Caledonia Haulers out of Minnesota

They didn't have an exhaust manifold and couldn't easily get one so they took care of a minor coolant leak and power steering leak and I headed to Cedar Rapids empty to get a clean trailer to get loaded in Des Moines. My trailer wasn't washed out yet, so I stayed the night in Cedar Rapids. Got to Des Moines for my 10am pickup the next day and there was residue from the previous load in the trailer. Went around the corner to another trucking company's tank wash and got it re-washed. Went back, got loaded, and started heading for Lexington, KY. Dispatch let me know the receiver is dying to get this load so I drove out my hours last night and I'm about to head out now after no more than the minimum 10hr break.

Yesterday I put in my home time for 3 weeks starting the 24th and nobody has protested that yet, so it's looking like a good vacation is coming up next week.

 

I'm not sure but it's not a quick easy job. It's barely even leaking and I've never smelled exhaust fumes from it so it's no big deal at the moment.

 

Based on my experience with Peterbilts, it will definitely come back lol

 

Crazy day today. Right after I made my post this morning, I did my pretrip, started the truck up, and within a couple minutes had coolant gushing out of two different places. Luckily it was as simple as tightening a couple hose clamps and it stopped entirely.

Unfortunately that wasn't the only problem. The other problem was the truck wouldn't build air pressure. I had this problem once before and I just waited it out like I did before and eventually it did start building air pressure. Not as good as normal, but enough that I could drive. Later in the day, after my 30min break, it seemed to get much worse. It was hardly building any air pressure at all and the compressor was extremely loud. After a quick call to the shop, they deduced that the air line going into the air dryer might be clogged up and told me where it is, and if I'm willing, instructed me how to take it off and see if it's clogged. Seemed like a simple task so I did. Boy, was it clogged. I wish I had taken a picture. The 90 degree fitting that goes into the dryer was PACKED FULL of black gunk. The shop guy said the air hose is probably falling apart internally but if I clear that out it should get me going down the road. I cleared out the gunk and sure enough the truck was building air pressure like normal again.

Too bad for our customer in Lexington though. By the time I got here, the unloader was gone for the day. They're letting me stay overnight and I'll get empty in the morning. I will probably have to get that hose replaced very soon after I leave here or it'll end up clogged again.