Dollytrolley

According to the agent at Miller all the insurance companies have raised rates this year. And from our limited sampling that seems to be true. OUr policy(s) on the truck/trailer went up over $1K, combined. So we are looking at Miller to see if they can improve things. Searching elsewhere we have found that the rates have all increased over a year ago. Now if only Geico would insure the HDT we would be pretty well off.....they clearly have the best trailer rates. At least for us.

As a underwriter once told me......"the only thing constant in the insurance racket is.....Change".

I posted the "thoughts" below in a thread on underwriting.......

I have to wonder at what point will coverage improve and premiums become cheaper ? ?

From the Underwriting thread:

Lately insurance seems to be burning a hole in the old radar screen so.......

In the stone age I would sometimes stumble into a less than stellar aircraft project and often these turkeys were nearly impossible to obtain insurance and some were way too grim to even approach a insurer so we self insured.

In the process of dealing with grim projects I came to deal with a fair amount of insurers and a couple of underwriters so recently I made a casual look-see what some of my old geezer--insurance-geeks might find out about the near past and current HDT RV underwriting issues that seem to exist now.

OK like all good "Fake News" I got to do the disclaimer here........

First underwriters come in all flavors and all sizes and shapes and they tend to play their cards close to their chest so obviously as well as connected as I am I have not hacked any of the servers in their basement (or Hillerizzz) so.........what info I have been given is mostly from the RISK and Demographics side of the spreadsheet that underwriters use in their tool box. Underwriting is a diverse world and as such some smaller markets tend to be "active" and subject to sudden changes as the underwriters review the underlying risks & returns. Perhaps the best analogy to normal folks is that if you have a portfolio of investments sometimes you sell a few of the under performers just to invest in better investments and this is often the case in the small underwriter markets so a underwriter might leave the HDT RV market just to "enter-into-another-small-market" it just might be a underwriter seeking a better market.

Other more obvious reason underwriters may leave the HDT RV market might involve:

1) Changes in demographics of clients

2) Cost increases of claims

3) Size of policy base

4) High profile events

5) State regulations

6) Federal regulations

7) Other

So far what I have gathered is that trends have started to indicate that demographics for the HDT RV market has seen a considerable increase of younger folks buying HDT's and they tend to also buy large trailers as well.

Recent claim trends tend to point to increases in costs as the total rig length and the younger operators converge in the market.

Several thoughts concerning demographics seem to be summed up in that the younger operators may have better reaction times, vision and stamina but often are prone to attempting risk activities that the older operators tend to avoid so it appears that the lower risk trends favor the more mature operators.

Longer length rigs often tax the skills of seasoned operators and often exceed the skill levels of the less experienced operators.

Over the legal RV length limit can be a factor in defending a client in a legal action and may increase the legal defense claim costs.

Perhaps the largest trend that is difficult to control is the high cost of repair of many of the larger trailers that HDT's tend to tow. Many of the larger RV trailer builders ceased to exist in the downturn and therefor factory supports and parts often do not exist so insurers are saddled with outsourcing repairs to shops that rightly must charge a lot for hand repairs to items that would be much cheaper to replace if the parts were available. Often insures will need to total a trailer these days that would have been repaired just a few years ago.

Experience and operator training is a factor being considered in the trends of the HDT RV market. Unfortunately huge piles of data is compiled on class 8 trucks and so the risks of operations are well understood in the commercial markets however the NEAR total lack training in the RV markets can be unnerving to the underwriters and as younger operators enter the HDT RV market trends become more critical.

The new government "trend-to-less-regulation" tends to make underwriters very nervous and a nervous underwriter is not a good thing in tiny markets like HDT RV's.

Unlike most folks that have a computer full of classified data........the items above are pretty well proven by just looking around the threads on the forum(s).

Maybe some things to ponder.....

Drive on...........(How does my underwriter feel......today??)

Arrived at Last Chance Peak (East of Death Valley) Freightshaker ran flawlessly for the 850 mile run down the outback roads from Bend, OR.

