So for the past few weeks I have been cruising the Web looking at the trucks and holy molly the price of a bloody truck is outrageous and I have to wonder how in God's name anyone can afford one. I routinely see young folks driving around in by all accounts nearly a $80k truck and that does not even factor in the aftermarket add-ons. It would not surprise me one bit of I were to learn that some of these dually diesels were $100k.
So what do you fellas do for a work vehicle because even the used ones are commanding very high prices.
Around here I gotta tell ya the fee's need to double or triple to get to where they need to be but after looking at the truck prices even that will not be enough.
Have you raised your costs this month? I go up on my fee's tomorrow.
Used to work for a medium size engineering firm. They figured out trucks were expensive and a pain, so eventually we just leaned from enterprise. Maybe 120 trucks, we would spec exactly what we wanted and they took care of all fuel and maintinence. We paid them 50-58 cents per mile and had nice new trucks, then we billed 70 cents a mile to client. Maybe that's an option for smaller outfits?
For 25yrs I drove whatever and worked out of it and in 1999 I started out on a new path after 10?ñ yrs of solo work.
I stopped working by the hour, for banks, realtors, attorneys and began to deal directly with the person directly responsible for surveying expenses.
Whenever possible my fees are above average and dependent upon the client and the property and their need for a speedy return.
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So..........you drove whatever (kinda vague) and now you're on a different path (still kind vague) and I'm gonna guess you're riding a horse with a pack mule in tow.
Edit: I have always been partial to Suburbans and feel they make a superb survey vehicle so with the costs of new truck and suburban what they are I will likely buy a late model 10 year old Suburban and drive it till the wheels fall off and get another.
9th gen suburbans (2000-2006) are an excellent vehicle with well documented reliability, and the first generation of suburbans that also handled well (i.e., didn't feel like an old truck).?ÿ Last time I hailed a cab, it was one of these and had 650,000 miles on it, engine and tranny.
2006 model Chevy 1/2 ton with an ARE camper and 384,000 miles. If I take care of it, it takes care of me.
James
Would you guys but a new truck?ÿOR?ÿdoes the costs of a new vehicle eliminate that from any realistic consideration?
i started with a second-hand one and drove it till it fell apart. I thought of another second-hand one but wanted to be sure the bloddy thing starts in the morning and i would not have any costs the first years on parts.
I bought a brand new Hilux and 4 years later still going strong. I plan on using it for another 4 definitely.
At the current prices my truck, a F250 diesel diesel extended cab, would be around 75k new.?ÿ I'm thinking my next new rig will be a?ÿ Transit.?ÿ It looks like you can get a well equiped 250 with 4x4 converson for around 50k.
I am researching this too.?ÿ Never leased before, and not really sure the impact tax wise on the business yet - still gotta talk to the accountant.
I did price new work truck, $43k.?ÿ Thing is, used ones a few years old are in the $25-30K range for like 70-80,00 miles!?ÿ
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The truck we have now was new in 2004.?ÿ It is hard to remember getting it back then, and I look at what I did in the woods last week and it would be awful hard to do that in a new truck again - mud, rocks, scratching trees - it took some abuse for sure.
I know trucks routinely last to 150,000 miles pretty good now, but it is hard to get out of the mentality that you need a new one by 95,000 or it is going to nickel and dime you to death.?ÿ You replace any vehicle for one of 2 reasons, the drivetrain is shot, or the body is too far gone.?ÿ
I guess I just have to make the leap but I would feel most comfortable with a 5 year old 60k mile truck.?ÿ Should be reliable, and won't feel bad about scratching it.?ÿ Question is - business wise is that same/cheaper than buying new??ÿ Jury is out right now.
We do quite a bit of driving so we ended up with a 2008 Toyota RAV4. It gets 25+- MPG and we stripped the back seats out and installed a toolbox, rack, and organizer to make room for all the gear. Took a little bit of messing around to get all the gear organized efficiently, but it works well now.?ÿ
It is surprisingly good in the winter and goes through a lot more than expected. On the rare occasion we have to get into some messy areas I use my personal vehicle (01 Tundra 325k miles and going strong).?ÿ
Also we purchased it used for around $7000 in perfect condition, the previous owner was meticulous in his maintenance and we have had no issues besides me burying it in a field a few times.
