Trucks - Everyone Should Have One!

[UKRay]

I've just been looking at some of the older posts where people in the US talk about their multiple trucks, bikes and vehicles. I confess to feeling very slightly envious as I want a truck so badly I can almost feel pain when I think about it. LOL

The big drawback for me is insurance. I'm already insuring the car I drive and the one I don't. I insure the house, the dog, the house contents and even myself just in case I drop dead and can't pay the insurance company any more durn money. Heck, I pay so much for insurance I don't have any money left over for gas.

How do you people in the US afford to insure your 'fleets' of vehicles - and what does it cost? Or don't you bother? Is the law relaxed about insurance or is it, like here, a very serious business?

Ray

[Johanna]

In the US if you are caught without liability insurance your drivers license gets suspended. Do it again and you might go to jail.

I think we have more room that you do, and wider streets? Wade and I have 3 trucks, a Dodge Durango with a hemi, an Ford 350 dually and a Chevy S-10. The Ford gets 10 mpg loaded, towing or empty, but it is a delight to drive, just a pain to squeexe into tiny parking spaces. We also have two cars. We're married, over 40, no claims, so we theoretically have all the available discounts. We only carry comprehensive on the Dodge. Insurance for "the fleet" runs about $100 a month. Gas prices are on the rise again- almost $3 a gallon here just in time for Spring. In our household, gasoline costs more than insurance.

Some states (like Pennsylvania) have mandatory safety and emissions inspections. You pass, or they scrape off your sticker and you can't drive until repairs are made. Ohio State Troopers can pull you over and conduct one if they feel like it, but you have to have a door duct taped on or something egregious like that for them to bother.

Americans love their trucks. They are practical (you can haul several sewing machines at once!) and they are big enough that they don't get splashed too bad on a wet highway. The steel in my Dodge makes me think I could possibly survive a wreck. I don't know how we'd tow the camper or haul stuff for family and friends without the Ford. When you have a truck, you have friends on their moving day! My Dodge has 4WD so it's great when Mother Nature deposits several feet of snow and we're out of milk.

When I lived in Georgia, it seemed that many families had his and her trucks. His had a gun rack, hers had child seats. Both usually had big dogs guarding the steering wheel while parked.

~J

[Tina]

I think we have more room that you do, and wider streets?

Some states (like Pennsylvania) have mandatory safety and emissions inspections. You pass, or they scrape off your sticker and you can't drive until repairs are made. Ohio State Troopers can pull you over and conduct one if they feel like it, but you have to have a door duct taped on or something egregious like that for them to bother.

~J

It's not only the streets that is way narrower, the parking lots too *Grrrrrr* (but I'm happy not to have to fill a truck up at the pump again ) I would think the gas prices is around the same in EU, around $1.80-2 / liter...1 gallon=3.8 liter.

We have that vehical test once a year here in Sweden too....You have to pass to get the sticker.

[tonyc1]

We have 4.54 litres to the gallon here and at the moment it is $1.28 per litre.

Tony.

[MADMAX22]

Well Ray you gotta remember also that the people with all kinds of vehicles or multiple trucks many times are ranchers or farmers. Or have a pretty large chunck of land with lots of things to take care of and may not necessarily drive all the vehicles on the open road so they may not have insurance on all of them.

Or they just have alot of money and can afford it lol.

Personally I have my truck and my bike. The bike gets about 35miles per gallon as compared to the truck which gets around 12miles per gallon so you can guess which one I drive when its not freezing outside.

[Denise]

Insurance is definitely mandatory. You get in MAJOR problems if you get caught driving without it. But as a farm vehicle, our truck costs less than half what our car does. And no, we don't register or insure our "pasture truck" that only gets driven in the summer around our place. It is not legal on the road at all.

[GAP]

Trucks have a minimum of 6 wheels and rated at 2 1/4 tons. But, I guess you're talking about pickups, and yeah, there are a hell of a lot of them! And most of them aren't needed... especially 4-wheel drives.

I'm kind of a minimalist, but I still have (just) one at the moment, and a 66 ford bronco, and a $200,000 stackwagon. Wished I could get by with a saddlehorse or three and a team. The stackwagon pays it's own way and then some... the bronco is a toy waiting to be hatched... and the pickup is an everyday driver used to get me down the road to meetings, to see the GF, haul all my junk around... it's only a partial necessity.

