To hear the pride & happiness in their voices made the entire video. I don't blame them having pride & happiness in their rolling working home. Ppl talk about the American Dream. Everyone's dream is different. The happiness in their voices tells me they've reached theirs. Most ppl will never realize how much hard work it takes to build up to a truck like this. I'm proud & happy for this happy team. Driver's be safe out there. There seems to be more craziness out there that wants to do harm to others. Driver's keep it between the 2 ditch banks. Driver's like y'all , & many others keep our country functioning. Because ppl still don't understand what will happen if the wheels stop spinning, but they will quickly if it ever does.
Scania had been my favorite truck for decades. However, by far, this is the best truck that I have ever seen! You got everything in it! I love everything in this truck, but above all, the Cummins engine with over 500 hp! Just amazing!
Good morning. Yes, I like the Scania’s too. It’s amazing what they’ve done with a cab over!!! We love this truck! We’re very blessed to have something like this!!! Thank you. 😃
Hey Jose, No, we’ve never had a problem. However, since we control what loads we take. Although we can scale close to 39,000 lbs, we don’t book heavy loads.
For your next video, have Trish bake a cake and if you have a freezer, some ice cream. Then celebrate the new truck and thus, a new chapter in life. God bless. PS: love that mini Murphy bed. Saves space.
Hello You were talking about that button on the front of the truck that lasts the wheels down, One button let's the wheels down under the trailer and one button brings the wheels back up. That's my comment. I hope everything goes well for you both over the world God bless.
A guy God bless you guys have a wonderful truck I hope you guys enjoy it and hopefully you guys can go through many many mileage good day I want to say this is such a beautiful truck in and I say hello all the way from Chicago
Thanks for the Video. Thinking about getting one, a couple of questions , What is your overall length , and I see you haul a dry van as I do. I assume it is a 53 foot, what is parking like at shippers and receivers and rest areas and truck stops. I am about 74 feet with my truck and trailer and a lot of shippers, receivers, truck stops, and rest areas are not made for bigger rigs. Thanks Dave
Hey David, Our overall length is 80 feet. It’s all just a little different mind set. Yea, things can get a little tighter, but it’s like going from a car to a mini van, you get used to it without any problems. Shippers and receivers is where, if anywhere you’ll run into problems, but again, you just have to think a little different. You might have to back in from the street instead of pulling straight in because there’s not room in their yard to swing this around. DON’T let it’s size steer you away, you’ll get used to it in no time. The overall benefits of these trucks WAY out weigh any slight drawbacks. We book our own loads, so a lot of times we’re going in blind and only once was a shipper so tight we had to have their yard truck dock our trailer. Hope this helps 😊
They’re really not as expensive as they’re made out to be. We had a 2017 Volvo we put an APU on it, so we were really making 2 payments a month, (the truck payment, and the APU). This truck really isn’t that much more than what we were paying for the Volvo and the APU. Check out our video “You CAN afford a truck like this”.
Hey George, your not gonna like my answer, but I tell you in truth. This is a very expensive industry to be involved in. VERY expensive. There are so many ways to fail in this industry it’s ridiculous. I would say no to buying a truck like this being brand new to the industry. My best advice would be to start out as a company driver for at least a year, maybe two. Learn the business at somebody else’s expense. I mean really learn. Learn about what all your expenses are going to be; fuel, maintenance, insurance, taxes, permits, etc. Save up your money. Then, if the economy is good, rates are good, and you are in a good financial position, (you HAVE to have a good amount of money set aside to keep your business going. One major surprise, and your out of business!) get a normal sized truck, find a good company, (I HIGHLY RECOMMEND MAG CARRIERS) to lease onto where your getting paid percentage, (Mag pays 90% of what you negotiate with the brokers). Your going to start a whole new learning curve. Booking your own loads, (learning what a good load is) managing your business, (insurance, taxes, permits, etc). THEN move up to a truck like this. I’m not saying that I’m anything special. I’m not. But I’ve spent years growing into this and learning. Again, there’s so many ways to fail in this business, take it slow and learn. I’d hate to see you jump into something like this and not make it. That’ll follow you for a long time. Mag Carriers also has company drivers. They’re an excellent, Christian based company, and I think they would be a great place for you to start, and grow. I can’t imagine them ever steering you wrong. Hope this helps.
@@TruckersLife1 Thanks for your comprehensive response. I watched another CZcamsr’s video as well yesterday who said do not start off buying your own truck. One does does not wish to be responsible for your truck especially in this, & most definitely not your gas where vehicles & gasoline is more expensive now than ever. I believe you that this is a very expensive industry in which there are so many ways to fail including t 55% of O.O’s fail within their first year. Does MAG have a driving school, & do they do the negotiations if u lest the vehicle? You mentioned leasing the vehicle instead of just working for them, or owning it. What’s the difference between the three (regular job, & LEASING [vs. owning]) the truck? How long have you been a truck driver, & how much would you recommend that I put aside before I even consider owning a vehicle similar to yours? I just retired from the military. In your experience, do you know if being a truck driver is a good job for veterans with PTSD, anxiety, & depression? Thank you again so much. Blessings to both of you! Shalowm!
