Informal rankings of trucks

[Aaronw]

When I'm choosing a truck to build one of the things I sometimes consider is price of the 1-1. For example when I'm building a Forest Service truck I have to remember the federal government is cheap, I'm sorry, it is "thrifty". Most city fire departments are a little looser but still keep a tight grip on the purse strings and then ironically some of the volunteer departments will be pretty free with the money (when they have it. I guess if you only get a new truck every 30 years you buy the best).

It seems to me International is definately on the economy end of the scale, I get this from people I know who have been around trucks a long time as well as looking at what the government and many fleets operate. (I'm not bashing Internationals, I've worked on many and they seem to be good trucks, just have less frills than some).

I'm not real sure on the others though I'm guessing the "big 3" auto manufacturers (Ford, GM, Dodge) fell in the middle when they built trucks which leaves the purpose built over the road types (Mack, Peterbilt, Kenworth etc) at the top end but I have nothing to really go on, just making a guess.

So in general is there a pecking order regarding price / economy? Not peoples favorites or one is better than another but when price is a factor where do the trucks fall? Which ones make the bean counters happy and which ones are reserved for those more willing to pay?

Thanks

[mackinac359]

I think there is a lot of "play" in the pricing of trucks, especially large fleets that order hundreds of trucks a year. I see a lot of small municipalities buying more expensive Peterbilt and Kenworths for snowplows, dump trucks and service trucks due to the higher resale value.

There is an interesting mix of county road maintenance trucks around my area.

One county is all Peterbilt 357 and 335.(330)

One county is all Western Star

One county is Peterbilt 357 and Navistar

One county is all Sterlings

One county north of me uses Macks, Ford, Sterlings.

Our state highway department uses Navistars

Our state DNR uses most everything now adays but in the late 90's bought Peterbilt 379's for tractors and stake trucks for the Fire Service.

I believe the Pricing Pecking Order is:

Peterbilt-Kenworth tied

Mack

Western Star

Freightliner-Navistar tied

Sterling-Volvo tied

There are too many variables.. if a local dealer wants the sale bad enough a KW or Pete might price in at what the other brand is offering.

Tim

[BIGTRUCK]

Tims resale statement is very true , KW ,Pete ,DAF and FODEN under the PACCAR logo leases high dollar trucks at the same price other companies do leasing NAVs and Freightliners,[get lease dollars - get resale dollars ]Daimler-Benz has WesterStar , Freightliner, Sterling, Oshkosh , American Lafrance , Unimog and with Volvo taking up Mack, seems like no matter what you buy sometimes the money goes to 1 of 4 companies. It also seems true Navistar gets a big share of Fed & Gov't bucks along with Custom Chassis and again Custom is under Benz.........Freightliner has a neat history.

http://www.freightliner.com/inside/our-history.aspx

[Aaronw]

Thanks, thats all I was looking for, just a rough guide. I realize there is alot more than just the price paid right now, resale, longevity, maintenance / repair etc, local dealer network, tradition etc.

Am I safe in assuming that when GM, Dodge and Ford were more heavily in the commercial truck market that they fell towards the lower middle range?

[dieseldoc]

I believe the truck pricing for fleet and municipalities was done via the bid process. The fleet or gov agency specs out a truck. Goes to the manufactures and says this is what we want/need. How much, what kind of warranty and who ever comes in the cheapest with the best warranty sells the truck. Also running costs (who much it costs to run the truck over a given time period.) will also come into play.

[Aaronw]

I know there are many variables, I was told when our last bid went out for engines that the tie breaker between using an International or Freightliner chassis was IH threw in a cassette player, the FL just had AM/FM. :roll:

I am a little surprised to see Volvo so low on the list, but they do seem to be everywhere lately so that makes sense.

I don't see many Westernstar trucks here in California, not sure if I'm just not looking or if they may be a regional builder and this isn't a popular area for them.