Post Gordon ~ Thoughts, Commentary & Reflections

What the Mechanic Did that I Didn't...

Chilly this morning, about 22 degrees, sunny, crunchy. Paid $2.09 in Ellettsville for gas last night. Would normally have filled at a price like that, but with $1.84 at Indiana/KY border as leading indicator, figured 5 gals will be fine. May drop further, you know.

(Is it worth trouble, even if price drops 10-cents/gallon? The trouble for extra fuel stop? You know, buy 10 gals--save $1 if price drops 10-cents. Same question with regard to $$$ Bright One thinks he saves free-footing. Free footing does seem to drop speed and if you drop your speed, your fuel consumption drops. What if you just set your cruise lower? Same difference? Dunno. Just dunno yet... )

Friday we brought some rental tractors from the Indy terminal to cover the upcoming busy weekend. Then Saturday, mine wouldn't start. Started off, boom!, for the mechanic. It was a slap forehead moment. Hadn't plugged it in, neither did other driver. Wasn't especially cold over night, upper 40's. His started just fine, of course. Of course.

After trying to start it a few times I plugged it in just the same. I'd spin the starter for 10-15 seconds at a time, wait the same and try again. Then it hit right after I'd gotten off the phone with Terminal Boss who was calling road service. Apparently Reed the Mechanic, who lives a short distance, was out of town or unavailable. Dunno.

Didn't run long, enough to warm up a little, yes. But when I let the auto-shutoff kill it, wouldn't start again. Bad words. Bad words. Bad words!! So Ascher Fleet Service came out as the truck, hooked to trailer, sat with hood tilted open like was looking down to pick something up off the ground.

The mechanic turned the key on, listened for the fuel pump, which is located on the driver side of this (I think it was ISX) engine just in from the fuel filter. We could hear it. Then he climbed half up into the seat leaning over with foot pressed hard on the clutch and gave it a crank. Boom!!

Nothing to troubleshoot. Running. He used the cruise to turn the rpm's up just enough to stop the auto-shutoff from killing the engine.

Just for P's and Q's did a couple laps around the yard and then went on my way. Anyone who has owned a waterboxer (for example, Volkswagen Westfalia camper) has had the experience of fuel relays going bad. I just threw mine away, installed a kill-switch up near the driver and a cross-over wire that replaced the relay. Turn on, could hear fuel pump run. Turn off, fuel pump stops. Won't start unless you flip hidden switch.

"What was wrong?" Sunday Driver asked over the cell. "Driver didn't know how to start truck," I answered. "Nah," said Sunday Driver, "You got a small air leak in the line's why it wouldn't start until you primed the line with the key on. Small air leak, Victor."

Yeah, that would do it. On my Cat 955 track loader, cleaning the little in-line filter, sometimes did not get air-tight connection first time and wouldn't start.

And that's what you want in a Big Brother. Someone who doesn't want to let it be your fault...



//Got 5 eggs out of the nesting box this morning from Saturday and Sunday. 2 were small, from the Buckeye. One was a large Comet egg. 2 from the reds.

Breakfast is $3 Wal-Mart frozen 'Mexican' pizza. Yeah, I know...

 

Get to meet ampm wayne tomorrow. He's on the road today, will chat with him tonight or sometime today. Both going to St. Louis, his usual run and follow him out. He'll have one early stop but can get further directions from him.

Very cool!

You may recall Wayne's an O/O, been with company 4 years here, since Day One in Bloomington.

 

Yeah, I can see much more a challenge loaded (free-footing). My buddy Tim with LS (Landstar) and his wife were at Chambers (in Spencer) for the Monday night $6 buffet, has plans for a new Charge Air Cooler this week and expensive air filter. Has both boost gauge and pyrometer and works both, says anything below 6 mpg and you're losing money.

Doesn't worry much about arriving slow.

Worries more about arriving too fast and burning his profit up the stack.

Got directions from Wayne as he's leaving a lot earlier than me. Run out 70 to exit such-and-such, 18 miles south, then 3 miles west, if pass expensive home development gone too far. Look for not-well-maintained utility road. Says if I don't go past on first try, probably first driver to get it first time.

He'll be available by phone if I need help anyway.

Hey! That's what Big Brothers are for, right?

 

Today's tractor, let's call it '77', a 2013 Mack day cab, started the day with 246,000 miles. The one thing I DON'T like about these Mack trucks is a super-sensitive city horn. Just look at it and it goes off. Don't think of leaning on the steering wheel to do anything, sheesh!

Got up about 15 before my 5 am alarm went off, by 6:30 am passed the flashing yellows at Flatwood Road, had my medium coffee in hand from the Ellettsville McDonald's and pulled into the yard a little before 7 am. Pulled out by 7:15 am. By then, Wayne had been on the road 2 hours already.

Slipped the display over to show boost pressure on the way back. Typically 17-18 at 1400 and 62 mph--yes, on cruise. Oh, yeah! Wayne's good directions, which I did not bother to write down, brought me right to the receiver, east of St. Louis. Met Wayne, saw his pristine, fire engine red Western Star but did not get properly introduced. (Uh, to his truck... )

It's still all good!

 

Turned 480 plus miles today, took an extra 30-minute break that Wayne didn't and pulled into the yard with an hour left (for both 14 and 11).

Wayne started 2 hours earlier, turned 600 miles (approx), 4 stops and pulled into the yard just as his 14 were expiring, and 30 minutes before me.

I left the receiver BEFORE he did... before his last stop, too.