Hey George, When I said, “find a good company to lease onto”, I meant to lease YOUR truck onto them. There’s a difference between a “lease purchase” and “leasing onto”. A lease purchase is when you sign a contract with a trucking company to pay them X amount of money per week for a certain amount of weeks to actually buy the truck from them. It’s like doing a “rent to own”. Most of these lease purchases are NOT set up for the driver to succeed and I do not recommend someone doing that unless there is no other way!!! “Leasing on” is when you take YOUR truck and sign on with a company to use their authority. YOU own the truck and your just using their DOT number. We’re “leased on” to Mag Carriers. It’s our truck and we’re using their authority. If you don’t have your own authority, you have to use someone else’s to legally run your truck up and down the roads. For that privilege, Mag charges 10% of every load we haul. That’s their “fee” for using their authority. You can get your own authority, but it’s complicated, and you gotta get it right or your gonna get in trouble with the authorities…and that can be expensive. That’s our next step, to get our own authority. Mag is as close to having your own authority as you can get, without actually having your own authority. I would suggest calling Mag and talking to someone in recruiting about starting out as a company driver. I know they don’t have their own school, but they’ll be able to answer a lot of your questions. As far as schooling itself, just Google “truck driving schools” in your area, or “CDL training”. Most community colleges offer it, and a lot of them offer tuition assistance to help pay for it. Just make sure it’s a reputable school, don’t just pick one that some guys running out of his back yard, lol. Here’s Mag’s website. There’s a lot of information on their site. Read through all of it and give them a call. Mention our name. Our truck number is 8779. Most all of them know us. Just tell them, “the couple with the huge blue truck”, lol. Most of them have been in it 😊 magcarriers.com/ Hope that helps, let me know if you have anymore questions.
Hey George, I didn’t see all of your question. 1st off, thank you for your service. Thank you for sacrificing yourself for the freedom of others. 2nd yes, I think that truck driving is a good career for a veteran. YOU MAY BE ABLE TO GET A LOT OF ASSISTANCE WITH YOUR SCHOOLING AND EVERYTHING BECAUSE YOUR A VETERAN. 3rd. I just talked to another veteran last week who REALLY suffered PTSD. It was pretty bad. He got help through the VA, family and a lot of friends and he was in a lot better place mentally before he jumped in a truck. It can be stressful out here, traffic, making pick up and delivery times, finding someplace to park for the night, BEING ALONE A LOT, (unless your wife were to come with you if your married) etc. Your the only one who can make the decision if this is for you or not. 4th. I don’t like to get below $10,000.00 set aside for taxes, maintenance, emergencies, etc. I start getting pretty nervous if I’m less than that. You just never know what could happen out here. A breakdown not only costs you money in repairs but you loose income also while your broke down.
We’ll, I gotta start by saying, they’re not exactly created equal. The sleeper on this truck is a lot longer, and creates a little more drag, (more surface for wind to push against). This sleeper isn’t as tall as our Volvo and doesn’t match the trailer in height like the Volvo did, or any factory “condo sleeper” which also creates a little more drag. How the driver drives his truck also makes a big difference. If the speed limit is 70, I’ll do 70. Our Volvo had a 13 liter engine, and this truck has a 15 liter engine. All that being said, our Volvo averaged 7-8 mph. This truck averages 6-7 mpg. Given all the differences between the two, I’m pleased with the mileage this truck gets. Hope that helps.
Hey Jeff, that would be a great idea. However, there’s no room on top of the sleeper. Our A/C unit, satellite TV, TV antenna, and roof vent are up there, leaving no room. Our batteries really last a long! When it’s nice outside, and don’t have to run the heat or A/C, we never have any problems through the night, even after having lights and the TV on for several hours.
I did a lot of Northeast years ago and I learned YOU have to control traffic with your vehicle. When making a hard right, get your trailer’s end close to the curb, swing your tractor into the left lane so your blocking both lanes. Keep an eye on your passenger side mirror in case somebody tries to squeeze along side you and swing wide.
How does the whole process work? Did you buy a Kenworth with a standard sleeper and then take it somewhere to be converted? What's the price for that conversion if so?
Hey Kenneth, there’s two ways you can buy one of these. Either off a dealers lot or straight through ARI and do a complete custom from the ground up. For ARI’s website, go to: www.legacysleepers.com At ARI’s web page, select “inventory” from the menu, scroll through the different brands, (Kenworth, Peterbilt, Volvo, etc) then select the truck your interested in, scroll to the bottom of the description and it will tell you what dealership that truck is at. ARI orders the cab and frame straight from the manufacture already at the length they need it for the build then ARI takes it from there and adds their sleeper and everything to go with it. **** I’ll tell you this tho….these trucks are selling so fast right now ARI doesn’t have much to choose from on their website. I just talked to the salesman we bought ours from, (Palmer Trucks in Fort Wayne, IN) yesterday and he said they’re already sold out for the next 6 months. These things are really hot right now!!! Hope this helps.
To see some total custom jobs that ARI has done, check out “Elegance on 18 wheels” on CZcams. This fella is usually at ARI every time they do a big job and videos it. It’ll give you something to drool about 😂
So where do you put your luggage? Me and hubby team and was looking into a truck like this. Ik it has a lot of storage but I don't see anything for suitcases besides the hanging closet.
You don’t need suitcases anymore. There’s a hanging closet for your shirts and dresses. Drawers for your socks and undies. All of our pants, shorts and shirts that fold, (tee shirts, hoodies, etc) all go in one of the cabinets. It’s not like a regular truck where there’s no room to keep everything. There’s a place for everything here, just like at home. 😊
We’ve pretty much gotten ourselves to where we have dedicated “truck” stuff separate from all of our “home” stuff. The truck has all of its own pots, pans, bedding, food items, etc. we even have our own “truck” clothes, separate from our “home” clothes. We park our truck in our driveway at home, and that makes it so easy for cleaning it and restocking it. When we do a load of laundry, we can walk it right out to the truck and put it away. These trucks are truly life changing and make life so much easier….even when your home 😊 Hope this helps.
A LOT, lol 😂 There’s 2 different ways to buy these. There are dealers across the country that order them in and you just buy it off their lot like you would any other truck. Or you can go straight through ARI and do a complete custom. Google “ari legacy sleepers” click on “inventory”. Then you can look at what is available for new and used inventory, where it’s located and price, (price listed for used trucks only).
