Maverick .... from a wife's perspective

Exactly right. I couldn't remember all the bits he had to swap over but I knew it was more than just tarps and that it took him a while.

I got a bit of clarification on Redcoat's goal to break 7.0 on his fuel mileage on his tired truck, which he found out is actually a 2005 after talking to another Mav driver who had been with the company for 16 years. The guy told him that the 2005-06 model trucks were a bear to get decent fuel mileage out of so now Redcoat doesn't feel quite so bad.

There has been a bit of discussion in this thread about manual vs. automatic mode of driving with some swearing by one and the rest swearing by the other. I think one of you said to compare the RPMs when the truck shifts in automatic and to see if you can shift in a lower RPM in manual to save fuel. Redcoat tried that. His truck shifts at around 1500 RPMs for the most part. When he tries to shift manually at a lower RPM (like around 1300-1400), there is some kind of warning thingy that beeps at him for being too low. He says there isn't enough torque or whatever to pull it. He said this truck won't pull the gentle uphill grades without jumping the RPMs up and when he tries to change gears, it just won't pull it so he ends up going back to where it was to start with. I know this is a bad description but I'm sure you all know what I'm trying to say.

RC spent the night at the yard in Madison and was going to wash the truck when he arrived but it was closed. That surprised him. He was wondering why they don't leave it open all night.

Anyway, he's back on the road again heading toward KC.

Stay tuned.

 

Latest update.

Redcoat made his delivery on time in Riverside, MO, then got a dispatch to Ft. Smith, AR, to pick up a load of steel headed to Jackson, MI. MapQuest says 899 miles but his dispatch says 852 so that's actually not too bad considering the distance. He spent the night in the yard at Ft. Smith last night and is scheduled to pick up the load this morning at 9:30. The first part of his dispatch says 'no tarps' but further on down in the instructions it says shiny steel must be double tarped. RC will get clarification on that once he's loaded.

Redcoat is curious where mizdageeragn puts 7 tarps and roughly 30 pieces of wood on the tractor....

Stay tuned.

 

Latest update.

Redcoat is almost to Jackson, MI with his load from Ft. Smith. He spent Wednesday night in the Madison yard for them to have a look at his brakes which were grabbing badly and then not releasing completely causing them to overheat.

Thursday morning he left after they did the work and then spent the night in the yard at Gary where he finally got a CD player installed for his radio that will also accommodate his XM radio and MP3 player. Originally there was a cassette player there. So Redcoat now has all the options for his tunage.

This morning he left for the last leg to Jackson. The weather has been miserable all the way. Just dreary, cloudy days and misty rain interspersed with downpours.

Mizdageeragn you'll have to wait for an answer from one of the other Mav drivers on what kind of wood they carry and how many and which tarps. That info is beyond my scope of knowledge.

Other from that, just another wonderful day in Maverick Land.

Stay tuned.