Getting back on the road...orientation with Swift as a flatbed newbie 2/3/2014

Discussion in 'Swift' started by bab1369, Jan 26, 2014.

  1. bab1369

    bab1369 Light Load Member

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    Apr 14, 2013
    Laurens, SC
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    I checked the plug and could not find any damage, supposedly so did the mechanic (shrugs) but you may very well be right. I have heard this is a common issue for the Cascadia.
     
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  3. Lepton1

    Lepton1 Road Train Member

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    Yeah, it was our main headlight bulb. It would wink on or off whenever we hit a bump. My teammate is an electrician. Last week when we were at the Jurupa Valley terminal he talked the shop into giving him a new plug and he installed it himself instead of waiting 10 hours to get the entire harness replaced by the shop.
     
  4. WitchingHour

    WitchingHour Road Train Member

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    Yeah, they make it so a million things can go wrong with something as simple as lights now. All you need for lights is a power source, switch, fuse, relay, and wiring. But now they run the lights through the ECM and chassis nodes. I think it's stupid, but some engineer somewhere thought it was a great idea.
     
  5. bab1369

    bab1369 Light Load Member

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    Apr 14, 2013
    Laurens, SC
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    Last update I got before getting in the car and coming home for the night was that they were chasing the problem to/through the modules and trying to figure out where exactly or which module needed replacing, oh and of course they have to add in "and we probably don't have it in stock". Oh well, freight is slow here, freightliner custom chassis is having a parts issue of some sorts I am told and there are no loads out of there (which is the dedicated account I am on). I have hometime scheduled for Friday that I will be taking regardless so I am not sweating it too bad. Just annoying.
     
  6. bab1369

    bab1369 Light Load Member

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    Apr 14, 2013
    Laurens, SC
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    Today has been pretty fun so far. Got to see what the High Point run is like, well half of it anyways, as I ran a load of buses up this morning then over to Clayton, NC to Caterpillar to pick up an empty trailer and head home for home time. Racing my clock to get back to Greer. In Greensboro on my thirty right now and it is gonna be close. Will suck to have to sleep in the truck so close to home but it is what it is. Truck finally got out of the shop last night after a day and a half of them looking at a computer to find the problem. Changed out a module and headlight is now working again.
     
  7. WitchingHour

    WitchingHour Road Train Member

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    Broomfield, CO
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    Clayton... I used to live maybe 10 minutes drive from the Caterpillar plant. I was off of NC42, albeit on the other side of US70. And where I lived was technically Garner, even though I was in Johnston County. I remember when I'd be hauling paving equipment, and I started seeing Swift flatbeds, which kinda irked me a little, because they sure as hell never ran me anywhere near that area when I drove for them.
    I always made it back for my home time. Swift used paper logs back then. I'm not admitting to anything, so conclude what you will.
     
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  8. bab1369

    bab1369 Light Load Member

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    Apr 14, 2013
    Laurens, SC
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    No conclusions here...you made it home and logs don't lie. Just the pencil that marks on them haha. I slid into Greer with 9 minutes left. Just got home a little while ago. Looks like Prime has most of the loads into the Cat plant there. Must have been 50 empties surrounding the one lonely Swift POS skateboard.
     
  9. WitchingHour

    WitchingHour Road Train Member

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    Broomfield, CO
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    Something must've changed... used to be, it was only O/Os and Keen Transportation you'd see pulling out of there. All the construction equipment I hauled with Swift was out of John Deere in.... Iowa... trying to remember the name of the town... right by the IL state line... hauled steel there in 2011, and another John Deere load out (albeit for a small fleet owner leased to CRST Malone this time)... I can remember Ottumwa, where we picked up a lot of farm equipment, but I can't remember the name of the other town for the life of me.
     
  10. bab1369

    bab1369 Light Load Member

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    Apr 14, 2013
    Laurens, SC
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    WitchingHour, after me telling you that I haven't been to Fleetwood, etc., my first load after home time last week delivered to Fleetwood in Decatur, IN. Picked up a coil and came back down for a live load three stack of chassis to head back to Sturgis. I like that Fleetwood run, a nice one day run if one has the hours. While driving just north of Cincinatti on the way to Decatur Monday I noticed a lot of black smoke off to the northwest. Flipped the radio over to 700 AM and heard that AK Steel was on fire in Middletown and several departments were on scene. I knew that I would be sent either there or Precision after my Decatur delivery due to being so close so I was really hoping for a pickup at Precision not knowing what would happen with AK. Well, soon after I get a preplan for pickup at AK on Tuesday at 1600. I'm thinking, this is gonna suck. Anyways, drop of the chassis and head over to Middletown, get to AK just before 1530 and things appear to be running smoothly. I got in and out of there in less than 2 hours, could not believe it. The fire was contained to a fairly small area I was told by the crane operator and not much actual damage done, mostly liquid that was actually burning. I hear horror stories from people getting stuck for hours at AK but I have been lucky thus far and have been able to be in and out in a reasonable amount of time, every time. The current load picked up Friday at Precision but does not deliver until Monday afternoon. So I'm chilling and will have a fresh clock Monday to bang out some runs for a few weeks. Oh, and am currently hooked to one of our new trailers and it has an ABS sensor going twitchy causing the ABS light in the tractor (for the trailer) to come on and off randomly. Hoping that it's just the rain I ran through most of last week and that as it dries out this weekend there will be no real issue. Either way, if it's on Monday it will get looked at.
     
  11. bab1369

    bab1369 Light Load Member

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    Apr 14, 2013
    Laurens, SC
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    Anyone out there into archery, or hunting in general? Took advantage of my reset to upgrade my bow. I switched back to a compound after being traditional only for ten years. I just do not have the time now to practice like I need to in order to maintain my form an accuracy. I got a Bear Encounter last year and went to the new Cabela's in Greenville, SC to get a new peep and wrist sling installed. I will have to play with my sights next hometime as my 20 yard pin is now hitting dead on at 10 and my 30 is dead on at 20 with the 40 at 30. Cannot wait to get back in the woods this fall.
     
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