Hello. I see you’ve asked the same question on a few of our videos, so I’m going to answer on all of them. In 2 1/2 years now with this truck the answer is this; not really. There have been 2 places they used a yard truck to put our trailer in a dock. 1 of them was so tight guys with normal sized truck we’re having problem, and the other one we could have done, but they insisted they do it. We book our own loads, so a lot of times we’re going in blind, not knowing what we’re getting into. A lot of times we’ll take a look on Google maps, (satellite view) and come up with a plan before hand. It comes down to this; when your about to pull into a place, you have to look a little better and scope it out before you pull in…just like you do now, but instead of just pulling in, you might have to back in. It’s no where near as difficult as you might think, you get used to it. I like to say, “It’s like going from a car to a full sized SUV”. You get used to it. If you can get a “long nosed” Pete in there, you can get this in there. Hope that helps.
It can get a little tight, lol. But I think if you can get a “Long nose Pete” in there, you can get this in. You have to stay calm and think it through. PLUS, it really helps having my wife with me all the time. She has spotted me a few times.
Good evening guys..we just moved into one..how do we power up the microwave? Another question..when generator is on and not truck, will ac still kick in for sleeper area? We are new to these. Thank you
Hey guys, CONGRATULATIONS!!!! On powering up the microwave. Some things are wired directly to the generator. Of these things are the microwave, roof top a/c, baseboard heat, (if you don’t have a Wabasto heater) and the stove. Crank up the generator, and after 30 seconds or so, you should hear a “click” and the above mentioned will have power. IF NOT…..check your inverter controller on the wall by the bathroom. Make sure it’s turned on. You’ll see a button marked on / off. Make sure it’s on and the display says “inverting”. Let me know if this solves it. We’ll be up for awhile yet 🙂
ARI, (I’m guessing y’all’s sleeper was made by ARI) has a Facebook page for owners. It’s a great place to ask questions and learn about your new toy, lol. On Facebook, search “ARI Owners Group (Exclusive For ARI Owners)”. You’ll have to ask for permission, and I think give your sleeper number, (listed on the inside of the cabinet door under your sink). I’ve learned a ton there!!! You can send us all the questions you like also.
@@TruckersLife1 Thank you much..we got the microwave going but for some reason , no cold air coming out of ceiling vents.. ..only regular fan air..no cold air. I'm referring to the AirExcel thermostat
@@BIGOTRUCKER Sounds good. That’s a little weird, but maybe your manual will help. With ours, air comes out both the ducted ceiling vents AND the grill of the a/c unit. During the day, (when it’s hot) I’ll let air come out both, then at night or when it’s cool, I’ll close the the vents on the a/c unit itself and let the air come out just the ducted vents. In a couple weeks you’ll be a pro with it all 🙂
I have been looking for information regarding regulations on overall length. I see some sources suggesting limits that wouldn't even allow a regular sleeper cab, so I'm confused. Do you run into any limitations on overall length with the extended truck?
Hey Chuck. I had the same concerns when we were looking to buy one of these. Talking to ARI, (the manufacturer), they told me there may be limitations on some 2 lanes in some states, but definitely not on interstates. This sleeper is 156”, with a wheel base of 320”. Our over all length is 80’. ARI makes a lot bigger sleepers than this. I’ve seen 192” sleepers, and I’m not even sure what the wheel base is on that. We personally have not had any problems at all, and we do travel quite a bit of 2 lanes in quite a few states. We have friends that have one just like this but on a Volvo chassis. This is their second one, and they’ve been running these for over 6 years, all over the country, and a lot of the North East and California. They’ve never had any problems either.
My wife and are working toward getting an ARI sleeper like this. Have been dreaming and saving for some time. Almost there. Would you please tell me a little about who you pull freight for, do you lease on to them or run your own authority? We are running our own authority now pulling Prime INc. freight, we like it but won’t be able to stay with Prime when we get the big sleeper truck. Thanks for your help. Thanks.
Hey guys. We do not have our own authority yet, that is our next goal. We are leased onto Mag Carriers in Dearing, GA. We have full access to all available load boards, ( DAT, 123, Schneider, Landstar, XPO, JB Hunt, Coyote, Convoy…what ever load boards are out there), we negotiate our own rates and book our own loads. We are throughly pleased with Mag and cannot say enough about them. If y’all have your own authority, why are you with Prime? Why not just book your own loads like we’re doing? Do you own your own trailer? I see your happy with Prime, but I can’t help but think y’all could be doing a lot better on your own. There’s a few different ways to get one of these sleepers. You can buy one off a dealers lot like we did, or you can go straight through ARI and do a complete custom build. Most owners of these don’t keep them long, (3-4 years) so there’s a fair amount of used ones out there too, but then you run into a short amount of warranty left. If y’all have your own authority, I’d strongly suggest just going totally independent. Hope this helps.
@@TruckersLife1 thanks, we are totally independent, like I said Prime is just our broker. Considerably different deal than leasing onto Prime. They just act as our broker, provide loads and trailers. Plus we get to use their fuel card and get their fuel discounts. We drive team so we stay moving, don’t have time to be searching load boards. When one of us is driving the other is sleeping. We would like a similar deal somewhere when we get our big sleeper. Prime loads to heavy and won’t accommodate big sleeper. We have considerable looking to the sleepers, not interested in going used. We have plan set for that, just matter of time till we have down payment and ready to pull the trigger on it. Mag sounds interesting but like I said as a team wouldn’t have time to search loads like your wife does for you. Sounds like you guys have a good system that works for you and you make a good team in a little different way. Thanks for the videos, love your truck. Your sleeper is configured exactly how we want ours. The big bed in the 156. Keep weight and length down as much as possible while still getting all the essentials, especially the big bed. We have a big dog who owns the bed, and when we do have a night off the regular bed in our FL is very tight when we all cram in, we call it dog piling. LOL
Hey guys, Oh, ok, I got ya now. Let me throw this at you. We ran into a couple last week thats leased onto Landstar and running team with their A & E loads. We both shocked each other. They’re running team, and you know I’m solo. They’re doing right about the same revenue we are, but running harder to do it. We thought surely, they were making a lot more than us, but they’re not….but you know everybody’s business is a little different, we didn’t get into how hard they run, time off etc. we’re keeping 90% of the line haul and they’re only keeping 65 %…or something like that, so there’s a difference right there. Look at Mag’s website: magcarriers.com/ Give them a call and talk to them. Our truck number is 8779 if you want to bring us up. MAYBE….I can’t say for sure, y’all may be able to cut back on the miles, just run team when you want to, and still do as good as you are now. I don’t know if you could even work with them using your own authority, I’ve never talked to them about that. They have an “in house” broker at Mag that sends us emails everyday, but we usually can do a little better with the rates than what he’s offering. They also offer their own dispatching service so you don’t have to find your own loads, but they do charge a couple %’s or so for doing that, it’s our choice to book our own loads. I’d like to see y’all run less miles and make just as much, or more, whether that’s with Mag or somewhere else. Take a look at this custom build ARI did: czcams.com/video/BBdIRL01U5g/video.html Check out the luggage compartments underneath. Just like a coach bus 😊 Hope this helps. Take care.
