The semi truck driver has a very good reason for the trade, and still has a 2JZ-swapped Honda S2000.
At first, selling a Dodge Viper for a Corvette seems like utter madness to us gearheads. However, the Viper, like all enthusiasts' cars, get expensive quickly. For the Viper with its 8.0-liter V10, the first of these is surely the owners' gas bill. Cars, like most things in life, are a liability as you ultimately lose money on them. According to The Asian Mai Show - Official Trucking Channel on YouTube, Evan swapped his cars for a Peterbilt with zero trucking experience and set out on his own. This big rig unlike a Viper is an asset and makes the owner money.
Evan's truck is a sunset orange 2007 Peterbilt 379. Beneath the hood sits the Cummins ISX 550 engine. According to Cummins, the ISX engine produces between 385 and 650 horsepower. As one expects from a diesel engine, the torque figures are more impressive, ranging between 1450 and 2050 lb-ft of torque. The example in Evan's truck sees 550 horsepower with 1850 lb-ft of torque, in other words enough to pull heavy loads. A truck might be the only thing that in raw power can leave a Viper quaking.
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However, by no means has Evan left behind the world of American muscle and sports cars. According to the trucker's Instagram, he still owns a 2JZ-swapped Honda S2000. The trucker also organizes a car meet called MITM.
Evan claims that last year when buying the truck he found himself “on a crossroad.” Not a fan of modern aerodynamic trucks, and also a fan of Peterbilt's PACCAR sister brand Kenworth. Thus, he came to the used market. Here the prospective trucker made a compromise and bought an example with what he calls a "hurt engine." With this work now done, he can get to trucking.
The Asian Mai Show quizzed the trucker about his experience stepping into the trucking world. The truck and overhaul cost over $100,000, no small financial gamble. Evan could only insure his truck with one company, Progressive, who charge him only $19,000 for the year. This figure is so low as Evan is now in his 30s and Ohio has a considerable discount over states such as Florida.
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The hardest part for Evan was finding a trailer; these are more elusive than used trucks. Finding business proves a little difficult as well. However, the fledgling trucker recommends working with large logistics companies and plugging their gaps. Over time relationships and your firm's reputation builds and contracts should roll infrequently. Brokers exclude some truckers from taking work in their first 90 days or even as long as 6 months.
Evan relishes in the supply chain problems that have plagued global logistics this past year. He rightly claims that moving freight is the priority for these companies. With driver shortages, they "have to make exceptions." Seizing this opportunity it seems like Evan has carved out a profitable future career, and he'll surely get another Viper soon.
Douglas Hamilton is a British gearhead with a degree in Literature. He grew up surrounded by F1, Need For Speed, and classic cars. He has a worrying obsession with Jaguar.