With market strain, owners find value in used-truck warranties
Summary
With sky-high equipment and parts prices, coupled with limited inventories, a used-truck warranty could help save a small business. Peter Ferrara, a one-truck owner-operator based in Norfolk, Massachusetts, got into trucking in 2019 and jumped in with both feet, starting his own business, P.D. He bought a lightly-used 2018 Mack Granite dump that had 55,000 miles on it at the time and does work locally for excavation businesses in the greater Boston area, hauling mostly fill sand and gravel. Some fly-by-night warranty providers have skipped town without honoring their obligations, and “people get a bad taste in their mouth,” she added. “They simply don’t have the money to pay for large repairs.” About a year ago, owner-operator Ferrara said, he had a major problem with his Mack dump -- he had to get it to the dealer within four hours or it would derate.