|
Numbers
Back in 1994, in the US, a one ton truck as a bare cab and
chassis cost about $30,000 out the door. Since I was a licensed contractor, who
had a flatbed, or dump truck; I'd have to pay for more expensive commercial
rated insurance coverage. It was kind of a good thing because if I'd caused an
accident and put someone out of work for a year, I'd find out a typical
personal homeowner's type policy with $125,000 worth of protection per incident
wouldn't be as good as commercial rated insurance coverage which generally
covered about $300.000 of protection per incident. That kind of coverage for a
good driver on a new one ton truck was about $2,000 a year. It basically
translates to $500.00 down, and $200.00 per month payments. Keep in mind that
even after putting down $10,000.00 on the purchase price of a truck as the one
ton cab and chassis as the one I bought, you'd discover that your payments will
run about $400.00 per month. Adding together the cost of insurance and the
expense of the truck payment every month, you're looking at around $600.00 per
month overhead before you even consider the addition expenses of license fees
every year which brings it to a total for about $7,500.00 per year, and that's
before you even think about the fuel, oil changes, batteries, and tires.
You might be
thinking that the cost of being a contractor with a fleet of trucks can amount
to a substantial amount of overhead.
Consider a guy
like me, who was a small time painting contractor which had the desire to
produce a lot of work in less time and overhead cost. It was they way I had to
get things done just to be successful. I liked the idea of having a small truck
for pressure washing and trimming out houses. But then I also needed a larger
bed for a spray outfit and the tools and equipment that's needed when
performing heaver work loads. Although I was never able to scrape up the money
for a cube to use a job shack, I did come up with an inexpensive cover which
incorporated a tool box for those times I just wanted to haul my groceries or
surfboard and wetsuit. Another thing that was nice about my set-up was that I
was able to park two beds inside a one car garage which had a doorway that was
too low for a truck with a ladder rack above it.
A system as
mine not only saves room, but it also saves a lot of time by not having to
unload and reload equipment for different jobs day after day. The truck doesn't
have to get paint spilled or sprayed on it because it's parked out of the way
up wind.
Having four
beds and a system such as mine on back of my truck is as good as four trucks in
one to me. In many ways it's better than four regular trucks. It's not only
easier to work out of, but it conserves space and it's more economical. For a
guy like me, having four beds is like having four trucks. Or you could say I'm
getting $30,000s' worth of trucks per year if I had to compare them to the cost
of the ordinary trucks other people have to buy. Therefore I'm saving $22,500
per year for the three trucks I'm not paying for. Sure my truck will get used
more and will ware out sooner, but the savings in less than one year pays for
my invention -- and within three years -- when the warranty has expired on the
cab and chassis -- the savings will have amounted to $67,500.00. Therefore the
savings would surpass the initial investment and I'd have saved enough for a
down payment on a new cab and chassis. And what's really cool is, I never have
to buy new tires for the four beds and I get to keep them when the old truck is
long gone.
Next - Setting it Straight
The Numbers Game
|
My Next Truck
BS Plan
Caddy Trunk
@ Synchro-Link.com
Synchro-Tooler
Girls of the Day
@ MyStupidRules.com
RollOffCamper.com
Back Home
My Next Truck
|