Hey prinessknowled, There’s 2 reasons to not keep a truck, whether it has a big sleeper or not. 1) After 4 or so years, you are going to loose the tax deduction. When you purchase a new truck, you can depreciate it over 4-5 years. A lot of people get rid of them because of loosing the tax deduction. 2) Most people buy the extended warranty when they purchase their new truck, (big sleeper or not) and that will cover them up to roughy 500,000 miles - or 5 years. When that warranty expires, these trucks, (big sleeper or not) really loose their value. AND any repairs after that are straight out of your pocket…..and those costs can be HUGE!!!!! So you see now, the 2 biggest reasons to NOT keep a truck long.
Yes, I said potty, lol 😂 With full fuel, water, and all our stuff, we’re 40,680 lbs with an empty 53’ dry van. So we can get close to 39,000, but there’s so much light freight out there, we’re usually not that close.
This truck is amazing!!! Can you talk about how you finance it… me and my husband want to buy a truck like this bt we dont know how or what kind of freight can or cant be hauled
Yes. There are several ways to finance one of these trucks. 1) Finance through the truck manufacturer, whether that be Kenworth, Volvo, Freightliner, etc. or whatever banks the dealers may use. 2) Finance through your personal bank or credit union. 3) Finance through ARI, the company that manufactures the sleeper. Every one may be a little different, but most are probably going to want you to have a pretty good credit score, experience in the industry, and probably around 20% of the purchase price down. These sleeper are available from 120” up to 192”. With the different manufacturers, different options and amount of your personal stuff inside, they’re going to all weight a little different. That being said, you know you can’t go over 80,000 lbs. So the bigger the truck, the less freight you can haul. Our truck is 156” and with our trailer, we’re 40,600 lbs empty. So we can haul almost 39,000 lbs but there’s so much light freight out there we never get close to that. We pull a dry van but there’s no reason you can’t pull a reefer, flat bed, step deck, tanker, or what ever you like. 80,000 is the only restriction I can think of, or any restrictions the carrier your leased onto may have.
Good morning. Your welcome. For load boards, we have: DAT, 123, Landstar, Schneider, Coyote, TQL, JB Hunt, XPO, Convoy and Uber. All are free except for DAT & 123 which are a monthly subscription.
Hi whatcha up to hope all is well prayers 4 healing and unspoken also prayers 4 everyone and bless great healthy peaceful safe journeys travels and happy hauling in the name of the Creator God and Jesus and the Holy Ghost Amen much honor and respect cool cool truck keep walking tall 🚌⛺🌅🌌🌄🏞 👍👍💪🙂👍👍
Well, I’m not sure what you mean by that. If you mean, do we have our own authority, no, that is our next step. Right now we are leased on to Mag Carriers and run under their authority. Hope that answers you question 😊
HOW the HELL can anyone afford a truck like this?? You're leased on to MAG Carrier which is pure SPOT MARKET!! NO money there. You must be rich and truckin' just for fun making NO money??!!
LOL!! 😂 No, we’re not rich or doing this just for fun. We’re struggling right now just like everybody else. Under the previous administration we were doing really good, we just have to get through this tuff time just like everybody else.
To hear the pride & happiness in their voices made the entire video. I don't blame them having pride & happiness in their rolling working home. Ppl talk about the American Dream. Everyone's dream is different. The happiness in their voices tells me they've reached theirs. Most ppl will never realize how much hard work it takes to build up to a truck like this. I'm proud & happy for this happy team. Driver's be safe out there. There seems to be more craziness out there that wants to do harm to others. Driver's keep it between the 2 ditch banks. Driver's like y'all , & many others keep our country functioning. Because ppl still don't understand what will happen if the wheels stop spinning, but they will quickly if it ever does.
Scania had been my favorite truck for decades. However, by far, this is the best truck that I have ever seen! You got everything in it! I love everything in this truck, but above all, the Cummins engine with over 500 hp! Just amazing!
Good morning.
Yes, I like the Scania’s too. It’s amazing what they’ve done with a cab over!!!
We love this truck! We’re very blessed to have something like this!!!
Thank you. 😃
BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL
THIS IS BEST WAY TO WORK . WORRIES FREE
ABOUT BATHROOM AND SLEEP .
BEAUTIFUL
BEAUTIFUL
CONGRATULATIONS
GOD BLESS YOU
AMÉN 🙏😇
That was a dream of my Dad and Mom when he retired!
Hey Jose,
No, we’ve never had a problem. However, since we control what loads we take. Although we can scale close to 39,000 lbs, we don’t book heavy loads.
Just great love it
So do you have a solar generator with change controller or does it work of the diesel ?
Nice!! You guys stay safe! I'm the driver you meet in Powell, Tn
Good morning Jonathan. Good to hear from you. Thank you. Enjoy your weekend 😊
If all goes well we should be home tomorrow 😃
That’s a pretty truck, congrats I’m newbie trucker and my girlfriend we will get a truck like that
I wish you spend nice and peace life in this truck. you r amazing couple.