Arrived at dusk after the cargo trailer pulled by the DW lost a tire due to hitting a sharp piece of angle iron in her lane. I changed to the spare and stopped to buy a new spare in Beatty before heading South again. Small tire shop called Desert Tire with a good selection. Of common size tires including HDT sizes with reasonable pricing considering you are well North of Vegas by a +100 miles. Nice chap and he works fast to get you on the road again.

Unloaded Dolly-the-paint-horse into her pen and a Roadrunner strolled our in front of her and a hour later Wiley Coyote and frends sang us a good night song under starry skies.....

Drive on.......(Starry night skies .....good camp)

R O N at Winnemucca Nevada Fairgrounds RV park with horse pens on our way to Last Chance Peak (East of Death Valley) tomorrow......DW "Dollymama" will trail ride Dolly-the-painthorse on too many trails while I go tease the rattle snakes......

I recognize that I'm a stickler (Nazi?) for good grammar, but I'd really encourage you to NOT put converted in quotes. Essentially by doing that, you're saying that another, different word belongs here, but you're going to use the word converted out of context and improperly as a fake word in place of what should be there. Instead, you're really and truly talking about a conversion here: it's being converted from a commercial truck (basic conveyance as a power unit to haul a trailer for hire with freight inside or upon it) to a motorhome (fridge, microwave, shore power, shore powered HVAC, cable TV, etc.) with a more recreationally-purposed bed/body (for transporting your car, which has even less debate about intended use) with cabinets for belongings that relate to living wherever it is that you've set the parking brake.

 

Leave no question about the words you've chosen and you'll present yourself as more authoritative on the subject, helping you maintain a little more power in your negotiations.

Whew.....

Drive on............(only passed typing class because I was "good" at repairing..........typewriters)

Dolly the paint horse and the Dollytrolley wondered down the outback roads from Oregon about 10 days ago and ate boondocking around the edges of Death Valley watching all of the snowbirds flocking North......supposed to get 98 Fri so weight wonder up to higher elevations soon....still have 450 gal of water so no need to go to the water hole too soon...

We might treck into Pahrump in the Samuria for a fat pill (ice cream cone) but otherwise we enjoy the silence and starry night skies......6 wild donkies stole some of Dolly s water a couple of days ago but otherwise pretty sadate out here in nowhere......

Drive on....(don't get hit by a shooting star)

If the local taxi company is MAKING Nice Profits with the 19 X's they presently own and are building-out to 51 units ........this could be a huge market for Telsa.......the cab company has proof that the Telsa'a are insanely-cheap to operate compared to gas taxis.......

Drive on........(Taxi on .......in Style)

Words to ponder from a legendary "investor".........

As William Lippman once quipped:

Drive on.........(Try to miss the BIG.....potholes)

Now this is about as quickly as one can expect to see this "reassuring" expected article; "Don't Panic..." http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-04/so-goes-nothing-first-day-routs-weak-signal-for-annual-returns

 

Do "they" have these things pre-written and waiting in the wings?

 

K

Kand.....

Not really that pre-written..........great gandad was a banker in 1914 and he pretty much penned the same story and said WW1 would just pass and all would be just peachy.........one hick-up ......1929 he did lose the bank.......

Drive on.........(where did all that money......go...)

Just to spice things up a little.........I just finished reading Digital Gold ....Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires Trying to Reinvent Money" By Nathaniel Popper.

Being a Geezer I am somewhat amazed at the 'Mechanics of Bitcoin".......

Throughout the book a lot of effort is made to show how Bitcoin differs from conventional money / currency ..........BUT......some Bitcoiners loose value......some Bitcoiners gain value......some Bitcoiners value is stolen......some Bitcoiners gamble......some Bitcoiners run scams....some Bitcoiners misplace their value.......some Bitcoiners purchase illegal items.....some Bitcoiners get handcuffed & go to jail..........

Yep......sounds just like money to me.......

Interesting read......

Drive on........ (How many bits are in your coins.....)

In Port Townsend you might keep an eye out for the Victorian couple. Yes, they live and dress like that all the time. I'd like to meet them. http://www.thisvictorianlife.com/blog/focus-on-a-friend-estar-hyo-gyung-choi

 

Linda Sand

Along the subject of "mature- experiences" ............try a visit to the following link...........You will be stunned at the history and the workmanship.....

http://nwmaritime.org/

Drive on..........(History is who we are........)

http://nwmaritime.org/

Hi group!!

