Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/82527
BUSINESS Used truck dealer Eddie Walker says buyers should make purchasing decisions based on their busi- nesses' best interests and not the "flash" of the truck on the lot. Diesel engine runs about $38,000 on his lot. With Peterbilts and Kenworths, com- parable models run a few thousand more, says Davis. For now, though, he says, pricing has reached a plateau. The low build rate in 2008 and 2009 still contributes to the short- age of low-mileage trucks on the market, Visser says, though demand will probably increase after the elec- tion. For now, "The market has such a high demand for lower mileage trucks, people are buying what they can get." Eddie Walker, owner of Best Used Trucks in Fort Worth, Texas, and senior adviser to the Used Truck Association, says by today's standards a low-mileage truck is "somewhere in the 600,000-mile range – that's a decent truck now." In the early 2000s "a low-mileage truck was around 250 to 300,000." Prices for trucks with about 650,000 miles are similar to those in Arrow's Atlanta lot – "upper 30s, low 40s," says Walker. "That's for Freightliner. If it's a Peterbilt or Kenworth, we're talking a good bit more." He warns against letting emotion instead of good business sense deter- mine truck choice. "Some buyers see a nice shiny truck on the lot and then think they're movie stars and that they've got to have it. Then they've got $2,500 or $3,000 a month payments on it, and they've got to work all day every day to make the payment. The truck works him instead of the other way around." However, today's typical owner- operator buyer is more educated about truck buying, Walker says: "He's buying an aerodynamic truck that gets good fuel mileage instead of hopping over to something flashy." October 2012 | Overdrive | 25 Text INFO to 50298 or visit ovdinfo.com