For your next video, have Trish bake a cake and if you have a freezer, some ice cream. Then celebrate the new truck and thus, a new chapter in life. God bless.
PS: love that mini Murphy bed. Saves space.
Will be looking forward to the updated video on the camera installation
You lucky man you beautiful truck and wife amazing life ❤️
Hello
You were talking about that button on the front of the truck that lasts the wheels down,
One button let's the wheels down under the trailer and one button brings the wheels back up.
That's my comment.
I hope everything goes well for you both over the world God bless.
Wao yes that is what I need congratulations 👏🏻guys
Congratulations 🎉 lovely rig !
Excelente!!!! Yo trabajo en la agencia Kenworth y espero poder comprarme mi camión y junto a mi esposa recorrer el país.. Muchas bendiciones!!!
A guy God bless you guys have a wonderful truck I hope you guys enjoy it and hopefully you guys can go through many many mileage good day I want to say this is such a beautiful truck in and I say hello all the way from Chicago
Beautiful Couple
Awesome and Stunning
Beautiful truck, safe trucking guys.
Nice!
Love it
Nice.!👍🏼
Thats awesome yall! Congratulations
Think I recognize that. Truck looks like mine😂😂😂😂
Nice all you truck ...congratulation
How much would the average consumption of dizel be for this home truck model?
Great truck, lets see some cooking on the truck videos.
good video thanks for the information
Great video and I’m subbed 👍
Beautiful
Thanks for the video. Do you ever have a problem with your steer and drive axle weights when you're pulling heavy?
Congratulations
Cool!
Hi.!.
-- Beautiful.
What did a truck like that cost about 3 or 400,000
Thanks for the Video. Thinking about getting one, a couple of questions , What is your overall length , and I see you haul a dry van as I do. I assume it is a 53 foot, what is parking like at shippers and receivers and rest areas and truck stops. I am about 74 feet with my truck and trailer and a lot of shippers, receivers, truck stops, and rest areas are not made for bigger rigs. Thanks Dave
Hey David,
Our overall length is 80 feet. It’s all just a little different mind set. Yea, things can get a little tighter, but it’s like going from a car to a mini van, you get used to it without any problems. Shippers and receivers is where, if anywhere you’ll run into problems, but again, you just have to think a little different. You might have to back in from the street instead of pulling straight in because there’s not room in their yard to swing this around. DON’T let it’s size steer you away, you’ll get used to it in no time. The overall benefits of these trucks WAY out weigh any slight drawbacks. We book our own loads, so a lot of times we’re going in blind and only once was a shipper so tight we had to have their yard truck dock our trailer.
Hope this helps 😊
I know you have an automatic transmission in your truck. How many gears is it?
Hey Brian,
It’s an Eaton 13 speed auto. 😊
Are you guys still trucking?
What’s the price on one of those trucks?
They’re really not as expensive as they’re made out to be. We had a 2017 Volvo we put an APU on it, so we were really making 2 payments a month, (the truck payment, and the APU). This truck really isn’t that much more than what we were paying for the Volvo and the APU. Check out our video “You CAN afford a truck like this”.
Would you recommend that a new brand new truck driver to buy one of these, or not?
Hey George, your not gonna like my answer, but I tell you in truth. This is a very expensive industry to be involved in. VERY expensive. There are so many ways to fail in this industry it’s ridiculous. I would say no to buying a truck like this being brand new to the industry. My best advice would be to start out as a company driver for at least a year, maybe two. Learn the business at somebody else’s expense. I mean really learn. Learn about what all your expenses are going to be; fuel, maintenance, insurance, taxes, permits, etc. Save up your money. Then, if the economy is good, rates are good, and you are in a good financial position, (you HAVE to have a good amount of money set aside to keep your business going. One major surprise, and your out of business!) get a normal sized truck, find a good company, (I HIGHLY RECOMMEND MAG CARRIERS) to lease onto where your getting paid percentage, (Mag pays 90% of what you negotiate with the brokers). Your going to start a whole new learning curve. Booking your own loads, (learning what a good load is) managing your business, (insurance, taxes, permits, etc). THEN move up to a truck like this. I’m not saying that I’m anything special. I’m not. But I’ve spent years growing into this and learning. Again, there’s so many ways to fail in this business, take it slow and learn. I’d hate to see you jump into something like this and not make it. That’ll follow you for a long time.
Mag Carriers also has company drivers. They’re an excellent, Christian based company, and I think they would be a great place for you to start, and grow. I can’t imagine them ever steering you wrong.
Hope this helps.
@@TruckersLife1 Thanks for your comprehensive response. I watched another CZcamsr’s video as well yesterday who said do not start off buying your own truck. One does does not wish to be responsible for your truck especially in this, & most definitely not your gas where vehicles & gasoline is more expensive now than ever. I believe you that this is a very expensive industry in which there are so many ways to fail including t 55% of O.O’s fail within their first year. Does MAG have a driving school, & do they do the negotiations if u lest the vehicle? You mentioned leasing the vehicle instead of just working for them, or owning it. What’s the difference between the three (regular job, & LEASING [vs. owning]) the truck? How long have you been a truck driver, & how much would you recommend that I put aside before I even consider owning a vehicle similar to yours? I just retired from the military. In your experience, do you know if being a truck driver is a good job for veterans with PTSD, anxiety, & depression? Thank you again so much. Blessings to both of you! Shalowm!
Hey George,
When I said, “find a good company to lease onto”, I meant to lease YOUR truck onto them.
There’s a difference between a “lease purchase” and “leasing onto”. A lease purchase is when you sign a contract with a trucking company to pay them X amount of money per week for a certain amount of weeks to actually buy the truck from them. It’s like doing a “rent to own”. Most of these lease purchases are NOT set up for the driver to succeed and I do not recommend someone doing that unless there is no other way!!!
