Hey rat! Welcome !
I would offer to buy the truck and lease it to them! It's a nice
Pete.
SHC ! So what if he's not buying the truck! He needs to be comfortable enough to get the sleep he needs to do his job..

Originally Posted by Rat

There are some good things about the job I applied for. Health, dental and eye insurance are something that they have that my current job does not. That along with save me 10,000 a year in out of pocket expense. I did some figuring with the hourly wage and my last two years at the trucking and there is less then a 5,000 dollar difference between the two.

The other thing is it is right here in town and the place is about 1 1/2 miles from my house rather then 10 miles from my house (the truck company yard). I can pedal my butt to work and maybe shed a few trucker belly pounds. LOL.

I am going to beat my own drum a bit here. I feel as though I am an asset to the company. I have never refused a run, always did what was needed without being asked to do it. When the boss calls me and says he needs an extra truck running a particular run, my only question was how many days I should pack for. NEVER so much as scratched the a truck muchless wreck one like many of our drivers. I have never asked my boss for money. We have alot of drivers that borrow money. He has offered it to me when times got tight but I told him no. The 04 379 that I am driving looks better then some of the 2010s and 2011s that we have because of how I take care of the truck.

I am going to open up my options for now and stick with checking out other jobs within and out of the industry. I may even look into dusting off the tools and getting back into the mechanic field.

Originally Posted by Rat

You box guys kill me with your low hp, plastic, aero, 80,000 lb trucks.

I'm sorry! Its all I know! Lol

It's an extremely boring Sunday morning for me so time to resurrect this thread and ruffle some feathers.

If I were running a company and had a driver tell me "what kind of truck to buy or he would quit:"

I would tell him "fine, quit then if you don't like it. When you own your own trucking company you can buy/drive whatever you want. It's time you realize the trucking company does not revolve around you and ONLY you."

This argument that KW/Petes with big boxy hoods are so superior and Volvo/International/Freightliner are always falling apart and breaking down is rubbish. With a few exceptions all have similar engines available and in my opinion they are all POS's until the kinks get worked out of them.

I work with a lot of guys like you, personally you seem like a nice guy but professionally, work wise I think would just find you whiny and annoying.

Own your own truck and start your own business and do what you want then. If you drive a company truck you are there to make you and your company money, not drive down the Vegas strip stylin', profilin', looking to fill up the sleeper with hoe's.

I'm not sure what the full story is where you work. But if you are that much buddy-buddy with your boss that reflects badly on you and especially him.

I've worked at places where my co-workers were "really cool" with the big boss man. Going to parties, hutnin, fishin, and drinkin together. Then the time comes for the big boss man to not play favorites and make a real business decision, and then someone's wittle feewings get huwrt.

Oh by the way, just to pour salt in the wound, those wal-mart drivers with plastic aero truck are laughing at you and me both going down the road as we blow their doors off, all the way to the bank.

Originally Posted by kajidono

The only relevant part of that post.

That's your opinion

Originally Posted by Rat

Well after going back and forth with the truck purchaser in the company, Bosses son. I finally found out what they ordered.

386, 63 inch bunk, dual side mounted stacks, extra chrome, chrome front bumper, premium sound system, and white in color cummins isx, lower gearing (higher numerical) to help pull the heavy loads we pull.

In the last few months, I have gotten in some of our 386s to try and wrap my head around them. Logged a couple thousand miles in them. They ride like crap compared to the longer hooded 379/389s.

I did two runs back to back. Day one was in the 04 379 and day two was in the 386.

The 379 had to get a windshield put in and a service job which is why I took the 386 on day 2. Both days I loaded at the same exact farmers yard up in Carberry Manitoba and unloaded at the same plant in Jamestown ND. I can't exactally remember the milage on the run but it was in the 650 mile range. I took the same routing both days, Meaning same roads and everything. Day 1 was calm and about 60 degrees all day. Day two was pretty much the same. excelt the wind had picked up to a slight breeze out of the north in the after noon which would have been pushing me slightly when loaded on my way back to Jamestown.

Day 1 I averaged 4.3 mpg in the 379 with the bridged c15 cat in it. Day 2 I averaged 4.5 mpg in the 386 with the c13 cat.

Day 2 I had to fight the truck on the rough roads up in Manitoba were day 1 was nothing but a nice drive.

The road into the farmers yard was about 6 miles of rough gravel. The 379 pretty much handled this road with ease. I mean I could have run 70 down this pott hole filled road and hardly had to hold onto the wheel. Day two, I had a tough time even running 30-40 mph down the same road in the 386. Anything faster and it was trying to throw itself in the ditch.

The 386 has just over 200,000 miles on it and the 379 has 840,000 miles on it. The 386 was nothing but rattles and squeeks all day long. The 379 only had a slight squeek from the hood pads. A little grease on the rubber pads and all went silent. I had let them get dry.

I see no benefit from the 386s.

All I see is an ugly looking truck with no style. To some style might not be important since they only look at the truck as a tool and nothing else. To me it is more then a tool for work, It gives me a sense of pride and makes me feel better to drive a cool looking rig. Which makes me actually want to work each and every day.

My plan is to exercise my right to move on to another job and let someone else have a chance to drive for the company. I don't have to drive a truck to make a living, being that I am well rounded and have lots of experience in other fields. I am going to notify the boss on Monday that I will be moving on before the new truck gets here. It is being built so I have some time to find another job.

I only hope that he will beable to find a driver that will respect the equipment and also has a pass card or is willing to get a passcard to go into Canada. Something he is having a tough time doing right now since we have a few empty trucks in the yard needing drivers.

I don't blame you at all for your decision. It makes no sense to buy an Aero rig over a 389 for the kind if hauling you do.

I also STRONGLY agree with you that a truck is MORE than just a tool. I want something that looks good while going down the road, not an Aero plastic truck.
Hopefully you find a better place or maybe even decide to buy a 379 and become a double O

Ethan