Here is my reply, Just copied from the axel rating thread:
It comes down to two things reliablity and looks.
I work in the utility construction biz. I my service area is just about the whole state of Maine, and have been to NH before for jobs.
I send guys to jobs 2,3 even 4 hours away. They don't want a beater truck, and I don't blame them. We have contract jobs with major utilities, and do jobs for other private contractors. When a gas maine breaks at 3 am in the morning, guess what my guys have to get up and fix it. I don't need to hear at 3 am that a truck won't start and they can't get to the job or something like that. My trucks need to run every day, they need to leave the shop every day, and ya know what if they don't i have lost big time money. If they have to call someone else, if they can find someone else, because we can't get there. We have to pay for the other company to do the job, as well as a "fine" to the company we have the contract with. If we are doing a contract job, and we have 15 days to do the job, and we take 17 days we, we could be paying the a "fine" for as much as 5K a day or more. If it takes 2 days longer, because we have a truck in the shop for 2 days, where does that leave us?
It sometimes sounds like I have trucks just sitting around, but when the ground isn't frozen, and there isn't any snow. We are working very hard, when we are done with installs and under ground work, in the winter we change modes. We park the backhoes, and exevators, and the loaders go to do snow, and the tri axels may sit around. However the pick ups and 1-tons and even the F 650s are out doing service up-grades, where exevation isn't required.
If I had a service radius of 20 miles, you bet I would run trucks longer. I look at it this way, bigger service area, more money, at the same time more expenses, trucks need to be replaced more often.
Could you tell your employees get in that 1985 F 250 with 400,000 miles on it, and drive to Fort Kent, almost to Canada, about a 4 hour ride from my shope, where you can drive 50 miles and not pass a car, or a town?
Granted I keep a truck till it has 150K on it at least. Then it is either replaced, or kept in a more local service area.
I am just tired of being "picked on" for having to use new truck, to keep the biz on track.
I will tell you, that if all I did was plow snow, I would be running older trucks, and keeping new ones much longer. I have nothing against useing older trucks, their is nothing wrong with it, when you have a small service area.
However for me Time is money, I can't afford to have a truck in the shop for days on end waiting for parts. I don't have enough tome to keep fixing trucks all the time, my Mechanic is busy enough as it is. It's plain and simple an old truck will spend more time in the shop, and thats fine for most work.
Oh yea, why is my Mechanic busy: My Mechanic has a lot of stuff to maintain.
He has to maintain/fix, exevators, loaders, backhoes, tractors, snowblowers, tri -axel dumps, tandem axel dumps, compactors, generators, trailers, pick-ups, 1-tons, and just about every other thing you can think of with a motor on it.
I am very lucky I have found someone that can fix all that stuff. I don't want to add to his load, by constantly maintaining an older truck.
The Ford's are not breaking down every day, thats a fact. It just when you have this much stuff to maintain, you don't need to deal with any more. Trust me newer truck equal less breakdowns, and less up keep. Guys are also less likely to beat a newer truck. I had an employee dent a licence plat when connecting to a trailer. Later that day, he said "gee Geoff, sorry about the dent in the licence plate" Even though there work trucks, the guys put pride into them.
These are the reasons I buy new. If I wasn't in this biz, you bet I would buy used, and run longer.
BTW I do buy used equipment and trucks. Just depends on what it is going to be used for. My plow trucks, are needed everday all year round, thats why I go new with them.
Geoff
[Edited by GeoffDiamond on 11-29-2000 at 12:57 AM]