“Leasing on” is when you take YOUR truck and sign on with a company to use their authority. YOU own the truck and your just using their DOT number. We’re “leased on” to Mag Carriers. It’s our truck and we’re using their authority. If you don’t have your own authority, you have to use someone else’s to legally run your truck up and down the roads. For that privilege, Mag charges 10% of every load we haul. That’s their “fee” for using their authority. You can get your own authority, but it’s complicated, and you gotta get it right or your gonna get in trouble with the authorities…and that can be expensive. That’s our next step, to get our own authority. Mag is as close to having your own authority as you can get, without actually having your own authority.
I would suggest calling Mag and talking to someone in recruiting about starting out as a company driver. I know they don’t have their own school, but they’ll be able to answer a lot of your questions. As far as schooling itself, just Google “truck driving schools” in your area, or “CDL training”. Most community colleges offer it, and a lot of them offer tuition assistance to help pay for it. Just make sure it’s a reputable school, don’t just pick one that some guys running out of his back yard, lol.
Here’s Mag’s website. There’s a lot of information on their site. Read through all of it and give them a call. Mention our name. Our truck number is 8779. Most all of them know us. Just tell them, “the couple with the huge blue truck”, lol. Most of them have been in it 😊
magcarriers.com/
Hope that helps, let me know if you have anymore questions.
Hey George, I didn’t see all of your question.
1st off, thank you for your service. Thank you for sacrificing yourself for the freedom of others.
2nd yes, I think that truck driving is a good career for a veteran. YOU MAY BE ABLE TO GET A LOT OF ASSISTANCE WITH YOUR SCHOOLING AND EVERYTHING BECAUSE YOUR A VETERAN.
3rd. I just talked to another veteran last week who REALLY suffered PTSD. It was pretty bad. He got help through the VA, family and a lot of friends and he was in a lot better place mentally before he jumped in a truck.
It can be stressful out here, traffic, making pick up and delivery times, finding someplace to park for the night, BEING ALONE A LOT, (unless your wife were to come with you if your married) etc. Your the only one who can make the decision if this is for you or not.
4th. I don’t like to get below $10,000.00 set aside for taxes, maintenance, emergencies, etc. I start getting pretty nervous if I’m less than that. You just never know what could happen out here. A breakdown not only costs you money in repairs but you loose income also while your broke down.
What do you think about the fuel mileage between the Volvo and that truck? What's the difference?
We’ll, I gotta start by saying, they’re not exactly created equal. The sleeper on this truck is a lot longer, and creates a little more drag, (more surface for wind to push against). This sleeper isn’t as tall as our Volvo and doesn’t match the trailer in height like the Volvo did, or any factory “condo sleeper” which also creates a little more drag. How the driver drives his truck also makes a big difference. If the speed limit is 70, I’ll do 70. Our Volvo had a 13 liter engine, and this truck has a 15 liter engine. All that being said, our Volvo averaged 7-8 mph. This truck averages 6-7 mpg. Given all the differences between the two, I’m pleased with the mileage this truck gets.
Hope that helps.
Where is the refrigerator?
Did you consider outside solar panels for a trickle charge to assist
Hey Jeff, that would be a great idea. However, there’s no room on top of the sleeper. Our A/C unit, satellite TV, TV antenna, and roof vent are up there, leaving no room. Our batteries really last a long! When it’s nice outside, and don’t have to run the heat or A/C, we never have any problems through the night, even after having lights and the TV on for several hours.
Great truck!! I've always wondered if these sleepers come with a smoke detector and carbon monoxide alarm installed?
Yes. They come with both 😊
How do you turn city corners? Some cities the corners are difficult for a day cab.
Swing wide young man, swing WIDE 😊
I did a lot of Northeast years ago and I learned YOU have to control traffic with your vehicle. When making a hard right, get your trailer’s end close to the curb, swing your tractor into the left lane so your blocking both lanes. Keep an eye on your passenger side mirror in case somebody tries to squeeze along side you and swing wide.
How does the whole process work? Did you buy a Kenworth with a standard sleeper and then take it somewhere to be converted? What's the price for that conversion if so?
Hey Kenneth, there’s two ways you can buy one of these. Either off a dealers lot or straight through ARI and do a complete custom from the ground up.
For ARI’s website, go to:
www.legacysleepers.com
At ARI’s web page, select “inventory” from the menu, scroll through the different brands, (Kenworth, Peterbilt, Volvo, etc) then select the truck your interested in, scroll to the bottom of the description and it will tell you what dealership that truck is at.
ARI orders the cab and frame straight from the manufacture already at the length they need it for the build then ARI takes it from there and adds their sleeper and everything to go with it.
**** I’ll tell you this tho….these trucks are selling so fast right now ARI doesn’t have much to choose from on their website. I just talked to the salesman we bought ours from, (Palmer Trucks in Fort Wayne, IN) yesterday and he said they’re already sold out for the next 6 months. These things are really hot right now!!!
Hope this helps.
To see some total custom jobs that ARI has done, check out “Elegance on 18 wheels” on CZcams. This fella is usually at ARI every time they do a big job and videos it.
It’ll give you something to drool about 😂
So where do you put your luggage? Me and hubby team and was looking into a truck like this. Ik it has a lot of storage but I don't see anything for suitcases besides the hanging closet.
You don’t need suitcases anymore. There’s a hanging closet for your shirts and dresses. Drawers for your socks and undies. All of our pants, shorts and shirts that fold, (tee shirts, hoodies, etc) all go in one of the cabinets. It’s not like a regular truck where there’s no room to keep everything. There’s a place for everything here, just like at home. 😊
We’ve pretty much gotten ourselves to where we have dedicated “truck” stuff separate from all of our “home” stuff. The truck has all of its own pots, pans, bedding, food items, etc. we even have our own “truck” clothes, separate from our “home” clothes. We park our truck in our driveway at home, and that makes it so easy for cleaning it and restocking it. When we do a load of laundry, we can walk it right out to the truck and put it away. These trucks are truly life changing and make life so much easier….even when your home 😊
Hope this helps.
