on six-year terms. That’s a good starting place for thinking about truck replacement. Of course, if you buy a new vehicle, and you stay on top of maintenance, you may run that rig for 10 or 15 or 20 years—but you’ll face more costs and headaches along the way.

Another way to phrase this question is: How long do semi trucks last? While the answer varies widely, consider that you’ll probably put 100,000 to 120,000 miles on an engine every year. Well-maintained diesel engines can still perform admirably up to 700,000 miles and up—but with increasing downtime. To keep things simple, you may want to start thinking about replacing trucks after five years of ownership.

Cash Flow For Financing Semi Trucks

You may be buying your first semi truck, but it won’t be your last. Replacing trucks is part of running a fleet. You may get financing through a bank, through the dealer, or—with enough capital—you may buy outright. All of these scenarios require reliable cash flow. That can be a challenge when brokers and shippers may not pay invoices for 30 or 60 days.

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If you can find an Arrow dealer near enough to you, they usually have pretty impressive inventory for Volvos. They deal in a lot of trade ins and lease returns etc from Volvo North America so they also have an extensive network of dealerships to source trucks.

- finding a unit that hasn't been smoked in might be a challenge if that's an issue. You may be able to talk the salesperson down some in price on that point.

- the interior of a 10 year old truck will likely be imperfect, and doesn't typically get much attention on used truck websites. You might be able to point out some of the flaws and knock the price back a bit, since you are using it as a family wagon and not a money maker.

- bear in mind that trucks with a Volvo VED 12 or similar Volvo engine are usually going to end up being serviced by Volvo, at a dealership. Whereas an older Detroit or Cummins can be worked on by most anyone

- pre- and you can skip a lot of headaches with EGR and emissions that came into effect that year. Pre-EGR trucks are the simplest to work on and tend to get the same or better fuel mileage as newer trucks. I have no clue how the California emissions laws do/don't apply to recreational diesels, if you're going to California, probably best to find out before you buy a non-compliant vehicle

- the Volvo comes in a couple of configurations, day cab, flat top with a small sleeper, mid rise with a medium sleep, midrise with a huge sleeper, and high rise with both the medium and large sleeper. From experience, the Volvo 780 (high rise, big bunk) is a high demand truck and they are snapped up quickly. US Express ran these trucks with automatics in the era you are looking at, so they are out there. With close to a million miles, you are most likely looking in the $30k range.

- Volvo 670 is a high rise with a smaller bunk, price would be a little bit cheaper, maybe $25k range.

- If it's a daycab you're after, I don't know how prevalent the automatics were in the mid s for that application, but have seen daycabs approaching 1m miles going for a little under $20k.

- it sounds silly, but blue trucks are the easiest to sell and sell for a bit more than any other colour. So depending on whether resale or purchase price is the bigger issue; beware that blue is how they get ya.

- the condition of the rubber is a huge factor when buying used, new virgin rubber all around can cost upwards of $. Low rolling resistance tires are an added bonus, but cast an eye toward the rubber - any bulging, splitting or cracks if the truck has been sitting should come straight off the price, also if tires are recaps (michelin pattern on BF Goodrich casings or similarly mismatching tires) should be setting off alarm bells.

- aluminum wheels over steel have value in that they are lighter and polish up nice, not much uglier than painted steel wheels

Large HP motor will cost you a lot of fuel unnecessarily if you're hauling a light camper, and depending on where you're planning to park it, it may be worth looking at converting a tandem axle to a single axle. Donating the tires, rims, wheels, jackshaft, axle and differential might save you half the cost of the work or more to remove the rear axle. There are plenty of LTL companies that run single axle day cabs, but I have never really looked for this set up since it's not practical for me.

- pull an oil sample and spend the money to send it to a lab. There is really no other way to truly know the condition of the motor. I don't recommend bench testing at a dealership, and the volume of trucks moving off lots isn't usually such that if you had to wait a week or two on an oil sample, the truck would be gone. If they pressure you to pay a deposit, I would resist until the oil sample comes back at least.

My final piece of advice would be to read up on your state's laws about converting a former commercial vehicle into a pleasure craft: of course it can be done because people have done it, but the process may be extensive to change it's classification in state computers to a non-commercial vehicle. Find out what the laws are for scale houses too, some jurisdictions require all vehicles above a certain gross weight to pull in, some only require commercial vehicles!

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second let's start with how to look at a truck. I'll make this simple for me, I just woke up and trying to shake the sleep off.

I have the advice that I've used for years but no one seems to listen to it.

SO I will post it again -

1 - don't treat a truck like you would treat a car. It is a tool, and only a tool.

2 - be prepared to spend money on getting it looked at, buying tools sometimes takes money - I spent $ on just looking for a truck that cost me under $25k and hasn't failed me yet.

3 - start with the questions -

a - how long have you owned this truck? some people will be the original owners while other trucks are fleet trucks so if they are fleet trucks don't ask the question.
b - when was the last oil change? very important for one reason, if it had its oil changed and then put up for sale the OA will not tell a lot so ...
c - why are you getting rid of it? I started to ask this question because one truck I looked at last year was going into repo and the owner was trying to sell it to get out of the loan.
d - are there any maintenance records? Of course you have to take this with a grain of salt, a lot of companies and owners alike will have what I call receipt records, just enough for the taxes but that's it.
e - who does your PM work? I found out why this is important when one owner said he got his PM work done at any T/A that the truck was near, figure that it meant no consistent service was done.

4 - if the questions are answered to my satisfaction, then I ask for a road test and to be allowed to have a dyno done, a OA done and some sort of inspection from an independent mechanic. I would even do this with fleet trucks.
a - if it passes the dyno, then I have the OA done and off to an inspector to see what problems they can find and I tell them to tell me about everything they find.
b - if it passes the OA and inspection, then I look for repairs that need to be made from the inspection. I figure that into the offer I will make, sometimes people are insulted when I break down the list of things that the truck needs, had one guy get mad at me to even infer his truck was actually junk because of the brake work it needed - about $ worth of work which I mentioned in my offer.

5 - I do this for three trucks, picking out the best one and offering to buy that one. I never gave an asking price for a truck, I always offered less than 75% minus the repairs as a general rule. <<< I got to add ... this is negotiation, which means you have to be willing to go up to and not down from the asking price. It sometimes gets frustrating but I don't push the issue with a few nos and ask for counter offers. If the guy/gal sits on a firm price, I walk unless it is a great deal.

Hope this helps and enjoy the truck, it is a good decision to haul rvs.