Advice Needed Please

Hi, Excellent forum folks.

Loving the pics of the rigs on this site.

I'll start off asking for some advice please.
Have been lurking for a long time gathering advice.


I am in the middle of starting up a small transport business.

I will only require 1 truck, a rigid with a trailer.

I will be carting general freight, pallets , dry goods, cars , machinery, etc.

Thing is most of the work will be long distance work, and i want a fairly new truck or new truck. My budget only allows for a jap truck, like Isuzu or Hino.

Are these rigs capable of long distance(500-2500kms) trips?


Will also be dragging a trailer, only 9T GVM though. What HP would i be looking at needing? These Jap trucks seem to be under 300hp in the range i can afford. with 9 speeds though, am i correct in thinking this should be enough. I doubt the truck will ever be loaded to GVM.

One of the rigs i am interested in is the Isuzu FXR1000 LONG, and will rig it up as a 14 pallet curtainsider.


Im also interested in the fuel usage, i have allowed for 40L/100kms on the road? Is that ok?

I will have more questions over time, sorry folks.

But if anyone can help me out on those first i would be really really grateful. I need to get my ass out on the road.

Cheers

hay mate first off welcome and good luck with you business venture, iv always wanted to buy my own rig but im a little nervous so good luck..

now i currently work for a generator company we hire/sales and repair work on diesel gene's and we have a few trucks the 2 i drive are a 2006 (i think 06 or there abouts) fm9 volvo bogie drive with 12spd i-shift auto with a 9 meter ekebol tilt tray beautiful truck with 380hp long trips are comfy and has enough power (more would be better of coarse but wouldnt want much less) it honestly is a bigg difference to the old yankee trucks iv driven in the past (please dont hate me guys lol) and the second truck we own is a single axle 2009 hino 500 series with a 9spd, flat deck with a rear mounted crane now im not 100% how much hp is has id guess at 300 but it realy is slow, you get used to it though but yeh idealy would have at least another 50hp. We often tow trailers behind our trucks also mostly light stuff we have a flat deck trailer around 17ft deck which we tow they both tow it well but as said the hino needs more power especially with the truck and trailer loaded.... anyway not sure if this helps but my 2c is for what its worth i would rather try and find something like a repo or similer with very low k's (i know its not easy) thats a year old or so that is higher spec with more hp... we got our crane truck complete as you see it for 100k inc gst with 60,000k off a company that couldnt find a driver for it and they got sick of having the truck sitting there not making any money so they just subbied the work out...

anyway if ya interested heres some pics of our setups...

I drive a desk for a living so others may have better advice, but it struck me that a fair amount of your GVM is going to be taken up by the tare on your proposed rig, so you might want to re-look at that. Also, a curtain sider will have more wind resistance than a flat top so you might want a couple of extra ponies under the bonnet to ensure you can maintain speed against a persistent head wind.

I drive a desk for a living so others may have better advice, but it struck me that a fair amount of your GVM is going to be taken up by the tare on your proposed rig, so you might want to re-look at that. Also, a curtain sider will have more wind resistance than a flat top so you might want a couple of extra ponies under the bonnet to ensure you can maintain speed against a persistent head wind.

Ah well picked up mate. Thanks alot for that, i knew there was a reason i originally wanted a Volvo or Scania. There was another Isuzu capable also, but the price is probably ridiculous compared to a low kms Volve.

hay mate first off welcome and good luck with you business venture, iv always wanted to buy my own rig but im a little nervous so good luck..

now i currently work for a generator company we hire/sales and repair work on diesel gene's and we have a few trucks the 2 i drive are a 2006 (i think 06 or there abouts) fm9 volvo bogie drive with 12spd i-shift auto with a 9 meter ekebol tilt tray beautiful truck with 380hp long trips are comfy and has enough power (more would be better of coarse but wouldnt want much less) it honestly is a bigg difference to the old yankee trucks iv driven in the past (please dont hate me guys lol) and the second truck we own is a single axle 2009 hino 500 series with a 9spd, flat deck with a rear mounted crane now im not 100% how much hp is has id guess at 300 but it realy is slow, you get used to it though but yeh idealy would have at least another 50hp. We often tow trailers behind our trucks also mostly light stuff we have a flat deck trailer around 17ft deck which we tow they both tow it well but as said the hino needs more power especially with the truck and trailer loaded.... anyway not sure if this helps but my 2c is for what its worth i would rather try and find something like a repo or similer with very low k's (i know its not easy) thats a year old or so that is higher spec with more hp... we got our crane truck complete as you see it for 100k inc gst with 60,000k off a company that couldnt find a driver for it and they got sick of having the truck sitting there not making any money so they just subbied the work out...

anyway if ya interested heres some pics of our setups...

Cheers mate, just as i thought. I had 320hp as a minimum.

Now, if i wanted a truck in this range id be looking at a Volvo or Scania, or maybe even DAF. I know nothing about DAFs though.

Would love a Volvo but. Year or two old, under 150000ks.

Whats the average k's before a rebuild on the little Volvos? FE320 or something

About 500000kms?