Yes thank you very much for responding 😊
Hey, how much did you guy pay for that extended sleeper
A LOT, lol 😂
There’s 2 different ways to buy these. There are dealers across the country that order them in and you just buy it off their lot like you would any other truck. Or you can go straight through ARI and do a complete custom.
Google “ari legacy sleepers” click on “inventory”. Then you can look at what is available for new and used inventory, where it’s located and price, (price listed for used trucks only).
How was your truck
Any problems backing into a shipper because you are so long?
Hello. I see you’ve asked the same question on a few of our videos, so I’m going to answer on all of them. In 2 1/2 years now with this truck the answer is this; not really. There have been 2 places they used a yard truck to put our trailer in a dock. 1 of them was so tight guys with normal sized truck we’re having problem, and the other one we could have done, but they insisted they do it.
We book our own loads, so a lot of times we’re going in blind, not knowing what we’re getting into. A lot of times we’ll take a look on Google maps, (satellite view) and come up with a plan before hand. It comes down to this; when your about to pull into a place, you have to look a little better and scope it out before you pull in…just like you do now, but instead of just pulling in, you might have to back in.
It’s no where near as difficult as you might think, you get used to it. I like to say, “It’s like going from a car to a full sized SUV”. You get used to it. If you can get a “long nosed” Pete in there, you can get this in there.
Hope that helps.
Thanks friend!
Be safe!
Great videos by the way !! 👍🏽
How you do to parking in the small yards 🤔?
It can get a little tight, lol. But I think if you can get a “Long nose Pete” in there, you can get this in. You have to stay calm and think it through. PLUS, it really helps having my wife with me all the time. She has spotted me a few times.
Good evening guys..we just moved into one..how do we power up the microwave? Another question..when generator is on and not truck, will ac still kick in for sleeper area? We are new to these. Thank you
Hey guys, CONGRATULATIONS!!!!
On powering up the microwave. Some things are wired directly to the generator. Of these things are the microwave, roof top a/c, baseboard heat, (if you don’t have a Wabasto heater) and the stove.
Crank up the generator, and after 30 seconds or so, you should hear a “click” and the above mentioned will have power. IF NOT…..check your inverter controller on the wall by the bathroom. Make sure it’s turned on. You’ll see a button marked on / off. Make sure it’s on and the display says “inverting”.
Let me know if this solves it. We’ll be up for awhile yet 🙂
@@TruckersLife1 Thankk you much..will try..we'll let you know.
ARI, (I’m guessing y’all’s sleeper was made by ARI) has a Facebook page for owners. It’s a great place to ask questions and learn about your new toy, lol.
On Facebook, search “ARI Owners Group (Exclusive For ARI Owners)”.
You’ll have to ask for permission, and I think give your sleeper number, (listed on the inside of the cabinet door under your sink). I’ve learned a ton there!!!
You can send us all the questions you like also.
@@TruckersLife1 Thank you much..we got the microwave going but for some reason , no cold air coming out of ceiling vents.. ..only regular fan air..no cold air. I'm referring to the AirExcel thermostat
@@BIGOTRUCKER Sounds good. That’s a little weird, but maybe your manual will help. With ours, air comes out both the ducted ceiling vents AND the grill of the a/c unit. During the day, (when it’s hot) I’ll let air come out both, then at night or when it’s cool, I’ll close the the vents on the a/c unit itself and let the air come out just the ducted vents.
In a couple weeks you’ll be a pro with it all 🙂
I have been looking for information regarding regulations on overall length. I see some sources suggesting limits that wouldn't even allow a regular sleeper cab, so I'm confused. Do you run into any limitations on overall length with the extended truck?
Hey Chuck. I had the same concerns when we were looking to buy one of these. Talking to ARI, (the manufacturer), they told me there may be limitations on some 2 lanes in some states, but definitely not on interstates. This sleeper is 156”, with a wheel base of 320”. Our over all length is 80’. ARI makes a lot bigger sleepers than this. I’ve seen 192” sleepers, and I’m not even sure what the wheel base is on that.
We personally have not had any problems at all, and we do travel quite a bit of 2 lanes in quite a few states. We have friends that have one just like this but on a Volvo chassis. This is their second one, and they’ve been running these for over 6 years, all over the country, and a lot of the North East and California. They’ve never had any problems either.
My wife and are working toward getting an ARI sleeper like this. Have been dreaming and saving for some time. Almost there. Would you please tell me a little about who you pull freight for, do you lease on to them or run your own authority? We are running our own authority now pulling Prime INc. freight, we like it but won’t be able to stay with Prime when we get the big sleeper truck. Thanks for your help. Thanks.
Hey guys.
We do not have our own authority yet, that is our next goal. We are leased onto Mag Carriers in Dearing, GA. We have full access to all available load boards, ( DAT, 123, Schneider, Landstar, XPO, JB Hunt, Coyote, Convoy…what ever load boards are out there), we negotiate our own rates and book our own loads.
We are throughly pleased with Mag and cannot say enough about them.
If y’all have your own authority, why are you with Prime? Why not just book your own loads like we’re doing? Do you own your own trailer? I see your happy with Prime, but I can’t help but think y’all could be doing a lot better on your own.
There’s a few different ways to get one of these sleepers. You can buy one off a dealers lot like we did, or you can go straight through ARI and do a complete custom build. Most owners of these don’t keep them long, (3-4 years) so there’s a fair amount of used ones out there too, but then you run into a short amount of warranty left.
If y’all have your own authority, I’d strongly suggest just going totally independent.
Hope this helps.
