Hey great folks at Lease Hacker, y’all have been a great help in the past.
I have now secured financing and am ready to move forward with growing my business, but now need to be looking at the logistics part of my business.
If you know me you know what I’m into and if you don’t well I deliver bread lol.
I’m expanding right now and looking at getting trucks to pull 24-foot trailers. These new accounts I’m buying come with a trailers included in the price thus I don’t need box trucks, just need to buy the trucks to pull the trailers.
Currently, I’m looking at a Chevy Silverado 2500/3500 or GMC Sierra 2500/3500. gas (fuck diesel don’t ask), you can recommend other brands if you feel like they meet my needs.
I’m not sure if I should go with 2500 or 3500 because their price difference from what I see online is not much like 1k but the pulling power is like 50% more. For example, the 2500 are rated for 22k pounds vs 3500 rated for 36k pounds even though the trailer won’t ever be loaded with more than 10k pounds of goods.
Need help with deciding which truck brand to go with for the best price, performance, reliability, and lower repair cost. Also if I should go new or used. Also, tech is important such as trailer assist/self-driving tech for the safety of employees and ease of use. I have even looked at electric trucks to be powered by solar energy to cut down on cost but sadly the current electric trucks are rated for pulling 10k so not a good idea till they make heavy-duty electric trucks.
tons of Fords f250/350 are being sold under msrp - gas engines are good and decent tow ratings. Granger Ford in Iowa does orders and sells 3% under invoice
Ram trucks as well most broker here offer a very nice discount and you can probably score a deal at your local dealership as well - super good tow ratings.
as always the diesels are the best for tow rating but you can always utilize gooseneck but you will need to invest in a new trailer(s)
GMC/Chevy - i have never been able to score deals with them someone else can chime in
Outside of a fleet of Rivian’s when money is no longer an object, I would get whatever meets your goals while keeping you fully under warranty with the lowest costs. I’d second the 1500’s.
pretty much all trucks are similar in tech - RAM is definitely lagging behind. Ram build quality isn’t the best imo even though all reviewer love it idk why
Ford holds the crown in tech IMO but it’s for things like pro power, creature comforts or if you feel like burning money a platinum f250 with lie flat seat
Since you’re not doing diesel there nothing really you’re missing out by getting Ram
I personally would go with GMC Sierra 2500/3500 just because i like the exterior look and the interior space - i also don’t like diesels but that’s where the numbers are
all trucks comes with gooseneck prep beds from factory if optioned, all trucks have carplay, all have column shifters (i like that feature - it brings no productive advantage lmaoo), base GMC/chevy come with push button start (i think 24 fords too?)
3500 over 2500 for what you are doing for the towing cap, but be careful about driver’s license requirements (for a 1 ton and heavy/long trailer especially) for business as you may have to have a driver with a commercial endorsement
If it is all commercial bumper tow, then do you need a bed at all? If not (and even if you do), you can get a smoking deal on fleet pricing at most large dealers that move lots of units
Published towing numbers can be misleading
You should drive all three: Ram, Ford and Chevy/GMC and see what you like best.
Are you going to depreciate them quickly, keep them long term, etc.?
I’ve owned and towed big and small with all three brands in different combos of gas and diesel in 1/2, 3/4 and 1 tons (what I have now - Ram 3500 diesel with the HO and Aisin), and the Ram is by far the best deal generally out there when looking at price, comfort, tech and towing capacity.
