Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/535950
July 2015 | Overdrive | 41 Untitled-2 1 6/8/15 2:42 PM components largely have covered the numer- ous repairs since putting the truck in service in January 2013. In the first couple of years of running it hauling sand, he chalked up at least two weeks' worth of downtime associated with sensor replacements, a problem with the fuel-dosing system and more routine items, such as cleaning ash from the diesel particulate filter. The truck is paid off, but Palmer doesn't know what he'll do with it if such issues continue. Until manufacturers "get the emissions system right," he believes "we're being taken advantage of." "If I were a used-truck buyer," notes Fleet Advantage's Mike Meehan, "I'd be very reluctant to buy if I can't see mainte- nance and repair records" and be confident in their completeness. Emissions-system repairs, he adds, quickly can explode in costs with all of the ECM-related electron- ics troubleshooting necessary to diagnose the problem. Schneider National Vice President Rob Reich, who oversees his company's used truck sales, sees the fleet's equipment as valuable because it's been well-maintained. Also, because the Green Bay, Wis.-based company purchases only new equipment, buyers know they're dealing with only one previous owner. "We can provide the com- plete maintenance records," Reich says. As for the infuriating nature of emis- sions-system repairs for operators used to diagnosing their own equipment easily with a fair amount of certainty, "They're much more difficult to work on than the trucks of just 10 years ago," Reich says. "In many cases, it's a simple problem, but it's not easy to diagnose." Gliders – new trucks powered by remanned pre-emissions engines – are a growing option around those issues if you don't haul to California because they're not compliant there. Only 3 percent of respondents to Overdrive's survey reported having purchased a glider in their last acquisition, but even that share of all small-fleet truck purchases in recent years is a significant number. If the issues Palmer, Fly and Reichard have experienced continue in other units in significant numbers, expect that 3 percent share to grow. Reich says Schneider, like many others, likewise had a fairly significant glider program with hundreds of 2010-'11 Columbia tractors that will hit the used market next year. All have a remanned Detroit Series 60 powertrain, "some with the original drivetrain, others repaired," he says. "There will be a good market for those." The fleet worked directly with Freightliner and Clark Power, a large Detroit distribu- torship, to put the program together, Reich says. "It's been a good program as they hit the end-of-life mark," which is typically five years for the fleet.