The bronco and PU are still a major expense! I wish I could throw them in the ditch, along with my cell phone. Seems I need all of them to keep a set of wheels of wheels under the kid, and keep my business maintained? I'd rather spend my money on booze and women!

[oldtimer]

Pick up trucks becomes an addiction, once you have had one you are trapped. I bought me an old 4 WD Nissan King Cab (-90) a couple of years ago, a scarred old warhorse that served me well, and last summer I was seduced by a 4WD Nissan Frontier -05 ( 4 banger diesel). Couldn´t resist - bought it! What would life be without a pick up or two? Everyone should have at least one !

I hope Santa will bring me a Dodge Ram coming Christmas!

/ Knut

Edited March 18, 2010 by oldtimer

[Denise]

Knut, maybe it is a guy thing. I personally prefer our car, though I probably put more miles on the truck than Rod does. I'm the one who gets to drive to the nearest larger center (3 hour round trip) and pick up fresh (as in "it was holding the bull together this morning") hides. You can't do that with a car which is the main reason we need a truck. But first I do the big grocery shopping, the "pick up all the things I can't get in our small town" shopping, and all the other errands I have to do when I'm in the city. And for those things, the truck is a pain! There is no where near as much room to put the groceries. The corners of the truck are too far away from me so it is that much harder to see where they are, and it is tough to park in a parking lot, even out here where they are used to a lot of trucks. I can't imagine how hard it would be driving a full sized pick up in places that weren't built for them! I like the ability to zip in and out of places with the car much easier. But then, like I said, it's probably a guy thing...

[MADMAX22]

Trucks have a minimum of 6 wheels and rated at 2 1/4 tons. But, I guess you're talking about pickups, and yeah, there are a hell of a lot of them! And most of them aren't needed... especially 4-wheel drives.

I'm kind of a minimalist, but I still have (just) one at the moment, and a 66 ford bronco, and a $200,000 stackwagon. Wished I could get by with a saddlehorse or three and a team. The stackwagon pays it's own way and then some... the bronco is a toy waiting to be hatched... and the pickup is an everyday driver used to get me down the road to meetings, to see the GF, haul all my junk around... it's only a partial necessity.

The bronco and PU are still a major expense! I wish I could throw them in the ditch, along with my cell phone. Seems I need all of them to keep a set of wheels of wheels under the kid, and keep my business maintained? I'd rather spend my money on booze and women!

Whats the matter with four wheel drives. When you live someplace where it snows up to a couple of feet in the winter a four wheel drive will allow you to get to work atleast close to on time. Well mine does anyways. I hear ya on alot of people that get trucks (yeah I call them trucks, the 6 6wheelers and such I call big rigs or tractor trailers) and dont necessarily need them but then again its suppose to be free country lol.

[particle]

I had a 97 4x4 Jeep Grand Cherokee with a V8, and I loved it - but I always hated when I had a furniture project and needed plywood and other lumber, or when spring came around and I needed some new landscaping that was too tall for the cargo area. It was my "turn" to buy a new (used) vehicle and we were planning on buying me a truck, but then we found out we were expecting baby #3. So, I got my wife's little 2001 Lexus is300, sold the jeep, and bought her a minivan. In about 52 months, It should be my turn again to buy a vehicle.

I do love driving the little is300 though - but sad that I can't drive on the logging trails in SE Oklahoma to access those hidden fishing and camping spots, or crawl over snow covered back roads in Colorado, or climb to the abandoned mines and do a little photography and exploration. Yes, 4x4 isn't a necessity for most people, but when you need it, it's sure nice to have it!

[TTcustom]

We have 4.54 litres to the gallon here and at the moment it is $1.28 per litre.

Tony.

4.54 litres to the imperial gallon and 3.8 liters to the US gallon.... interesting.

I need to call my insurance guy because I must not be getting the best rate! We have to have insurance in Arizona but there seem to be a lot of people that scoff at the law and drive without it. I always here about some one getting in an accident and the other fella didn't have it.