Profile For John H.

Has anyone here just lived in thier tractor for a year or more while on the road? It sounds crazy but if your out long enough, and maybe don't have much to come back home to, a guy could potentially live in some of these tractors.

Just curious the longest time you've been on the road or if anyone has used thier tractor as a "home" for the time being.

My thought is if its got little rust it could posdibly be a canadate to restore as a show truck.

Now there's a cool thought!

Well, John I rebuilt a few of them old Cummins 400, @ 750k-1 million milers and they were work-horses for sure! Easy enough to rebuild and last back in the day......GMC Brigadere was probably the model after those Generals (time period). The 2 Pepsi bottling plants I worked at ran a few dozen of em back in mid '80's-'90s....

They had an issue cracking frames, where the clutch pivot ball/rod attached on the frame. LOL I found them cracks prior to their CHP annual inspections, turning hard right in the yard, the truck would go into neutral as frame crack opened in the twist. When I told em they needed fixed shocked them, no one else had found them cracks before......The welding vendor did surface welds just to pass inspection, but of course, they cracked right afterwards in use

Very helpful, thanks!

What are you going to use it for?

Well if it's in decent enough shape as I was led to believe, I'd offer 1k less and see what happens. Honestly, it would just be to play around with on the farm. Maybe get a used flatbed and make hauling hay bales go a lot quicker! Right now I use a wagon and a Farmall going down the highway and have to make four 17 mile trips. No big deal, just tedious. So maybe I could find a role for it but for now it would be something to tinker with here on the farm. But no, it wouldn't be doing any long hauls. My dad's a diesel mechanic 40 years in the business. He could come with and help check it out. I asked him "did GMC make a good truck with the General?" His answer- "fine". Lol. Short spoken. Just hoping to hear from guys with a little more insight on the General.

Im having a heck of time trying to post up a pic.

Thanks for responses!

I got offered a 1985 GMC General that's been on a relative's farm for 20+ years. $5000. All I know about it at this time is that it has very minimal rust. Big cam 400 Cummins. 660,xxx miles. No leaks. Tires 65%. Brakes replaced last year. I was told an oil test and dyno was done 2 or so years back with zero issues but... no receipts. Hasnt had many miles put on since then.

What's the consensus here on the Gmc General? Good truck? Proned to any failures? How about that Cummins 400? At 5k I know I'll have to turn a wrench. Just curious about the thoughts on the General from people who have experience with them.

Insurance seems like it would be the biggest obstacle.

There's a lot more obstacles. First off he doesn't have a clue about what he's doing. This ain't life on the farm out here!

Not only will the insurers not want to work with him, neither will the brokers. There's no shortcuts into this business and once you get started you'll understand why. Starting this career is not a cakewalk.

Many times the companies looking for Owner Operators want to see OTR experience. There's always a few outlaw outfits willing to do anything, but who wants to start like that?

Thank you Old School! Again, pure curiosity, what if (sorry about the hypotheticals) a new owner operater pays the absolutey insane insurance rate of 10k (So I've heard) would you still not be qualified to hit the load boards? If you had all of the proper everything done right as an own authority driver, couldn't you hook up and go through a load board? Again, I'm not trying to skirt the proper way into trucking, I have my first interview Monday. I'm just curious if anyone has bought thier way in through this way.

What do you think you will be on day one if you start a career in trucking, the cream of the crop? You will have no knowledge, no experience, and no skills. You will work your way up from the bottom like the rest of us have. So yes, you will be bottom of the barrel until you earn a higher standing.

Fully understood. And that's why I posted that bottom of the barrel comment. Thanks to this website and all the posters taking the time, I now understand that you have to climb the ladder. At least the one year ladder with a company. When I got my class B, ignorantly, I thought that was it. WRONG!

Old School- I didn't mean to make it out that I was trying to skip past the proper channels to trucking. I was honestly curious if a guy bought a truck, jumped through the hoops to be full authority, could he not be hauling freight off the load boards? Basically buying himself a job? Insurance seems like it would be the biggest obstacle.

I have an interview Monday with a company here in MN that I'd have to go through training again (real training this time) and eventually I hope I could make the switch to Class A with them. But the above question still floats around in my head.

"This is the era of entitlement." Our Drill SGT used to say something similar. We learned very fast that we were equally bottom of the barrel.

"By the way, you're welcome."

Ditto. Iraq '09.

Can't be curious without feeling like an idiot here

Ya know, some of the most talented, experienced, and knowledge drivers you'll find anywhere just donated hours of time out of their extremely busy day to answer every last question you had in a completely professional manner, and now you're going to cry about it like we weren't sensitive enough for you?

Talk about ungrateful and needy. Would you like a hug with your free advice? How about some flowers? Good grief. This is the "era of entitlement."

By the way, you're welcome.

I thanked them all at every turn. Wether it was what i wanted to hear or not. I truly meant it. I acknowledged the help and the time it took out of thier day. If you go back, you'll see that. Flowers? Come on now guy. There's no need for that. Just seems some inquiries are touchy for the real drivers and they get rubbed the wrong way. I never meant to offend anyone, but obviously did just that. Sorry guys. Never my intention. Stay safe.

You're still stuck in that mentality that says, "CDL equals job."

I didn't mean to come off that way. This site claims "friendliest site" and whatnot. I specifically said "out of curiosity". Also said "I'd never buy a tractor without experience ". So what's the deal. Can't be curious without feeling like an idiot here. That's enough. Thanks for the helpful replies.

Yep, everything has been covered very nicely. I want to throw this in out of curiosity. Does an owner operater have to play by the 1 year OTR rule? Isnt it his arse on the line and his insurance etc. Not that I'd ever buy a tractor with no experience, but what about a farm boy who has been running grain around under the radar. Gets the day cab off the farm and passes his A CDL road test with ease. Can't he go ahead and hook up with a company as an owner operater?

I think I unknowingly made this post sound like an 'anyone who can drive can surely do this type of work' post. My fault. I never meant to discredit what it takes to do what you guys do. I just went about it the wrong way. Took a shortcut and ended up here. I'll take the sound advice from the veterans, and new drivers alike. I've said this a hundred times and I mean it, Thanks for taking the time everyone. Over and out- for now. Stay safe. John.