Oh Well

I went to a local Freightliner & Western Star dealership today, to ask them if they would mind showing me a Freightliner cab. The first salesman apparently couldn't find the keys to any of the trucks, saying some employee had them and wasn't there....gave me his business card, told me to come back later and call him, which I did. When he answered the phone, he told me he didn't have time and to just ask another of the sales guys there. When I got there, the sales guy who was available seemed to be a bit bothered by my request. I guess he quickly figured out I was in CDL school and wouldn't be bringing him any commission on a sale. He showed me one Freightliner with a sleeper, VERY small with just one bed and no bunk bed, low ceiling and barely any storage (and I mean by that....only two small "holes" to put your clothes. That's it. When I asked to see a regular Freightliner, he didn't have the key to that one.

I went there after reading that this was a good idea to be able to freely view the inside of a cab, but clearly it wasn't. The parts guys were more friendly to me than the sales guys. : /

That sucks. I hate salespeople with bad attitudes. You might have better luck at another dealership though, especially if you can find a good used truck dealer, because they figure there's a much higher chance of you possibly buying a discounted used truck from them if you decide to try being an Owner/Operator.

It was actually getting uncomfortable for me to even ask; the second sales guy looked at me puzzled, and flat out told me that he was surprised I wanted to go into trucking when "most people are trying to get out of one".....what kind of sales guy says that? Because I'm a woman? Because I was dressed nice and very feminine and don't fit his idea of who should go into trucking? I was just about that close to turn around and leave, and I even felt compelled to apologize for taking up his time. :(

Ah, so they showed you an old freightliner flat top did they? Try looking online at some of the dealership sites. They generally have tons of pictures. I know it's not the same, but it's something. Back in the day, we had western stars and petes. None of them were condos, but the petes were midrise with skylights. Still my fav were the western star flat tops. Ours had nice tall closet space on one side and cabinets on the other for the tv, fridge, microwave, coffee pot, etc. We stored luggage in an open cubby under the bed.

I love the condos for the uninterrupted height and no step over into the sleeper. Even though freightliner, kw, and international are a bit roomier, I love the studio options on the volvos.

Oh and get this.. yayy so excited. I talked to my partner in crime from school who also went to WST and he says we're getting volvos when we upgrade. I sure hope so.

It was a flat top, but surely brand new! It had gorgeous wood grain trims, the body was black with lots of shiny chrome. :)

Yes, they often have wood trim, I know all ours did. Funny these newer fleet trucks have the rubberized floors and oh so much plastic, I'm sure for easier cleaning and $ savings, but ours were all carpeted throughout with beautiful wood trim, leather seats and tufted leather walls in the sleepers.

I got a Volvo with the rubber and plastic treatment lol.. Still not a bad truck for space... And with it being my first truck , as nice as the flat top Pete's look I just don't think I could do it. I don't wanna get out to stand up.

Sounds like they were part of the "Doushe" franchise of dealerships. I still don't know why people get jobs in the service industry when they are not even personable. Anyways, I found that if you go in there with the attitude that you are ready to buy, and have a quote from "the competition" they are much more likely to be helpful. Can't find the keys! That's a good one. Honestly, they don't want to waste their time with tire kickers.

As a business owner you dream about your competition taking people for granted like that. How do they know who you are? You might already own 100 trucks and be on your way to 1,000. Maybe you're looking to see which dealers you'd like to work with so you went in there with a casual attitude to see how they would treat you. And if that were the case they'd certainly lose your business because they're a bunch of jerks unless they think they're going to make money off you, then they pretend to like you? Yeah, no thanks. I'll find someone better than that to work with.

Not to mention, if you do have big money and plan to make big purchases from someone you've never worked with before you never do it all in one shot. You give someone a little business, see how they handle it, and then give them more if things go well. What do these salespeople do at the dealership - treat you like you're worthless unless you demonstrate to them that you're Mr Money Bags the moment you walk in the door? Great strategy. Takes a real genius.