Duration is good but the lifetime warranty is marketing. How many high end customers will wait till its peeling or blistering and waranteeable and not re-paint it years before when its just faded and bad looking?
Only offered as an example: $6 gas also means much higher paint prices due to product formulation and transport. Customer may be shocked at bids, and willing to pay for proper prep (documented) and best paint if life is longer. "Mpg" has indirect, not just direct ramifications. When the equipment cost is minimized, then it "may" be possible to make bids that other contractors cannot, is the thinking. They can't afford to.
You already know that low-ballers never make money. The higher price of petroleum "could" work to the favor of a smart and prepared contractor. Marketing is part of that.
He'll ask his gps for the best route lol.
GPS routing is often poor. Planning may include some time looking at alternative routing (more miles on big road to avoid stop-n-go; etc.). I find it easy to "beat" GPS, especially over known terrain and short distances.
Why does the rake affect FE?
Think nose-down: doesn't catch air the way a tail-dragging truck does. Also doesn't change alignment and throw off steering/braking as badly. Trying to match empty rake is beside point, it's about avoiding being nose high.
He wants to put a shelving unit on one side and put his machines on the other. How much difference matters?
You tell me (rhetorical). Is it 600# or 200#? Lopsided balance affects steering response if nothing else, and little things add up in chasing mpg over the long term. When one is setting up a rig for work it pays, IMO, to try to get things right the first time. What happens with a big load of paint loaded onto a lopsided truck?
A big truck operator could save $40,000 by changing to a lower restriction muffler . . because, at 1/4-mpg improvement over 1,000,000 miles that's how much is saved. It pays to think this way.
Sometimes though we do want to drive to a good local chinese food joint. We do dont much new construction any more.
Yup, I like a sit down meal with a waitress to refill the tea glass. Get away completely. But, as this is about mpg, what does it actually cost me, per mile or per job at the end of the year. If I know and understand that cost, then I can more sensibly make that choice.
Guesstimates don't count.
It probably would have been a smart idea to get a long bed truck or van and a commuter car.
Not if the work truck is kept up, IMO. Two vehicles aren't economical at all. Fixed expenses alone make it prohibitive, and depreciation makes it a killer. That's why I posed the question about "what would be the perfect rig"? Some time spent studying that paid me when no one else wanted a 2WD DODGE diesel that -- three years old -- I bought for less than HALF the price of new. I knew EXACTLY what I wanted. Judging by current ads I could probably sell it for what I paid for it even with an additional 50,000 miles (and one $300 repair). That doesn't take into account deductible miles, etc.
My point is that,
bought correctly at the outset it will return longest life with best performance and reliability. Which is why I mentioned the FORD Transit: European, (sold there with a diesel; so teething problems over), smaller/easier to maneuver and
probably enough payload for a painter. Use the time now to explore the best
possible truck or rig for when fuel prices inevitably rise. If I know what it best -- and why -- then I am ahead when in the market for my next vehicle. One always has to look/plan ahead.
Economy is much larger than fuel cost. Initial purchase price spread out over miles and years (including depreciation, finance charges, insurance, maintenance, repairs, etc) are the big picutre. As much as fuel costs, the fixed expenses plus depreciation are worse.
The guys who buy used and then abuse some old truck every five years are practicing false economy (and never seem to be on time or on target, you know the ones I mean).
Bummer about no room for a trailer. I really believe that is the answer for many in re vehicle size for the job. Let the tow vehicle be a bit smaller is the thinking.
Most of our jobs are withing 15-20 miles but in the last year we've worked down in Manhattan and up in Worcester.
I think a remote engine start would be much cheaper than a webasto. Its not a diesel and It doesn't get more than 10 below here. average 5 days a year below 0. Quite snowy.
These two go together in considering a coolant heater. One, although some may argue, I don't believe that a vehicle is warmed up until it has driven about 30-miles. Coolant temp is almost irrelevant, it is the oil and greases that take forever to warm up. And then, Two, to "burn off" the acids and other nasties that have accumulated in the sumps it takes even more miles past that initial thirty. For that reason I have tried for almost 40-years to avoid turning the key unless the trips could be combined into a loop of at least 30-miles.
