We are in competition! You must have more business in Atlanta than we do in DC. I have been a courier up here for more than 30 years, business has gone down the toilet in the last 5 years. I am down to around 70,000 a year. My 2008 has 235,000 on the body, used engine put in at 212,000, ALL new suspension and brakes over the last 30,0000. It feels brand new, and basically is!

The head gasket seems to be a 200,000 mile fence, in hind sight mine started leaking around 100,000 and exploded at 200,000. I did try a chemical at around 150,000 that seemed to help until the catastrophic failure, lucky for me within a mile of home 2 days earlier I was 400 miles away.

 

I've got 237,000 on mine right now. I bought it in Oct. 09 and I go by the Oil Life Monitor to a point. I usually change it when it has about 35% left.

 

Wow! You have made a career out of being a courier. I retired from Bellsouth telephone company and I've been a courier for almost 11 years now. Our business has picked up over the last year, but I am still not making the money that I have in the past. I had a burnt valve at 180,000 but I am still on the origional engine and clutch. Do you get very many out of town trips?

 

I usually get 2 or 3 300+ mile runs a month. Business started down when faxed signatures got legal, then e-mail, then after 9/11 in DC only FEDEX and UPS and USPS could deliver to the US gov for a long time. Now our basic business is data center logistics, hardly ever an envelope full of paper.

 

I average about 2 out of town trips a week down here. Anywhere from 100 miles on up. We are a small company of about 10 drivers, but we do business with some companies that send stuff out of town. We also have our share of small in town tickets also. My boss is also trying to get us into the freight business. He bought a Sprinter Van last year which I get to drive when he gets up to 3 palets of freight going somewhere.