Snackbar is chillin'....at Shaffer

Discussion in 'Discuss Your Favorite Trucking Company Here' started by supersnackbar, Oct 26, 2020.

  1. Farmerbob1

    Farmerbob1 Road Train Member

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    At least one of the things he has been complaining about is very legit. Crete has made a very poor choice to use opti-idle software in their trucks instead of APUs.

    A few years back, that wasn't as much of a problem as it is today. Freightliner's old opti idle system with a dedicated thermostat actually worked without requiring a top notch technician to deep dive for problems.

    Modern opti-idle systems are a nightmare. They have consolidated controls to eliminate a dedicated A/C thermostat, and the electronic options and connections are far more complex in the truck.

    When opti-idle was first picked up by Crete, it might have been a money - saver. These days, it is not. Shop downtime and drivers leaving the company because Crete is too stubborn to put chainflaps (mount chains on racks over the mudflaps) and move an APU into the position currently used for chains. Then there is the new model A/C compressors which do not work well at 600 RPM instead requiring 900 RPM for maximum cooling. That's another cost increase for the system.

    I have had few of the other issues Snackbar has had outside the opti-idle crap, but when your sleeper gets to 85 degrees every night because your company is foolish enough to use opti-idle instead of APU's, and they can't make yours work right, it makes everything else look much, much worse.
     
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  3. supersnackbar

    supersnackbar Road Train Member

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    The excuse that Deland's #2 said Lincoln uses isn't a lack of frame space, it's a weight issue because not all of the lower 48 we run has the APU weight exemption. I tried to explain that I am very rarely close enough to 80k that an APU's weight would put me over. He then went to the ''well, when your name is on the side of the truck, then you can decide to equip the company's trucks with APU's...until then we have to work with what they buy"...which reminded me of what a company "yes" man he was. But my final comment to him about it is, "they need to quit pretending they are a driver friendly company...but telling perspective drivers that their comfort doesn't matter and that all they care about is stuffing their wallet at all costs wouldn't keep the orientation clases filled to capacity..." He wasn't amused.
     
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  4. RussianBearTruckeR

    RussianBearTruckeR Heavy Load Member

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    My friend over at magnum Fargo has a Pete with apu and is sitting in boise id due to apu breakdown and the paacar network not having the needed parts so while biden licks his ice cream she sits
     
  5. Deadwood

    Deadwood Heavy Load Member

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    Here is the run down of the APU exemptions state-by-state (as of 2016).

    APU weight-exemption guide, state by state

    The states without any exemption:
    California
    District of Columbia
    Hawaii (lol)
    Kentucky
    North Carolina
    Rhode Island
     
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  6. supersnackbar

    supersnackbar Road Train Member

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    Yeah, other than Hawaii, Rhode Island and inside the loop of D.C. I see the rest fairly regularly...well, I use to, as in, Cali was a while a go, back when I was running a lot harder than I am now.
     
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  7. newbietrucker91

    newbietrucker91 Road Train Member

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    Looks like I'll get to see how bad the Shaffer side is now. Just got word my return to the Red/Blue has been approved. If Shaffer OTR pays the same as when I was doing the dedicated walmart then ill be happy.
     
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  8. supersnackbar

    supersnackbar Road Train Member

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    I'm sorry you had to come back. This will be my final go round with any Acklie company. I am kicking myself for breaking my #1 rule (coming back to a company I left)
     
  9. Farmerbob1

    Farmerbob1 Road Train Member

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    They could eliminate the weight issue easily enough. Switching to supersingles drops tractor weight by about 400 lbs. That's more than APU hardware weighs.

    Crete doesn't like to change though, and when they do change, they will stay with a failed choice until it starts to hurt them.

    This can be good in some ways, but frequently it is not.
     
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  10. newbietrucker91

    newbietrucker91 Road Train Member

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    Local work just was not my cup of tea and Crete/Shaffer has paid me the most out of any other company I worked for.

    On a plus side for coming back so soon, I dont have to go through orientation, take a road test, or do a physical. Just have to take a drug test, and looks like it will be Monday when they tell me where to go.
     
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  11. Farmerbob1

    Farmerbob1 Road Train Member

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    Sure. Everything can break, but the problem with the Opti-Idle system is that it is controlled by a Rube Goldberg spaghetti code control system with a too-simple mechanical control, AND failsafe mechanisms that only consider runtime rather than temperature readings for mandatory shutdowns.

    In short, APU's can fail, but Freightliner's Opti-Idle system is MADE from fail.
     
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