Good Night From II

Yup, and it has been the most reliable truck anyone could ask for.
Shop time with this truck isn't even an issue with me. I'm all too happy to bring it in whenever it needs something.

I'm in Whitestown, IN tonight at the Love's. I pick up tomorrow afternoon at Amazon and deliver to Amazon in KY tomorrow evening. A 1900 live unload, so we'll see how that goes.
Then I pick up the next day about 40 miles away in OH for a load going to Houston, TX.
That should set me up to get to Phoenix to trade my truck.

The only problem might be my hours. I'm not sure that I have enough rolling in to deliver in Houston on the 24th.
There was no delivery time on the pplan until after I accepted it. It will be very tight.

 

Had a Volvo for my first truck here, only had it a month or two before it was retired, but it the best of the bunch IMO, the Cascadia(Cummins) I had was a beast in the mountains, and this 680 is definatly comfy, but gutless compared to either and so far the most problematic.

The Volvo thus far has had the best layout, and the best suspension. It floated over what the Cascadia and the 680 will buck you over. Not to mention the steering, could have turned that wheel with a pinky. Even the placement of the brake valves was well thought out in the Volvo, right where you have the advantage of direct body weight.

I've never figured out why more drivers don't like them, if they are properly maintained and the suspension is in proper adjustment they are hard to beat. No to mention the Cascadias and Volvos are the easiest trucks to back as you can see better from the the drivers seat. Though oddly I swear the trailer reacts quicker in the 680, better steering cut maybe, or 5th wheel placement.

Hope you get a worthy replacement. Sounds like +1 strikes again, granted Its a fact of life in Refrigerated, alot of the times they get are dooable on paper, not so much practical, like getting me to Brooklyn with 1hr left. Luckily I got that one pushed out.


I've got back to back D&H, Marshal MO to Russelville AR, to Streetsboro OH. Quick as I feel like with a comfy window for running recap.

 

There are a lot of things I like about the Volvo's, but I've never been in a 680.
How is the storage in them? The Cascadia I had was a bit lacking and I had to store a lot of my food under the bunk in a box.

 

I would say better than average. The cabinets are a lot different from what you would find in most trucks. Hard to describe. They are all different sizes. I easily moved from the Cascadia to the 680 with room to spare. They have the cabinets up front like some Volvos had over the drivers and passengers seat. Though not as big.

Pictures might be easiest. Under the bunk is about the same or slightly larger than the Cascadia, it's shaped differently underneath. You can put stuff on the very tops of the cabinets (every Kenworth I've seen does this)

Definatly better air vents in the bunk than the Cascadia. All sorts of lights all over the place, red light above the dash that shines on the controls if you wanna run really dark. Red light on the floorboard also handy at night. A light check switch which hits your brakes lights and all lights while your doing your pre trip. It also has a thermostat on the AC which will roughly maintain a certain temperature up front.

Also the drivers seat is smart. It automatically lowers when you get out of the seat, and goes back to the same height. Once you sit in it, a cool feature, but takes some getting used too.

10inch sub under the bunk and better sound all around.

All doors powerlock, and there is a master lock switch in the bunk that locks the doors if you forget too. They actually have emergency doors in the bunk (which I use for loading and unloading my stuff, instead of making 15 trips over the seats.

The side windows actually let enough air flow in more temperate times, so you can actually get away without having to idle as much, it's nice to have a good natural breeze flowing every now and then.

And I've actually used the passenger side bunk window 3 times already to expedite my blindsides. I've only been in this truck like a month. It was a LP truck that got added to the company fleet (when I signed in it gave me line5 though I dare not use it.)

My favorite thing about it is that sleeper has a more open feel to it. It's just different in a lot of ways.

 

Thanks FerrissWheel, that was a great post.
Now I'm really hoping I get a 680.

 

@Moosetek13, You probably have a good shot at getting one, seen a bunch around lately. The tractor assignment guy in Columbus offered it to me right away. And the Tractor assignment guy in Edwardsville (had a smoke with him) told me they are supposed to only go to experienced drivers.

 

You're going to get a prostar...

 

Thanks a lot, Mystic.

I know you don't like me now.

 

I broke the Cascadia Duncan assigned me to now I have a 2016 T680 with an automatic. MUCH easier to deal with in SoCal traffic. I miss the control of a manual when doing a D&H and at the ports and it's a confused pig climbing the 1 actual hill (I-10 east of Coachella) I have to deal with 3 times a week.

 

I'm about 1/2 mile away from my pick up in Monroe, OH, but that isn't until 1800 tomorrow.
It's going to be a very long and short day. A long wait, but when I pick it up it is right back here for the night. I'm not going to waste time in Cincinnati rush hour traffic with the hours I have on my 70.