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That's a question- did Peterbilt underbid Ford or did they built U-Haul a 'dream' truck that U-Haul is willing to pay extra for?  

 

In this case there are 2 factors to consider.  Of course a Peterbilt 536 is quite a bit more than the F-650, and the Cummins 'Octane' is not that much cheaper than a B6.7 diesel.  Sure Peterbilt can squeeze the price a bit, but I don't see how Peterbilt can come close to Ford's price.

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6 hours ago, 7Mary3 said:

That's a question- did Peterbilt underbid Ford or did they built U-Haul a 'dream' truck that U-Haul is willing to pay extra for?  

 

In this case there are 2 factors to consider.  Of course a Peterbilt 536 is quite a bit more than the F-650, and the Cummins 'Octane' is not that much cheaper than a B6.7 diesel.  Sure Peterbilt can squeeze the price a bit, but I don't see how Peterbilt can come close to Ford's price.

 

As a publicly traded company - I am sure that PB undercut Ford to get the order. No CEO or CFO would willingly pay more $$ for a "commodity" item like a truck for a trucking/hauling company. U-Haul goes through hundreds (thousands even?) of trucks annually and to pay a "premium" for what they can get for less down the street that does basically the same thing would be absurd. 

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2 hours ago, twintornados said:

 

As a publicly traded company - I am sure that PB undercut Ford to get the order. No CEO or CFO would willingly pay more $$ for a "commodity" item like a truck for a trucking/hauling company. U-Haul goes through hundreds (thousands even?) of trucks annually and to pay a "premium" for what they can get for less down the street that does basically the same thing would be absurd. 

Maybe U-Haul is betting on marketing... "We have Peterbilts!"

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38 minutes ago, Motorpsychology said:

Maybe U-Haul is betting on marketing... "We have Peterbilts!"

 

The average rental truck customer does not give a crap about what it is, as long as there are two things met, 1.) its actually there and 2.) it is not a ridiculously overpriced rental. 

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6 hours ago, twintornados said:

 

As a publicly traded company - I am sure that PB undercut Ford to get the order. No CEO or CFO would willingly pay more $$ for a "commodity" item like a truck for a trucking/hauling company. U-Haul goes through hundreds (thousands even?) of trucks annually and to pay a "premium" for what they can get for less down the street that does basically the same thing would be absurd. 

 

By the same token why would Peterbilt willingly sell products to a particular customer at a loss when other buyers will gladly pay more for their superior product?

 

There may be a projected life-cycle cost factor at work here too.  Or Peterbilt (PACCAR) wants to run Ford out of the class 6 and 7 truck market by going after one of their best customers aggresively. 

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1 hour ago, 7Mary3 said:

 

By the same token why would Peterbilt willingly sell products to a particular customer at a loss when other buyers will gladly pay more for their superior product?

 

There may be a projected life-cycle cost factor at work here too.  Or Peterbilt (PACCAR) wants to run Ford out of the class 6 and 7 truck market by going after one of their best customers aggresively. 

 

I am guessing the latter....

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19 hours ago, 7Mary3 said:

That's a question- did Peterbilt underbid Ford or did they built U-Haul a 'dream' truck that U-Haul is willing to pay extra for?  

 

In this case there are 2 factors to consider.  Of course a Peterbilt 536 is quite a bit more than the F-650, and the Cummins 'Octane' is not that much cheaper than a B6.7 diesel.  Sure Peterbilt can squeeze the price a bit, but I don't see how Peterbilt can come close to Ford's price.

PACCAR overcapacity in class 6, 7 & 8. Peterbilt is just a brand. It doesn't cost PACCAR any more to make a medium truck than it does Ford.  It probably costs less!  The Lincoln Town Car, Mercury Grand Marquis and Crown Vic were all made on the same assembly line. It cost Ford the same money to push out a TC as it did for the CV and GM. Oh sure, they put more options in the base TC, but you could get a CV loaded for less money usually. Was the TC a better vehicle? NOOOOO! Major brand pricing/marketing is a scam. The Lexus is a glorified Toyota. Private grocery store canned vegetables are packaged by Del Monte. Do you actually think Del Monte sets up a separate line to make inferior cans of corn? They have to keep the processing plants humming. The private brand is cheaper, but tastes the same to me! They just slap a Stop & Shop (New Englander here) label on it. When I sold auto parts/tires back in the 70's thru 90's the Gulf Oil tire was made by Goodrich. The tread was identical and we had a road hazard warrant, Goodrich didn't. There were only 5 or so tire mfrs. making 100 brands of tires. The GMC Sierra isn't better than a Chevy Silverado. They have the same recalls. Well, you get the picture.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 5/26/2026 at 9:42 AM, lfeg said:

Could it be that since the PB U Haul has a longer box, it requires a longer wheelbase that Ford does not offer?

The average driver today can't drive or negotiate a road in a BMW Mini Cooper!

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2 hours ago, Joe771476 said:

Joe,

It is only good news if Ford choses to capitalize on it.  Like offer a tilt hood for serviceability on 450-600...which they won't🤔.  I'm not sure what the Chevy/ International numbers were vs Ford but looking at the bi weekly truck rag that comes out covering New England there were always a lot of unsold 23 and 24 model years advertised.

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2 hours ago, Joe771476 said:

 

We covered this back in March...

 

That having been said, I don't think it will mean much for Ford.  GM and International have been ramping down production of these trucks and their respective dealers have known for some that the joint venture agreement would not be renewed after this September.  Word is GM will have a new class 4-5 version of their upcoming 2029 Silverado HD's and will continue their relationship with Isuzu.   

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On 5/25/2026 at 9:47 PM, GearheadGrrrl said:

While Peterbuilt brags themselves up as a premium brand, they'll underbid every competitor at times like they did to get a Postal Service contract for straight trucks a few years ago.

 

On 5/25/2026 at 9:47 PM, GearheadGrrrl said:

While Peterbuilt brags themselves up as a premium brand, they'll underbid every competitor at times like they did to get a Postal Service contract for straight trucks a few years ago.

That's why it seems like EVERY fuel oil truck around here in New England is a Pete/KW!  Like the original Henry Ford said back in the early 1900's, he'd give every car away free if he could be  guaranteed ALL the aftermarket/replacement parts biz!

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2 hours ago, Joe771476 said:

 

That's why it seems like EVERY fuel oil truck around here in New England is a Pete/KW!  Like the original Henry Ford said back in the early 1900's, he'd give every car away free if he could be  guaranteed ALL the aftermarket/replacement parts biz!

And to a lesser extent International and F'liner  A market where Ford ruled with mostly LN-8000 and C-8000 before that went away.

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I am hearing from a couple of sources a rumor that one of the reasons U-Haul went to Peterbilt/Cummins for their larger trucks is due to problems with the 7.3L gas engine.  This one may have come out of a U-Haul truck:  

 

 

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On 6/22/2026 at 1:23 PM, 7Mary3 said:

I am hearing from a couple of sources a rumor that one of the reasons U-Haul went to Peterbilt/Cummins for their larger trucks is due to problems with the 7.3L gas engine.  This one may have come out of a U-Haul truck:  

 

Well if Ford has lost the ability to make reliable engines, they might as well just shut the doors.

 

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