 

What a great resource this has been for me! I am a few months into my research for a HDT. Currently I have a 15 F350 Dually with a 6.7 Diesel. Honestly, thing is a beast but the braking, people are idiots and I felt I needed more so I bought an Automated Safety Hitch (that is a totally different story). Nonetheless, I am going to go with a HDT. I spoke with Gregg from RVHaulers but I just can't see myself spending $100k for truck with almost 800k miles on it. He is incredibly knowledgeable and seems like a very nice guy and someone who I would do business with in the future, just now, not full timing, can't seem to pull the trigger with him.

 

I have some questions for you guys here. I see that mostly everyone singles their HDT's and I am not sure that I would. I get the tires, the maintenance, turning radius etc. Can anyone chime in here who has a rig that they left tandem? Also, being that I have a new toyhauler currently, I wouldn't be putting a bed on (I am 6'6" and the Smart Car just aint gonna do it lol). Fenders, removing the commercial hitch and putting a ET Sr Air Hitch on, can't I just do that? I will put at most 5-10k per year on this rig ( I am only 45 and have a 10 year old and an 18 year old in college).

 

Tell me, Volvo, Peterbilt or Kenworth? I will need to delete rear bottom bunk and put in either a jacknife sofa or new captain chairs. I am hearing that with the new emission trucks, especially Volvo, that they are a nightmare. Can anyone add their two cents here? I feel I need to buy something with no more than 600k miles on it and I see some for $45k-$75k. I of course would prefer something automatic but I am open to an ultrashift.

 

Thanks for the help!

 

PS. An alternative to the Smart Car is this http://www.ezgo.com/Home/Personal/2Five I have seen it and driven it. It is street legal, goes 25mph and has over a 20 mile range and is about $12k. Just throwing that in there.

 

RoadW,

Good questions, obviously you have been pondering a lot of things regarding your "desired RV experience".

We are a bit-of-a-blacksheep" here......Our HDT is somewhat odd as it is not a Volvo but a older 1997 Freightliner Century mid-roof-condo with a small Cummins M11 coupled to a 10 speed Roadranger and 3:08 tandem rears. Presently we switch between TWO bed configurations, one is a simple 8' X 12' wood deck and the other is a 20' Ryder-type box with a roll-up rear door and a 4' X 8' curb-side door, this box allows us to load a full-size blazer in the "garage-section" and still carry a few tons of horse water, feed and tack in the front 5 ft of the box.

As I said our rig is odd in that our travel -pet(s) total about 960 lbs of weight .......,Kio, the Abyssinian cat weighs in at 10 lbs and..... Dolly-the-paint-horse hovers at about 950 pounds give or take 25 pounds...... Koi is a light traveler but..... Dolly is one of those "girls" that does NOT travel light ......for moderate trip we will fill up her 330 gallon tote with water, then throw in about 1,500 pounds of feed and then about 500 lbs of tack and "nag-related-essential" items..... hence with this much variable-loading we must remain tandem to stay flexible.

Dollytrolley presently has 1,031,XXX miles on the "glider" with about 18,000 on a new engine and rebuilt drive-train so....... we have a older truck with a nearly new drive train.

Dollytrolley is in a constant-state-of-change in the appearance department and some stages are pretty ugly but it is a project that is somewhat interrupted by the sometimes over-active-retirement.....job that seems to be near-full-time at times.

Used truck miles are often a source of confusion and frustration......your goal of obtaining a truck of 600k or less miles may have merit but also might not be as trouble free as you might have imagined. HDT's are a bit different than cars or pickups in that they tend to be built as commercial machinery and unlike autos with fairly defined life-limits.....HDT's life-spans are determined by the maintenance-levels and component rebuild / replacement intervals. You would likely be amazed how many older HDT's have Several million miles on them and are very reliably piling on more miles every day. On the other hand, if you graze through the Truck ads long enough you will find a HUGE inventory of late-model HDT's that are for sale with 500,000 to 800,000 miles since new.........why.......well often newer trucks reach the end -of-first-life-cycle due to "bean-counter-issues" that is that the cost-to-benefit-ratio favors selling the late-model used truck and purchase (or lease) a new truck. A major factor in the 500k to 800k sell decision is that this mileage range is often where the first component-related major service and or rebuild / replace issues start ti be costly in downtime and capital expense. The latest HDT's with complex emission system(s) are prone to very costly component service issues in this mileage range.

