Snackbar is chillin'....at Shaffer

Is there a difference? I don’t think the current DOT guidance makes a distinction on whether one goes there intentionally or not. No one has mentioned anything to me about intentionally going to a shipper or receiver knowing I won’t have the hours to leave. It’s almost encouraged.

Hell, I don’t even need to be out of hours to use PC. My company’s position is that if we start our break at a customer and they won’t let us stay after loading or unloading is complete, than we can use PC to leave and finish the break at a nearby ts.

 

I’d be fine if the regs were changed back. Grey areas can lead to abuse.

If it’s illegal, I hope I get pulled in and inspected. Being able to tell log audit that I got a violation for following company policy would be interesting. This will hopefully happen sooner rather than later, easier to fix bad habits early on.

 

I drove 1,300 miles in one sitting a few weeks ago on an emergency load following the winter storm Uri. I ran from MN to TX on PC per the FMCSA rules, though I would have also been able to run my clock and simply note the log also per the FMCSA.

In the end it will always be a judgement call and you’re always at the mercy of the inspector. One inspector in North Dakota swears you must return to where you start your PC regardless of how many miles you drive and reason, he will write you up because that’s the way he sees it...and there’s nothing any of us can do about it.

 

Its not really freightliner. It's your company that doesn't have a clue about setting all of that up so it's not as frustrating. Mine does some of that but I can downshift and I can drive 70 with my foot and not get slowed down every time some truck gets in front of me. I don't usually use the cruise control anymore because then I have to deal with the braking for idiotic #### all day long but whenever I get ahead of the BS and nothing is going on in front then I set it and roll for a while.

 

Yeah it’s like he said, they just can’t tune it worth a crap. I’ve had 2 different automatics when I was OTR for the same company act totally different. The difference? Other than one being a Mack and the other a Volvo (let’s face it, they’re basically the same truck now powertrain wise), the Mack was governed at 81 and was a rental where as the Volvo was governed at 72. When the truck is allowed to actually flex its capabilities and shift exactly how it was designed to, they’re amazing. I even had a friend get a rental Cascadia that wasn’t governed. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the man more pissed when he had to give that thing back.

 

So true, if you ever look at the actual programming guide for the transmissions now you’d see just how many parameters can be adjusted. To many companies focus purely on fuel efficiency without any concern given to drivability.

 

Wen I first got my current truck I couldn't keep my foot on the pedal with cruise on. Then I got my first service and now I can. Overrides the e coast and adaptive cruise bs. I haven't played around with the manual shifting to much. What I hate is that it starts in 1st from a stop.