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We do quite a bit of driving so we ended up with a 2008 Toyota RAV4. It gets 25+- MPG and we stripped the back seats out and installed a toolbox, rack, and organizer to make room for all the gear. Took a little bit of messing around to get all the gear organized efficiently, but it works well now.?ÿ
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You can't just drop a morsel like that without pics!?ÿ Us box-junkies need a fix! (please)
My list of survey vehicles (in order of use, 2007 to 2019, company and personal vehicles):
-1996 2 door Toyota Tercel
-2008 Ford Escape AWD
-2008 Dodge Dakota 4X4
-2005 E-250 Econoline Van
-2012 Ford Focus Hatchback
-1999 GMC Safari
-2012 Dodge Grand Caravan
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All of them have gotten me to the job site and got the work done.?ÿ However, the Tercel really relied on my "Tetris skills" as I routinely packed the following in it:
-me
-400lb instrument man
-Leica RTS (legs, pole, cases, etc.)
-Leica base & rover (legs, pole, cases, etc.)
-dumpy level
-laptop
-"oh poop"/everyday gear (ie. battery starter, sledge, etc.)
-usually around 20+ SIBs
It took about $50 in gas a week and 2 quarts of 20w-50 diesel oil ($5 from Walmart).?ÿ It lost 1 of its 4 cylinders 3 years in when I had about 330,000 km on it.?ÿ Had bought it for $450 at auction w/ 200,000km on it.
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Canadians, on average, drive the largest vehicles in the world:
That being said, I firmly believe where there's a will to get the job done, it'll get done.
(side note--daily driver is a 2017 Nissan Leaf, 180 km round trip commute, rain/sun/Canadian winter,...........the need for a 4x4 truck/SUV, barring a farmer or consistent construction use, is overstated).
I can at least give you a little bit of an idea. The rack/organizer are being upgraded into one solid unit right now, but this is what I am working with at the moment.
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The wire rack is where a wood version of the same size usually sits, and where the rock drill bag is currently sitting is where the organizer sits and will soon have several shelves above it. We decided to make it one solid unit recently to make it safer if we ended up getting in an accident. We secured the toolbox using a few L brackets bolted into the existing holes where the seat was.
There is also a storage compartment underneath where the magnetic locator is that we stash the chainsaw or other tools we use occasionally.
I will get an updated picture when its all back together!
My current truck is a 2012 Frontier. It is a great truck but I am packed in tight and cannot get much more in it & because of that I want a Suburban which I will probably outgrow. The back seats are full and the spot immediately behind the drivers side in the pictures has my Pelican case for Gps and my collector case is in the office but the rear seat is full. The front passenger seat is the only open space I have and when I have to carry someone else I have to get creative on where to put stuff.?ÿ
At the prices things are now there is no way I would buy a new truck. I am working out of a 2015 4runner that I bought off of rental from Hertz. It has a few cosmetic issues but I bought it as a work truck so some scratches and door dings don't really bother me. My old boss did buy a new Toyota pickup when it was time to upgrade from the Ford Ranger with ~250K miles on it. He did it with no down payment since he planned on keeping it for years and would rather have the cash in the bank.
Have you tried repacking things. This blue Makita drill box now houses our full RTK kit - base, rover, blue brick, DC, base tribrach, base&rover short antennas, rover batteries, tape measure, 12V&radio cables, tribrach extension - to replace the original large two-pack containers. Have taken it as carry-on luggage quite a few times too.
No & I am not sure that would help but I will study on that for a bit before I pull the trigger on a Suburban.
I assume your wife has instructions to sue the company if you ever get killed by flying equipment in a vehicle accident.?ÿ Yes, a friend actually did that, he said it was a company Suburban with unstable handling because it was overloaded with wooden box and equipment, company (big National firm) refused to get an appropriate vehicle so he instructed his wife to sue the company if he got killed.
I worked out of a Safari for a short time.?ÿ Let me just say GM can't make a door hold open which actually holds the door open.?ÿ Open the rear doors, windy day, stick my head in and the door closed and cold cocked me in the back of the head.?ÿ Vehicle had a dent on the rear door after that because I was upset and kicked the door with my steel toe boot, WHACK.?ÿ Hated that vehicle and the other van, a GMC 1-ton with Quigley 4WD conversion, we called it the Queen Mary, terrible vehicle, just terrible.