Kivi Bro's Open Deck done Right

After enjoying some time at home I’m back at it. Picked up a load of cable after getting two air leaks fixed in the truck, one on the air dryer and the other on the transmission.

The load paid out very well, the catch, delivered just East of downtown NYC…ah well. Dropped the first stop in Pittsburgh and the second in NY and then reloaded in Philly at the port headed to the twin cities in MN. At least it will be a good pay week, especially if I can grab another load by weeks end.

To recognize us for driver appreciation month, Kivi are reimbursing us up to $25 for a meal out, hmmm, I see a sushi dinner in my future , and I was very surprised to learn that even with my hometime last month I was able to run 13K and claim the top bonus…for now life is good!

 

Well the past few weeks have been interesting, after dropping in MN I ran a quick load to AL, picked up more yellow stuff back to upstate NY. Then I picked up a load for a power plant in GA, you guessed it more yellow lol.

Fortunately that load went to OH and WI and I was able to stop by the house for a nice 48 hr break. After dropping the second dozer in WI I loaded a log machine headed to Northern California. I decided to take advantage of the last of the warm weather and run through Yellowstone, man it was beautiful this time of year.

The good people at the Donner weigh station were nice enough to give me a level one, my first in about four years…fortunately I passed which means $200 - I’ll take it! Then a quick pickup of cable headed to LA and a run form the New Orleans port back home in IN.

So as the song goes life has been good to me so far. We can only guess what 2022 will bring, but this year is closing out strong and I’m hitting my personal targets.

Well back to work tomorrow, getting some truck work done and then we’ll see what the freight gods have to offer…

 

Hmm,

Well its be way to long and I thought I’d update the thread…unfortunately not many Kivi Bro’s drivers post here, they are more active on Facebook so for those who wish to check out another opinion try there, here’s an update on how 2021 went for this driver.

Overall things continue to go well at Kivi, however growth brings change and in 2022 I will need to adjust to some changes here at Kivi - though none that have me looking for another home. First the numbers, last year I drove 123K miles, that’s all miles including deadhead and personal conveyance. My PC miles are higher than average because when I’m on the road I tend to visit friends and shop and generally get out of the truck on the weekends when I’m down. For the 123K, I averaged $0.62 per mile. In addition to this I had bonuses of $2,200 for mileage targets hit over the year. Now for me this was an acceptable achievement, I take 4 weeks of vacation (two paid) each year and I’m home for 4 days or so each month.

So the changes, well some of our drivers just have not respected the nice owner op spec’d trucks (Peterbilt 567 Heritage Package) and Kivi has decided to save money by reducing the spec on our trucks (teardrop emoji). We will continue to run the Pete 567’s, but with a TMC like interior (gray theme leather like seats) rubber steering wheel and bye bye touchscreen infotainment, for some the next change is a benefit, all the 567’s have double bunks - since I hate those I’ll be moving into the Kenworth W900 replacement instead.

While we’re experimenting with a couple of Freightliner products, like the new WesternStar 49x and a Cascadia, the other main runner in our fleet will be the mid-roof T680. These are come with the single bunk back wall storage system and all trucks across the fleet have ThermoKing APU’s now, unfortunately all trucks also have 12 speed automated transmissions in place of the trusted 13 speed manuals we mainly have now. Fortunately we continue to only run forward facing driver cameras and we don’t have any of the collision safety systems on the trucks so that’s a blessing. We also have downgraded the power plants to 456 hp multi torque vs our lovely 500 hp 1650 ft/lbs spec - and its all Paccar goodbye Cummings.

So lots of changes on the truck side, but freight has been awesome to start off 2022 and the paychecks have been strong so that’s what really counts right? I’m up to 28% for my percentage which helps with the rates and I’m easily meeting my financial goals while being been home twice since heading back out on the 12th of Jan so no complaints from me. I hope you’re all doing well and stay safe with all of these crazy winter storms!

 

That’s definitely a part of it, and we have a stronger relationship with Paccar so warranty also comes into play.

Experimenting with Freightliners is also due to availability, some are white vs out traditional red.

 

Yeah keep in mind Pete 567 and T680’s are the mainstays, but the days of 500hp have come to an end.
Lots of other benefits at least for me, but yeah I’m really going to miss this old girl…

 

The old and the new…