Buying a used Class 8 truck or other commercial rig is a smart way for owner-operators to save a lot of money in the early days of their business. While newer models are great for mileage and compliance, they often carry the unfortunate downside of a six-figure price tag. Your truck is the most important investment you'll make in your business, so it's wise to talk to us with key considerations in mind. We advise to call our main office and our experts will be able to help you.
Some things to consider why looking for the used semi truck:
Transmission
Most operators learned to drive on a truck with a manual transmission. A manual transmission is more convenient for the driver, but there are automatic transmission semi trucks available. If you're in the small category of people who have learned on an automatic, you will want to stick with that kind of transmission.
If you opt for a manual transmission, there are more variables to consider. Find out how many speeds the transmission offers. The higher the speed, the more versatility you'll have when driving. If you're new to driving a semi truck, you may not want to choose a higher number of gears. The options afforded by the higher speed count is nice, but it can be difficult to operate if you're not used to a lower-speed transmission already. Also, unless you're hauling very heavy loads through the mountains, you probably won't need the higher speeds.
Have you ever wondered what life as a semi-truck driver is really like? In many ways, being a commercial truck driver is more of a way of life than it is a job. This career is one that is very much in demand, and it offers flexibility that is attractive to more spontaneous types of personalities, gives workers the opportunity to explore different areas of the United States, and then, of course, there is the comfortable paycheck as an added perk.
Before you make the decision to become a semi-truck driver, you might want to familiarize yourself with some fun facts about the trucking industry and a trucker’s way of life. Here are 13 statistics you probably didn’t know about the trucking industry and being a semi driver:
Currently, there are about 5 million commercial trucks on the roadways of America, with approximately 2 million semi-trucks. If you lined each of them up end-to-end, they would just about reach the moon. That’s a big career family to become a part of.
truck driver salaryWhile the average wage for truckers continues to increase due to the shortage of qualified semi drivers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual salary for a commercial truck driver in the United States was $39,520 in 2014.Truck a semi truck, find the comfort in life. We got a huge variety of used semi trucks in our collection .
Commercial Financing provided by Currency Capital, LLC and loans made or arranged pursuant to California Finance Lenders Law license number 60DBO-56173. Loans are subject to credit approval and monthly payments illustrated above are based on terms available to highest qualified candidates and subject to additional terms and conditions. Currency Capital, LLC is an independent finance company and is not the manufacturer or supplier of any equipment. Currency Capital, LLC is not a consumer lender and any consumer financing will be referred to a consumer lender.
Trucking isn’t just a career field for men. There are more than 200,000 female “long-haul” truckers in the United States.
The average small business semi truck driver can cover over 125,000 miles per year. That is more than 3 million miles over the average trucker’s career.
In a single year, American truckers throughout the nation can travel as many as 200 billion miles. Combined, they could have trucked to the sun and back around 1,000 times.
Owner-operators are the safest truckers on the road and experience fewer crashes than anyone else in the industry. Maybe it’s because they are responsible for their own repairs?
In the United States, the average length of a semi-trailer without the cab is 53 feet, and with the cab is about 70 to 80 feet. The maximum these trucks haul is 80,000 pounds. In Australia, however, “road trains” roam the roadways. Road trains are tractors with four trailers that are capable of hauling more than 300,000 pounds!
You had better be geared up to drive the big rigs, because these babies have an average of 10 forward gears and two reverse gears. Some trucks, however, have as many as 18 gears.
It takes approximately 55 feet for a large truck to flip a U-turn. In other words, it might be a good idea to be familiar with your route and pay attention while driving the big rigs.
Approximately 1 out of every 14 American jobs are in the trucking industry. That’s equals out to about 9 million workers.