Taking the plunge. My journey as an O/O.

Discussion in 'Ask An Owner Operator' started by Farmerbob1, Jan 7, 2019.

  1. Farmerbob1

    Farmerbob1 Road Train Member

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    Truck has been behaving with no DPF issues for about 4000 miles now.

    Starting a 34 now, will see if the opti-idle system starts an automatic regen cycle tomorrow like it normally does.
     
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  3. Farmerbob1

    Farmerbob1 Road Train Member

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    No DPF issues during the 34 or during the first few hours after finishing the 34.

    Was shut down in Pontoon Beach, IL though, and the weather was nice enough that the opti-idle barely came on. Gonna have to keep watching it.
     
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  4. Farmerbob1

    Farmerbob1 Road Train Member

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    Well, a couple good things happened recently.

    First, during my last 34, my truck successfully started an automatic regen. I still got DPF/DEF system errors the first day driving, but did not get to derate status before the errors cleared. Ash is building up.

    Second, did a bit over 13,400 miles in April, which had me first in my fleet according to the driver scorecard. Not sure if that is all o/o's or just Shaffer o/o's.

    Still, nice to be getting good miles.
     
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  5. Farmerbob1

    Farmerbob1 Road Train Member

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    So, I decided to try and get my DPF filters cleaned while taking a 34 in Lincoln, NE.

    I was going to pay for part or all of the cleaning with the remnants of my Crete maintenance account, but I found out that most of it had been drained out during my last home time because I was out for more than 10 days due to delays having the truck serviced.

    That is the first time my maintenance account was drained to pay Crete for weekly expenses. It was also the last time, as I requested the account be fully drained and sent to me in my next settlement.

    So the first plan to have Crete do the work failed, as Crete cleverly does not allow o/o drivers to pay them directly for shop expenses.

    I decided to try a Lincoln area Freightliner service center. No luck there. They advised it would be 4 days before they could even remove the filters, and then the filters would need to go to Omaha for cleaning, as the Lincoln Freightliner did not have a DPF kiln.

    I called several other public shops in Lincoln. None of them had a kiln. They all outsource the work to Omaha. None of them could clean DPF filters in less then several days, at best.

    I considered actually going to Omaha, but I had already paid for a non-refundable stay in a nice hotel. A nicer hotel than I normally stay in, because there's some sort of sporting event happening in town, and all the less expensive hotels were booked solid for one of the nights I needed.

    So, I am now finishing a 34 in a comfy $150 per night hotel that I didn't need to pay for at all because I ended up not being able to have any work done on my truck.

    *sigh*

    I now know to plan much more carefully in advance for DPF filter cleanings. I'm going to hope the truck will go another 15k miles or so before it gets to be a problem that doesn't resolve with a manual regen.
     
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  6. Cat sdp

    Cat sdp . .

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    You didn’t notice that those weekly expenses had been paid............
     
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  7. Farmerbob1

    Farmerbob1 Road Train Member

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    I only see my settlements every two months or so when I get home for hometime. I do watch and make sure that the deposits are roughly what I'm expecting, but was not watching closely enough to notice I was paid *MORE* than expected in my first settlement after returning from hometime.

    It is *possible* to see settlements through some sort of interface on the Crete website, but it's always been too much of a pain in the ### to try to figure out yet another bass-ackwards Crete electronic application.

    If the numbers are off enough to warrant me looking closely while I'm on the road, I will muddle through the horrible interface and figure it out. I've done it three times since I first started working for Crete a few years back.

    I'd really prefer for Crete to simply email me a copy of my settlement as well as snail mailing me a copy, but the Crete team seems to be incapable of figuring out how to efficiently use email systems to improve communications with their drivers. We *STILL* have to *FAX* DOT inspection reports to the safety department, for example.
     
  8. iraqralph43

    iraqralph43 Road Train Member

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    Last 2 D.O.T. inspections I had..took a photo of it...then sent to email address safety gave me
     
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  9. Cat sdp

    Cat sdp . .

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    Enjoy the room .... pizza and adult beverages.
     
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  10. Farmerbob1

    Farmerbob1 Road Train Member

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    A roadside/scale inspection, or a shop inspection?
     
  11. iraqralph43

    iraqralph43 Road Train Member

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    A roadside / scale inspection I've emailed it to ...driverdotinspections@cretecarrier.com.....shop D.O.T. inspection...the shop has sent it to Crete
     
    Last edited: May 8, 2021
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