I was quoted $130k for a Isuzu FVR1000 LONG
trucks.isuzu.com.au/media/48217/fvr1000_fvd1000_ark548.pdf

Thats bare chassis.

But i will probably require the FXL 1500
trucks.isuzu.com.au/media/48229/fxl1500_ark555.pdf

So, i'd say that would be around the $160k mark at least.

Then id have to add all the gear i wanted, tautliner, tailgate lifter, etc. End up being over the $170k mark easily.


So, the question is.

If i went a Volvo, say FE320 or something not much bigger in power, what economy could i expect? Because of were i am i cant get any info on any of the makes, there websites are poor. Especially Volvo.

surely the eurpoean trucks are better then the Japs in terms of fuel and service costs.

I was quoted $130k for a Isuzu FVR1000 LONG
trucks.isuzu.com.au/media/48217/fvr1000_fvd1000_ark548.pdf

Thats bare chassis.

But i will probably require the FXL 1500
trucks.isuzu.com.au/media/48229/fxl1500_ark555.pdf

So, i'd say that would be around the $160k mark at least.

Then id have to add all the gear i wanted, tautliner, tailgate lifter, etc. End up being over the $170k mark easily.


So, the question is.

If i went a Volvo, say FE320 or something not much bigger in power, what economy could i expect? Because of were i am i cant get any info on any of the makes, there websites are poor. Especially Volvo.

surely the eurpoean trucks are better then the Japs in terms of fuel and service costs.

Mate. A 12 pallet tautliner & tailgate lifter(& ect), will set you back at LEAST $35K...IMO.

AS for Jap vs Euro service & parts costs.Get a few quotes on service & some basic parts, you'll be amazed at the variation between makes.

There's a VERY good reason the Jappers have a strangle hold on this market segment.....

i hate to say it but in the rigid trucks ..you cant go past the jap stuff ..they in general are super reliable ...at the moment ive been doing both local and interstate runs in a 89 mitsi FM557 ..sure its only 215hp and a bit slow on the hills when fully loaded ..but in the past year ive only had to spend money on tyres and filter/oil changes .. and before that the old isuzu i had was the same . .

I was quoted $130k for a Isuzu FVR1000 LONG
trucks.isuzu.com.au/media/48217/fvr1000_fvd1000_ark548.pdf

Thats bare chassis.

But i will probably require the FXL 1500
trucks.isuzu.com.au/media/48229/fxl1500_ark555.pdf

So, i'd say that would be around the $160k mark at least.

Then id have to add all the gear i wanted, tautliner, tailgate lifter, etc. End up being over the $170k mark easily.


So, the question is.

If i went a Volvo, say FE320 or something not much bigger in power, what economy could i expect? Because of were i am i cant get any info on any of the makes, there websites are poor. Especially Volvo.

surely the eurpoean trucks are better then the Japs in terms of fuel and service costs.

Mate. A 12 pallet tautliner & tailgate lifter(& ect), will set you back at LEAST $35K...IMO.

AS for Jap vs Euro service & parts costs.Get a few quotes on service & some basic parts, you'll be amazed at the variation between makes.

There's a VERY good reason the Jappers have a strangle hold on this market segment.....

Yeah, i meant 170K plus.

I understand that the jap trucks have the majority , but isnt that just for short city type stuff? All the rigids i see over here in WA on the highway, are european trucks. Japs trucks for around town and european for the long hauls.

Is it just a coincidence?

Hands down the Japs will be less to run, and easier to get parts.

So really, it will come down to the following:
Comfort
Fuel Economy
Average Kilometres/Hours before rebuild
Ability to do 100km/hr all day

Am i being realistic thinking that 35-40L/100km is achievable. :-X

hay mate first off welcome and good luck with you business venture, iv always wanted to buy my own rig but im a little nervous so good luck..

now i currently work for a generator company we hire/sales and repair work on diesel gene's and we have a few trucks the 2 i drive are a 2006 (i think 06 or there abouts) fm9 volvo bogie drive with 12spd i-shift auto with a 9 meter ekebol tilt tray beautiful truck with 380hp long trips are comfy and has enough power (more would be better of coarse but wouldnt want much less) it honestly is a bigg difference to the old yankee trucks iv driven in the past (please dont hate me guys lol) and the second truck we own is a single axle 2009 hino 500 series with a 9spd, flat deck with a rear mounted crane now im not 100% how much hp is has id guess at 300 but it realy is slow, you get used to it though but yeh idealy would have at least another 50hp. We often tow trailers behind our trucks also mostly light stuff we have a flat deck trailer around 17ft deck which we tow they both tow it well but as said the hino needs more power especially with the truck and trailer loaded.... anyway not sure if this helps but my 2c is for what its worth i would rather try and find something like a repo or similer with very low k's (i know its not easy) thats a year old or so that is higher spec with more hp... we got our crane truck complete as you see it for 100k inc gst with 60,000k off a company that couldnt find a driver for it and they got sick of having the truck sitting there not making any money so they just subbied the work out...

anyway if ya interested heres some pics of our setups...

Hey bud, do you know what the fuel consumption is for those two trucks?