Fleet Maintained -- A Good Thing?

[Mark-the-Spark]

Ads for used trucks often tout "fleet maintained" as a good thing. I have my doubts...

I've worked for two large fleets, both of which change the engine oil in the tractor every 30,000 miles. Detroit Diesel recommends changing the oil every 15,000 miles -- at least if you want to keep the warranty valid.

Most recently I've come across the Davco 382 fuel filter assembly on a newer Detroit / Freightliner combo. It comes new with a Fleetguard FS 19624 filter, which has a 7 micron rating according to both Davco's and Fleetguard's websites. When I went to my carrier's parts dept to pick up a spare filter, they gave me a Luberfiner L5467F filter :wtf:

Davco doesn't even list this filter for the 382 unit, and Luberfiner does not provide the filter rating on thier website. So, I called them up :D . . . and found out that particular filter has a 10 micron rating :wow:

Now, I'd imagine that the Luberfiner part is cheaper than the Fleetguard part, but -- it's letting more junk (dirt) into the injectors, and therefore into the engine, and therefore into the engine oil . . .

. . . which is changed only every 30,000 miles :wacko:

I'm beginning to understand why large fleets turn in / trade in their trucks after about 450,000 miles...

[LSMR]

Fleet maintained isn't what it used to be.I worked for a major truck leasing company from 85 to 94.When I first started our OTR diesel trucks were PM'd every 8000 miles every 16000 miles the oil was changed.We paid attention that all follow up repairs were made & that the truck did not exceed the service interval.Our goal was made to keep the truck 90 percent new.Usually when it came time to sell the truck the only things we had to do was de id it & give the truck a good clean up inside & out.Over 9 years the program began to fall behind as service intervals were increased.After I went into business I outserviced some of the same companies trucks.It was not uncommon to put 60-70 hours of work into a used truck being put up for sale.

The problem with a 30000 mile pm is that many times a truck will not be serviced on time.A lot of lease companies make too many promises in regards to service.Many customers will only let their trucks go for service a few hours.

I wouldn't pay much attention to the "fleet maintained" that shows up in used truck ads unless you personally know the company.

[tommy]

I have 2 out of a fleet I bought and they are nickle & dimein me now, Not a happy camper and will be lookin for the For Sale sign if this keeps up.


Just little stuff, but everything is down time and a few hundred bucks :wtf:

[Capt._Chaos]

Even though "Fleet Maintained" doesn't have the same meaning it did in years past, many of those trucks are likely in better shape than a lot of the "Owner-Operator" trucks out there that have been ran to death with very little upkeep (if any).

When money gets tight for many Owner-Ops, the first sacrifices to "get by" are usually made in the area of truck maintenance.

[Kranky 1]

Even though "Fleet Maintained" doesn't have the same meaning it did in years past, many of those trucks are likely in better shape than a lot of the "Owner-Operator" trucks out there that have been ran to death with very little upkeep (if any).

When money gets tight for many Owner-Ops, the first sacrifices to "get by" are usually made in the area of truck maintenance. ....And that is very puzzling, because grease is much cheaper than parts & a heck of a lot easier to install. A few gallons of motor oil & a set of filters is way cheaper than an engine overhaul......I'll never understand people who neglect their equipment!

[Mark-the-Spark]

I have 2 out of a fleet I bought and they are nickle & dimein me now, Not a happy camper and will be lookin for the For Sale sign if this keeps up.

Just little stuff, but everything is down time and a few hundred bucks :wtf:

In my opinion, buying a 500K truck is similar to the situation I had several years ago when I was thinking about a second car on a budget. I asked a buddy of mine, who had been in used car sales for some time....

"What can I buy for 2 or 3 grand?"

"Somebody else's problems."

:wow:

[tommy]

mark, all trucks were under 300 K with a decent price. I sure was not expecting to have problems with that low of miles..


You did make a Very good point though!!

[Mark-the-Spark]

BP, I'm quickly learning that miles are not everything. For example, one wants to avoid 2004-05 Detroits, since they seem to have been going thru a learning curve on EGR and injectors during that period. Also in that time frame, Freightliner was going thru a learning curve on fuel filters (the dual filter deal, where the return filter was prone to plugging and at least some Detroit shops did not have a clue... and around late 2005 they went to a Davco single filter, a very smart move IMHO).

Unfortunately it seems to be the case that you have to be a self-educated mechanic in order to make a wise used truck purchase. Before I finally threw up my hands and bought a brand new one (at a fleet discount), I was thinking of buying a run-out 2000-2001 and simply budgeting for a new reman engine (and a front end overhaul, and an air compressor, and batteries, and perhaps an air-to-air, and all the associated downtime... sigh). When all was budgeted for, it seemed wiser to simply pony up about an extra $35-40K up front, at a much lower interest rate, hopefully zero downtime in the near term, and take better-than-fleet care of new equipment as I went along :)

[tommy]

BP, I'm quickly learning that miles are not everything. For example, one wants to avoid 2004-05 Detroits, since they seem to have been going thru a learning curve on EGR and injectors during that period


NOW ya tell me :harhar: I found this out AFTER I bought and started having problems, but is only 2 of them!

[Mark-the-Spark]

BP, I'm quickly learning that miles are not everything. For example, one wants to avoid 2004-05 Detroits, since they seem to have been going thru a learning curve on EGR and injectors during that period

NOW ya tell me :harhar: I found this out AFTER I bought and started having problems, but is only 2 of them!

I think they finally solved those particular problems after two or three retrofit kits... perhaps a good Detroit shop will have the latest info (then again, perhaps not... ).

At about 500K miles you'll found out about injector harnesses too, which many shops (and the ECM) seem to like to diagnose as -- you guessed it, a bad injector :wow:

[Capt._Chaos]

BP, I'm quickly learning that miles are not everything. For example, one wants to avoid 2004-05 Detroits, since they seem to have been going thru a learning curve on EGR and injectors during that period


NOW ya tell me :harhar: I found this out AFTER I bought and started having problems, but is only 2 of them!

The truck I was driving that was hit in January is an '04 Freightliner Century with a post- 10/02 Detroit 12.7 Liter EGR engine. The lack of power & horrible fuel mileage really made me HATE that truck.

[Mark-the-Spark]

The truck I was driving that was hit in January is an '04 Freightliner Century with a post- 10/02 Detroit 12.7 Liter EGR engine. The lack of power & horrible fuel mileage really made me HATE that truck.

I must note that I drove a brand new company truck with a DDEC V 12.7 liter EGR Series 60 that ran pretty good and got pretty good fuel mileage... until about 4 different Detroit shops got to playing musical chairs with the injectors for various and sometimes totally unrelated reasons... and one shop got to fiddling with the turbo vane controller... and at least two shops changed the baro sensor simply to have something to bill Detroit for to justify the warranty charges... sigh.