Truck Stop Myth Busters: What to Believe About Our Commercial Trucks for Sale

There is a lot of chatter at truck stops about the different truck types and how they perform. However, it is important to decipher what is true and what is false when deciding which commercial truck for sale to purchase. Our truck stop myth busters are here to set the record straight about Freightliner as “just a fleet truck” and automated manual transmissions.

Myth #1: Freightliner Trucks are just fleet trucks.

Over the past sixteen years, I’ve operated Freightliner Trucks to run my business. A familiar comment from drivers has always been “Oh… a Freightliner, that’s just a fleet truck.” In most cases, this statement is intended to get a reaction out of me.

Let’s take a look at what it takes to be a “good fleet truck”. Company trucks demand the maximum amount of uptime, reliability, fuel efficiency, and in general the lowest real cost of ownership. A fleet truck is often pushed to maximum when it comes to maintenance intervals and is often passed from driver to driver during its lifetime on the road. This whole combination makes the survival of a truck and its components a monumental task.

Now let’s look at a truck in the hands of an owner-operator driver. Typically, as the owner of a truck, he/she will usually take pride in ownership. Maintenance intervals are not stretched to the limit. Basically, all areas of the truck are cared for to the highest degree and driven with care since this truck is the sole means of an owner-operator’s business. An owner-operator will often opt for fancier options when purchasing their commercial truck for sale. Many of these extra items can be purchased on the initial order form to make a Freightliner as fancy and comfortable as any other truck on the road.

The statement “fleet truck” is the very reason why I’ve purchased and operated Freightliner commercial trucks for sale for years. Any truck that can stand up to daily “fleet” demands can easily fit the requirements of an owner-operator’s business operation with ease.

Myth #2: Automated manual transmissions are the same as an automatic transmissions.

Since automated manual transmissions (AMT) have been introduced there has been a lot of talk from drivers about how they think it is an automatic. It’s not an automatic transmission; it’s actually a manual transmission without a visible clutch pedal. When you bring your truck to a stop by pressing in the brake, you are actually also pushing in the clutch as well. This is where most people start to get the wrong idea that they are driving an automatic truck.

With an automated manual transmission, the transmission is going to be floating the gears, which means it’s able to communicate much better with the engine. When the engine knows the exact speed of the input and output shaft of the transmission it makes the shift without even grinding a gear.

One of the reasons why some people get frustrated with an automated manual transmission is because they try to put the pedal to the floor like they might with an automatic transmission. An automated manual transmission can’t shift that fast and it will end up over revving in the lower gears. When you are at a changing stop light it will seem like it’s hesitating as you try to get it into another gear because you asked it to do something that is impossible for it to do.

By learning the in’s and out’s with how this new technology works, drivers will become more efficient on the road. This efficiency leads to more money in your pocket.

Now that you know the truth about our commercial trucks for sale, contact your local dealer, here.