FCC--Fremont Contract Carriers

That Connecticut load is up hill down hill sharp twisty narrow Back roads around a lake where a semi wasn’t Mint to be plus threw a state park and…. To add more drama truck restricted roads that I was told is strictly enforced! I was told one FCC driver has already gotten busted for being on one of the truck restricted roads . One way in one way out . you just have to crawl going up to the shipper and back out

 

Had a tire develop a severe leak yesterday and discovered it during Post Trip… called in and set up a repair for today as I was visiting mom in Illinois for a day. (This load had a lot of extra time in it and wasn’t due until Monday morning so mom got to see her #1 Son again)

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… FCC is so easy to work with when it comes to OTR repairs.

First, the Shops actually TOUCH the Trailers every 8 weeks or so (or at least try to) so our equipment is normally in good shape before we hit the road with a load … so we aren’t dealing with “Wear n Tear” issues while OTR but rather just issues that come up like a leaky tire from road hazard.

Second, when issues do arise, ONE CALL and things are moving. I never feel like I’m on hold for hours waiting to get approval… I’m not debating the issue with someone on the other end of the phone. And I’ve actually met the guys face to face that I talk to during a breakdown. So I know who I’m talking to. (If I had issues I know where to find them to chat)

Third, I must credit the Drivers here as well. I’ve never touched a trailer and thought W T F left this Trailer like this for me to deal with. And because of that, I’d have a very hard time passing the headache on to another Driver here.

so in summary,
FCC Shops A+
FCC Breakdown A+
FCC Drivers A+

Which means fewer headaches while OTR!!!

 

Sounds like a good load to drop at a local delivery LTL company and let them deliver with a box truck… LOL … the load I had coming back from the NW the last time had like 15 deliveries on it… they had me drop it at a LTL company to break it down and ship out individually to the customers.

 

Did you say A Man ?

 

Yeah I stayed at the Petro in Ontario plenty of times when I went out that way to California. I never saw any FCC trucks there (there very well could've been some FCC trucks there and I just never saw or paid attention to them). They must be parked at the TA I guess? Because if you're stuck in the Ontario area the only choices are the TA and the Petro and a few food places that have very limited parking (and good luck finding parking at that new Flying J they built in 2020 down the road lol, that place is always full).

I live close to @MidWest_MacDaddy, he's down in SC and I'm in the greater Charlotte NC area. If I ever got on with FCC and if they ever wanted me to come aboard, I would make it clear that I like to drive the Upper Midwest and out West and that I wouldn't be happy just running the Southeast. Running the Southeast is fine, but running ONLY or 75% of the time in the Southeast wouldn't be ideal for me. I like to mix it up if I'm doing OTR and the Midwest is probably my favorite region to drive in due to less traffic and a better availability of parking.

My old company was based out of the Upper Midwest and I only came back to NC when I was coming home. Other than that they had no problems running me in the Upper Midwest and out West since I always stayed out for 4-6 weeks at a time. But my main running lanes were the Upper Midwest, down to the Southeast and back up to the Upper Midwest again. Every once in a while they sent me out West, both to the Pacific Northwest and to California.

I used to see the FCC trucks on I-80 in Iowa all the time.

 

When do they change the steer tires down, on what tread length?

At my last OTR company I got them to change out my steers at 4/32 in October and coming up on winter season. I told them I didn't feel safe driving them down to 2/32 doing the winter driving in the Upper Midwest and in the mountains. So they changed them out. I told them I would've rode them down to 2/32 if it was April going into the late spring/early summer but I didn't want to do that in the late fall going into early winter.

Are FCC sticklers for riding the steers down to 2/32 or will they change them out a few tread lengths above 2/32 if winter is coming up/in the middle of winter? Or haven't you guys ever had that situation come up?

 

4/32 is the law on steer tires

 

On my truck I don’t actually remember the exact miles but around 200,000 + The shop put new steer tires on new front shocks whole bunch of other stuff . They have a mileage program chart that they follow on maintenance is on trucks providing everything is still legal and within specs
FCC has my opinion the best maintenance program of anywhere I have worked at on keeping these trucks up and running
FCC doesn’t do like a lot of other companies wait till either something breaks , falls apart and leave you setting on the side road. Having a tire blowout or some other issues and leave you alongside the road is gonna happen no matter what but FCC does a hell of a job trying to void it

 

Plus the don’t run recaps! Been here a while, and the only tire issue was a bolt caused a flat.

 

Sorry I had a major brain freeze when I wrote that last night lol. I remember it being an inch or two away from the legal limit so it must've been at 5'32' or 6'32', it was close to the limit though heading into winter.