Problems With 2012 Cascadia and Schneider Maintenance

I've had my 2012 Cascadia for 3 months, picked it up with 368k miles and it now has 402k, and it's left me stranded 5 times since I got it.

First was #6 inj died, truck completely died running 60 mph down the highway on the 476 in Pa. Sat on the side of the road for 4 hours waiting for a tow. 3 days later, #5 inj went out. Didn't die this time but was told to get it to Carlysle 80 miles away. They had it a 1 1/2 days, was told comp was bad. Went to pick it up next day, was told they could not duplicate the problem and the engineers said to run with it. Even though I brought it in with fault codes and the eng missing.

Next, had to be jumped 2 days in a row, they changed 3 batts in West Memphis and was told I had too much stuff plugged in. I have a cooler plugged in and watch tv 2 hours before bed, I use no lights, have my own battery operated lights and that's it. Drove away. Batts started dying again 1/2 way thru the night, was told again that I had too much stuff plugged in. Also told them my bunk heater either will not turn on or dies about 4 hours into the night. Nothing done.

Then, I blew a rad hose on the New Mexico/Colorado line, called in to SEM and was told I would get a call back in 60-90 min, 3 1/2 hours later I got the call only to tell me they would have to find someone and to tell me to drive it a 1/2 mile up the road to get it off the highway. I said you do realize I blew a rad hose and lost all coolant? They said it should be fine, I said I'm pulling 40k lbs uphill. I then said I want it in writing because I had no coolant in the motor, they said leave it there. I sat there for 12 hours waiting on roadside repair. Did I mention my heater died 4 hours into it and the batts died 5 hours into? Also forgot to mention it was 12 degrees outside and all they said was bundle up. Once I got fixed at midnight, I drove it to the wide spot to get some sleep. Did I mention my truck will not idle below 20? I sat there for an hour in the seat idling my truck and pressing the clutch every 2 minutes to keep it from dying so I could get the interior temp up. Went to bed in double socks, sweat pants, sweat shirt, carhardt coat, winter gloves and stocking cap, under my comforter and sleeping bag. Woke up to 12 degrees in my truck. Made it 15 miles up the road only to see smoke coming out again. Pulled over in the rest area thinking I had an air bubble since I dumped all the coolant the night before. Released pressure from coolant bottle, restarted truck and had an EGR light. Sat there for 4 hours waiting for SEM again. Had me finish the load to Pueblo and then take it to a shop. They had it a day. I again told SEM about bunk heater and no idle. Got the truck back, parked at the Pilot and bunk heater started fine, but it shutdown again 3 hours later and would not restart.

Next load was headed back to OC in Dallas. 2 hours out of Dallas I got an emissions check eng light and proceeded to OC. Pulled up to gate and smoke rolling again. Pulled up to fuel island and smelled diesel fuel. Left a very nice trail all around the yard. They said it would be 4 days before they could look at it. I told my DBL to get me a rental car and I would go home over Christmas while they worked on it. They gave me a loaner truck, which had somebody else's stuff in it. They gave me another loaner, only problem with that one is that it was in Phoenix. My OPs Manager then pulled some strings and they got my truck in 2 days early. Had a cracked fuel rail, still nothing done to bunk heater and was told that maint cannot touch the sensors for idling..

Now I sit here in Va headed to Mehoopany, Pa to where the NorEaster is headed tonight and tomorrow. My truck still won't idle, my bunk heater still dies and my batts still only last 5 hours tops with now only my TV on for a couple hours before bed. I now unplug my cooler as soon as I shut it down.

I have been with Schneider since 28 Jan 2013, have never turned down a load and am averaging 2,700-3,000 miles per week if not more and have been to all but 7 states. Bonused all but the 1st quarter including the quarter that just ended. I have a great DBL who keeps me moving. Since I have had this truck, I figure I have lost $3-5k the past 3 months due to down time. I will see what happens the next couple of days as I head into the storm and see what my heater and batts do, as if it will change. This may be my last few weeks due to the crap I have put up with this POS truck.

I had a Columbia glider before this one which was a great truck. Only problem I had was the cruise kept cutting off and for 4 months it was worked on 4 times by 4 different OC's and they kept giving me #### about my overspeed. They said even though it was written up and documented that work was performed and still broke that my overspeed would still count against me because I could control that. I told them it was not on purpose and I was still getting 8 mpg's even with the overspeed. I asked if it was counting against me, what was the use in trying to control it. I was then told by our head DBL that if I wanted to get loaded I would control it, the next day my 2 loads out of Gary totaled 150 miles. They then took that truck to get it fixed and gave me this one. I wish I had it back. It ran and pulled so much better than this Cascadia

I take care of my trucks as if they are my own. I wash them out of my own pocket at least twice a month and run the cruise every trip. I am just tired of worrying whether or not I will get to where I'm going and if I will freeze to death or not.

 

Thanks. I have really enjoyed working with Schneider and have a great DBL, honestly she is. But with these problems with this truck, it is getting really difficult to enjoy it anymore. I am out of the Edwardsville OC and Al on the night shift maint does great there. I get the impression at times that of the truck is not out of their OC, that the OC's don't like working on the trucks.

My first batt issue was at the Fontana OC and it sat about a day and 1/2 because they were supposed to PM it while I was waiting to deliver. They never got the PM done and when I went to get it, it had to be jumped. That's all they did was jump it and never got concerned over why it had to be jumped. It was a couple days after that in Il that it had to be jumped 2 mornings in a arrow.

 

The cruise works for high idle to get it warmed up but does nothing to keep it going. We are supposed to be able to idle below 20 and above 70. I was told by a maint shop foreman that they could do nothing with the idle of the trucks, period. After my 12 degree stay in the truck, I told my DBL that I would not do that again, that they could either get me to a Freightliner dealer and get it fixed, get an OC to fix or they could pay for a hotel room on those nights. So far, I have not hit those temps again but I am headed to Pa in the morning and they are supposed to get some nasty weather the next couple of days so we shall see how it goes.

Sometimes the heater will not work at all, acts like it wants to and then shuts down which according to the book, it will do that if it senses a problem. Sometimes it will work for a couple of hours and sometimes last all night. I've had nights where the batt alarm sounds and the heater keeps plugging away. It has me stumped. I have even tried looking online to see if there is something I can do but have found nothing.

I also find it hard to believe that a truck that is designed to be lived in that one cannot have items plugged in nor use the lights and that the batts don't last thru the night.

I honestly believe that with all the tweaking and changing of the sensors and down tuning these trucks that Schneider does to them, it does nothing but damage these trucks in the long run. They come off the assembly line at optimal performance, they are not meant to be down tuned.

 

It won't even idle when I'm bobtailed. So far tonight at 5 degrees it is idling so I guess that may be the magic number. I had 3 codes set on the heater the last time it happened and thy were for no flame detected and something else, can't remember right now. But they won't even look at it when I ask about it. The past couple of days is the first time it has been as cold as it was that night I broke down so the cab has been staying warm enough for me at night, above 50 anyway. Last night it did fine and I have been unplugging everything when I park so the batts have even lasted.

I know when I had to have it jumped in Fontana, the pos jump point under the hood had corrosion on it.