@@TruckersLife1 thanks, we are totally independent, like I said Prime is just our broker. Considerably different deal than leasing onto Prime. They just act as our broker, provide loads and trailers. Plus we get to use their fuel card and get their fuel discounts. We drive team so we stay moving, don’t have time to be searching load boards. When one of us is driving the other is sleeping. We would like a similar deal somewhere when we get our big sleeper. Prime loads to heavy and won’t accommodate big sleeper. We have considerable looking to the sleepers, not interested in going used. We have plan set for that, just matter of time till we have down payment and ready to pull the trigger on it. Mag sounds interesting but like I said as a team wouldn’t have time to search loads like your wife does for you. Sounds like you guys have a good system that works for you and you make a good team in a little different way. Thanks for the videos, love your truck. Your sleeper is configured exactly how we want ours. The big bed in the 156. Keep weight and length down as much as possible while still getting all the essentials, especially the big bed. We have a big dog who owns the bed, and when we do have a night off the regular bed in our FL is very tight when we all cram in, we call it dog piling. LOL
Hey guys,
Oh, ok, I got ya now.
Let me throw this at you. We ran into a couple last week thats leased onto Landstar and running team with their A & E loads. We both shocked each other. They’re running team, and you know I’m solo. They’re doing right about the same revenue we are, but running harder to do it. We thought surely, they were making a lot more than us, but they’re not….but you know everybody’s business is a little different, we didn’t get into how hard they run, time off etc. we’re keeping 90% of the line haul and they’re only keeping 65 %…or something like that, so there’s a difference right there.
Look at Mag’s website:
magcarriers.com/
Give them a call and talk to them. Our truck number is 8779 if you want to bring us up. MAYBE….I can’t say for sure, y’all may be able to cut back on the miles, just run team when you want to, and still do as good as you are now.
I don’t know if you could even work with them using your own authority, I’ve never talked to them about that. They have an “in house” broker at Mag that sends us emails everyday, but we usually can do a little better with the rates than what he’s offering. They also offer their own dispatching service so you don’t have to find your own loads, but they do charge a couple %’s or so for doing that, it’s our choice to book our own loads.
I’d like to see y’all run less miles and make just as much, or more, whether that’s with Mag or somewhere else.
Take a look at this custom build ARI did:
czcams.com/video/BBdIRL01U5g/video.html
Check out the luggage compartments underneath. Just like a coach bus 😊
Hope this helps. Take care.
@@TruckersLife1 I’ve also heard that people don’t keep sleepers very long
Do you know why that is?
Hey prinessknowled,
There’s 2 reasons to not keep a truck, whether it has a big sleeper or not.
1) After 4 or so years, you are going to loose the tax deduction. When you purchase a new truck, you can depreciate it over 4-5 years. A lot of people get rid of them because of loosing the tax deduction.
2) Most people buy the extended warranty when they purchase their new truck, (big sleeper or not) and that will cover them up to roughy 500,000 miles - or 5 years. When that warranty expires, these trucks, (big sleeper or not) really loose their value. AND any repairs after that are straight out of your pocket…..and those costs can be HUGE!!!!!
So you see now, the 2 biggest reasons to NOT keep a truck long.
Can you haul with a semi that large
Yes, I said potty, lol 😂
With full fuel, water, and all our stuff, we’re 40,680 lbs with an empty 53’ dry van. So we can get close to 39,000, but there’s so much light freight out there, we’re usually not that close.
This truck is amazing!!! Can you talk about how you finance it… me and my husband want to buy a truck like this bt we dont know how or what kind of freight can or cant be hauled
Yes. There are several ways to finance one of these trucks.
1) Finance through the truck manufacturer, whether that be Kenworth, Volvo, Freightliner, etc. or whatever banks the dealers may use.
2) Finance through your personal bank or credit union.
3) Finance through ARI, the company that manufactures the sleeper.
Every one may be a little different, but most are probably going to want you to have a pretty good credit score, experience in the industry, and probably around 20% of the purchase price down.
These sleeper are available from 120” up to 192”. With the different manufacturers, different options and amount of your personal stuff inside, they’re going to all weight a little different. That being said, you know you can’t go over 80,000 lbs. So the bigger the truck, the less freight you can haul. Our truck is 156” and with our trailer, we’re 40,600 lbs empty. So we can haul almost 39,000 lbs but there’s so much light freight out there we never get close to that. We pull a dry van but there’s no reason you can’t pull a reefer, flat bed, step deck, tanker, or what ever you like. 80,000 is the only restriction I can think of, or any restrictions the carrier your leased onto may have.
@@TruckersLife1 thank you for such a quick response to my question… what load board do you guys use for your loads???
Good morning. Your welcome.
For load boards, we have:
DAT, 123, Landstar, Schneider, Coyote, TQL, JB Hunt, XPO, Convoy and Uber. All are free except for DAT & 123 which are a monthly subscription.
@@TruckersLife1 thank you sooooo much!!! This definitely helps out a lot!!! I look forward to seeing more videos
@@TruckersLife1 do you guys pick up preloaded trailers for those companies??? Or do you have a trailer that you do love loads with
Hi whatcha up to hope all is well prayers 4 healing and unspoken also prayers 4 everyone and bless great healthy peaceful safe journeys travels and happy hauling in the name of the Creator God and Jesus and the Holy Ghost Amen much honor and respect cool cool truck keep walking tall
🚌⛺🌅🌌🌄🏞
👍👍💪🙂👍👍
No one talks about mpg.
We’re always 6-7 with our monthly average.
Only in america
Are you a freelance trucker
Well, I’m not sure what you mean by that. If you mean, do we have our own authority, no, that is our next step. Right now we are leased on to Mag Carriers and run under their authority.
Hope that answers you question 😊
77
Turning around has to be a headache
LOL, it can be, but you get used to it and don’t even think about it anymore.
Potty?
HOW the HELL can anyone afford a truck like this?? You're leased on to MAG Carrier which is pure SPOT MARKET!! NO money there. You must be rich and truckin' just for fun making NO money??!!
LOL!! 😂
No, we’re not rich or doing this just for fun.
We’re struggling right now just like everybody else. Under the previous administration we were doing really good, we just have to get through this tuff time just like everybody else.