He runs a little faster than me, uh huh. I'm at Carson BBQ, Ellettsville, right now, 8 pm. Wayne's probably been home a good 45 minutes already! Supposed to be cold tonight, too. He's working tomorrow; I'm off.

A good thing!

Uh, good that I'm off. Many of our drivers, like Wayne, run 6 days/week. When it's available. Takes a lot of stamina to drive truck...

Tim from LS (Landstar) and I made the usual jokes last night about truckers like us who only work half-days--12 hours or so. Still, this job pays fairly well, and today's run "pays about a cheeseburger more than Fort Campbell, Victor," according to Wayne. Thought I might have enough fuel to make Effingham, but didn't make sense to try. Fueled at x41 Pilot on I-64, then continued cross-country to I-69, watching the boost all the way. Had the SR 45 race track again into Bloomington, this time with cruise set at 53 mph, which is even better than 50 mph (how I ran it last night).

Probably cut the non-$$ (not optimized mileage) down to around half, about a minute total--maybe a little more--from end of I-69 into Bloomington.

While the boost ranges from 1 to an average of 17-18, got as high as 38 without dropping out of $$ (optimized mileage)!! Not always, though. Sometimes dropped out at 34, then came back to $$ in a second or two. Could I do that with my foot? Dunno. Doubt it. That's a computer working.

Next time think I'll run out SR 45 > I-69 > I-64 so can fuel wherever looks best, Effingham, Terre Haute or Brazil, and come back on I-70.

Getting more familiar with it. Used the same 53 mph cruise from Spencer on US 231 up to Cloverdale this morning, a 50 mph road on the hilliest climb out of the Owen Valley Basin and then 55 mph after that. Of course, I know that road really well...

Gas in Ellettsville did drop 10-cents today, $1.99/gal now.

Filled up tonight... by the way, 2-inch thick pork chop, $5.49. Must weigh a ton! Wow! Sign on the wall, "I started with nothing... I still have most of it left..." (Owner Jeff says pork chop's a full pound, give or take.)

 

Law Enforcement on the Road Today...

On the way up US 231 to I-70, north of Carp saw red lights up ahead. In front of the Sheriff was a disabled SUV, a bloody stain and a fallen deer lying dead on the shoulder. Okay, Round 1.

Round 2. As you pass thru Terre Haute there's a very, very short section of 60 mph. Figured I'd just stay at my 62 mph cruise, then saw the flicker of red lights again. Dropped it down to 61. The Mack is ridiculously easy to adjust cruise up or down. Digital. Saw the cruiser bringing Fastenal to the side of the road, had passed me a little earlier, not going all that fast.

Apparently fast enough.

Round 3. At about MM (mile marker) 129 an HFO (whatever outfit that is), went for a jaunt into the median, drops, I bet, 6 feet or more. Kept it upright. A good thing if you're going to have that kind of bad morning. Couldn't see any reason for it. So far, no slow down on any of these although wrecker was in left lane as they prepared to bring HFO out.

Round 4. Coming home on I-64 a Commercial Vehicle Enforcement SUV had an O/O pulled over. Looked like the whole 9 proverbials about to come down on that truck driver...

Round 5. Generally, there's not a whole lot of what I would call gratuitous (unnecessary) law enforcement around here, too busy and stretched too thin with emergency calls. Just the same, a town unit had a pickup in the big, bright lights coming out of town and a 2nd unit just ahead of me looked like he was considering pulling the guy in front of him over. Didn't.

 

Learning to Translate Brilliance...

"...no difference in engine's thermodynamic efficiency... " Um, uh, yeah, right, Bright One. But like, who's mind would go there?

Well, yes, Bright One's mind would. Obviously. And I get it, didn't even have to Google it THIS TIME! Sometimes I do have to Google him! He's up a level of abstraction from the rest of us. My water balloon will break on impact; his has 'disruptive structural stress' on it. Okay, okay.

So 'thermo' for heat, burning, plus 'dynamic' gets you how something burns, uh, like fuel. Sure, sure, Bright One.

No difference. Engine burns diesel whether on cruise or free-footing, gotcha!! No 'thermodynamic difference'. I feel so much better now.

Not like you threw a couple cottonwood logs into your wood stove (burns dirty, low heat, smokey) instead of the good hard wood, the oak and hickory from out back (both burn hot and clean). Yeah, there's a thermodynamic difference there, yeah, sure. Different thermodynamic efficiency.

Yuppo...

 

Forced Induction...

Now that I've poked some fun at Double Yellow (Bright One), fact is I know zippo about turbochargers, boost, wastegates, CACs (Charge Air Coolers, otherwise known as intercoolers). Zippo...

At Chambers Restaurant Monday night, when Tim with Landstar regaled the difficulties he had buying his new charge air cooler, I didn't need help on that part. Every time he called this outfit they gave him different versions of the warranty/guarantee. Lifetime. 3 years. 5 years. 8 years. Every time he spoke to someone he got a different story. And the price changed. $330, $550, $800 and up. Way, way up, too. Same unit!!

You can spend a LOT of money on a CAC...

Tim finally made his purchase up in Indy from someone else but hasn't picked it up yet. Trying to be a little sly and not expose my ignorance, I asked Tim how long he thought it would take to install. "Oh, not long. Maybe 3, at most 5 hours if we run into some trouble." My hope that he would explain the install and inform me some fell flat. Finally I just asked.

"Where is it? What does it do?" Tim patiently explained the charge air cooler's location in front of the radiator and I half listened to his slightly above my pay grade explanation. Furthering that will make a morning's project.

More to follow...

(Got to take care of some chickens.)