As a rule of thumb it takes 1.5 hours of steady state driving before all systems (including tire pressure) stabilize.
WEBASTO and ESPAR both used to make a gasoline fired version. Remote or on a timer. Expensive, yes, but with fixed times daily for starting it is easy to set up. The payoff is in a few more years out of the engine.
Remember that the engine oil still has to reach nearly 220F for best economy/performance. Whether it starts at 45F or 90F it has a long way to climb. The comfort and safety aspects are just a real nice bonus. Cutting that warm-up time to nothing is a big deal (as some reading around here will show).
While it may not be worthwhile on a used vehicle, it is worth studying for a future one, as engine life is improved over the long miles. One or two more years from a work vehicle can be the difference between paying cash for the one after that versus financing.
Short trips are the killer. As is idle time.
He does keep a mileage log already for tax deductions.
I figured that. I have gone both ways on either percentage of miles or being more exact. Both have advantages. But, here, I am recommending a
per job understanding of how the truck is used: how many bids (miles & engine hours), then ALL hours/miles until job is finished to have an understanding of a "typical" job. Only needs one, two, three of them -- a variety -- to see how it stacks up. And to note each engine start and the purpose of the trip.
That's where the money is.Y
My cpm (cents-per-mile) is under .55. Less than the IRS deduction. A new 4WD diesel is above .90 cpm (a killer cost). I know my fuel expense per mile, but it is the
overall cpm expense that counts. .12 cpm for fuel is great, but means little if the rest is above .70 cpm.
And, as before, this may already be the practice. Once it is translated into cents-per-mile then all forecasting is in place to look forward to the point of time and miles where another -- better suited -- vehicle is chosen.
If I run 25,000 business only miles in a major metro Texas city (easy to do) then the IRS deduction of $14,000 + looks very nice . . until I realize that every bit of it goes back to the present and future truck.
Getting out of financing a major capital purchase is the name of the game.
And that would include all mods to make it ideal.
AFter all not making extra trips saves alot of gas
Yeah, buddy . . I found trip planning a PITA when first a truck driver. Now it is second nature. I like the "control" over what circumstances I can see: traffic, road type, weather, etc. Same with analysing how it all came together.
So long as I am dependent on a vehicle for my income -- at a time when fuel prices may rise drastically or fuel availability be random -- it
pays me to know and practice every trick, system and method I can find.
So I'd try the aero stuff even though around town it may not matter (and it's ready for the long trips); look to see how the best practice of loading or driving or what planning is worth it.
Too many guys will be caught with their pants down in a fuel crunch cause half the battle is experience in re fuel mileage and vehicle life. Too many little things to learn what works to suddenly change over in one day.
In the early 1970's a lot of
great cars got traded off in favor of some Jap junk that was, in turn, replaced four/five times over the next 15-20 years in favor of "economy". In fact, those late '60's/early 70's cars were some of the best ever built for stone axe reliability. And learning to tune them, convert to radial tires and electronic ignition made for significant mpg improvement. I just sold my '71 Chrysler a few years ago. On the road as a daily driver for over thirty years. Twenty years isnt that hard, and fifteen ought to be a minimum (or, maybe 200k+ on a gasser). This truck in sig is pretty much the first computer-controlled vehicle I've owned.
The guy who keeps it longest is the economy king (given correct vehicle choice at outset).
So good luck with helping your Dad . . mine passed away three months ago Wednesday. Naturally, I've been thinking about him, and as I am painting the exterior of my house your thread caught my eye (a brush/roll job and
Duration is a pain, BUT it keeps me off the ladders/roof the second time) . . . so it is to the "larger picture" he introduced me to in re vehicles, business and the rest that I have tried to be of help. We had a lot of fun trying different things.
Even if it didn't always
appear that way to outsiders as we "discussed".
.
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