So......does this mean that late model trucks in the 500k to 800k mileage range a.......money-pit....... some will be and some may be OK..... roll the dice as they say....

It's somewhat telling that Greg at RV Haulers takes extreme efforts to sift and research EACH HDT that he purchases AND then when he finds a "cream-puff" he then tears into it to refine and rework it into a unit that often compares well to a new HDT. Is Greg's model ideal......perhaps.... this model while costly compared to the cost of a "normal-used-HDT" the added cost may often be a good value in that you will likely obtain a "proven-HDT" in "near-new" condition........it is likely that the value is confirmed and I have never recalled so much as one bad word about Greg's work or business ethics......how many major item companies have that many happy clients........

Dollytrolley will likely never be a show-truck and it is very plain/ugly-jane right now and to a certain extent this works fairly well in the the wifes horse-trail -ridding hobby finds the Dollytrolley on many miles of gravel, dirt, and a few muddy back roads with more than a few tree limbs jutting out into the ......"road".......

My last point will likely get me flamed but what the heck....... I tend to demand reliable service from my boats, aircraft, and trucks and the current new HDT's with DPF in NO way rise to my standards of reliability .......Period.

The current "DPF-Experment" is just that a "Forced-Experment" and I will choose to let other folks partake of the "DPF-experience" I for one find the "forced-shut-down" of a DPF system a major safety issue that is unacceptable........Period........Scrap seems to hint that if you think DPF is bad......just wait.......the "Fix' will likely be much worse.......

Flame me now .....I have my Nomex undies on.......,

Drive on.........(Find the HDT that is the best fit......)

I thought this thread was about CrazyCooter's HDT build ..... what happened here??

 

Geezer wander.........hot summer days ........and too much adullt beverages...........prune juice.....

Drive on..........(Dream trailers.......)

 

If (*when*) I build my own trailer, I'm going to start from scratch. When I started looking at the compromises I would have to make in the design to use an existing drop deck trailer, I decided against it. To each his own, but I don't see the chassis and suspension fabrication being a major hurdle, in comparison to the rest of such a project.

zero,

Don't look now........but........you have already started your 'Dream Trailer" build........you just do not know it yet.........unlike most folks who start with building the trailer........you started out........building the hitch first......

Drive on.........(Follow my build.......trailer next??)

Short run yesterday from Pahrump NV to the Hot Springs just N. of Beatty NV........UGH Sandstorm to the max......winds much stronger than the forecast.

Only one other RV was dumb enough to drive Hy 95 in the 70 mph "cross-breeze" but at least he was smart enough to drive south so he had fair tailwind.......not me......the ole Freightshaker was pulling 10psi turbo boost on some of the flats at 55 mph...... The guy in the Dodge DW /5er was at about 35 mph and all over his lane an shoulder.......FL was rock-solid....the ole truck earned her keep yesterday....

We are going to soak in the hot springs till the wind drop to.......maybe??

Cheers,

Dollytrolley

Bob,

Sounds like a new "route" for my "Roads- Less- Traveled" Thread.....LOL

One thing about being a bit lost .......the views are new.....

Happy travels,

Dollytrolley

Hello folks,

Interesting topic for sure.

We have a 1997 Freightliner Century with a M11 Cummins set at 370HP / 1350 lb toq and we tow a 10,000 lb // 30 ft rec. hitch toyhauler.

We only have a few trips so far on the above combo but we have avg of 13.52 mpg so far.

Here is the rub...... according to Cummins almost NO driver can come even close to the fuel efficiency that is obtained when operating the truck under cruise control ( Cummins indicates that up to 30% loss of fuel efficiency occurs when the driver controls the engine).

Below is the Cummins link that is very good reading.