Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Yesterday - Tuesday

We FINALLY made it to a Volvo dealership! It is the last truck that we needed to look at. SNI Finance will finance either the KW T2000, Freightliner Century, Peterbuilt 386 or 387 and the Volvo 780. We have now been to look at all of them and I must say that the Volvo is the one we like the best. It has a 77" sleeper giving 7 more inches of room in the back than the Freightliner or Peterbuilt models and 5 more inches than the KW T2000. You may not think that is a lot of room, but after you have been in a truck and realize that space is at a premium, that extra 7 inches is a LOT of space. The beds are about the same size but you have more room where you stand and it makes the cabinets a bit wider. The Volvo also has a table in it. The bottom bunk is like a camper where the bed will pop up in the middle into a table. We really like that idea for two reasons. If we are doing a 34 hr restart we have a comfortable space to sit and relax and two, the space is open under the table, even when it is made into a bed, and that is extra storage and a place for our little dog to sleep. She likes to "den" so that spot is perfect. So I think we have made up our minds on what truck we want to get. No we just have to wait until the right time. We are taking Justin and some friends to a guest ranch over Spring Break so we will probably take actual vacation at that time and then come back out as an IC after that. We are just going to have to talk to them and see what the best way to go is.

We also dropped the truck off at the OC yesterday so they can get some maintenance done on it. We also are having them replace both windshields since they both have chips in there.

Today we are just hanging out at the house getting laundry done and getting ready to head back out. Tomorrow I have to go down to DPS and have them resend me my drivers license. I don't have the actual hard copy that shows the right endorsements. I still have the one showing I need a licensed driver in the front seat without the correct endorsements. If you run my DL it is correct, I just never received the new and correct actual hard copy in the mail. And since it is a Class A CDL, I have to go request a new one in person because they won't issue a new one over the phone or online.

That is where we are right now. Hopefully the truck will be ready when we get there tomorrow.

2 comments:

want 2 drive said...

are you sure you want to go with SNI after listing to both drz and walcrawler,prime should be looked at.I am not A driver yet,but I have been reading a lot of blogs. I have heard Volvo has repair issues.you have A great blog and I love reading it big thanks!!

T-Net said...

Thanks! Actually we have talked to Walcrawler on the phone before about Prime. They do sound like a great company, but I think we are going to stick with SNI. We have already been with them for almost a year and they have been good to us and the miles are always there for us. I tend to be pretty loyal to a company and since they have treated us well, we decided to stay. We have talked to several several Owner/Operators and have heard good and bad from both. I think as DrZ has mentioned, you just have to have a head for business and actually work and not spend too much time in the lounge at the truck stop.

Two reasons we are liking the Volvo is because it has a super warranty and it has the bigger sleeper. Since we will be buying new, it will all be under warranty. And hopefully, we don't get a lemon! We have looked at the 5 trucks that SNI offers and since they don't offer the Kenworth T-660, then the Volvo is our second choice. :)