CRETE - A Year in Review

I shared that my A/C had a high press hose blow out a couple of pages back and that I was in the shop after running all Memorial Day weekend up the east coast with no A/C in record heat.

Well, the Freightshaker shop got my KW A/C running again, but only the dash unit. My bunk A/C, which is part of the same system (obviously), wouldn't cool. I decided to limp on the dash A/C and get some miles over the weekend instead of breakdown pay.

My dash unit wasn't cutting it to cool the bunk, too, so I ended up in the KW dealer in KC, MO last Monday where I had to tear out my bunk in order to replace the thermal expansion valve under there. Boy, was that an event, having to strip out most of my living space to get to it. Of course, it was record heat last weekend, too, in an unairconditioned shop inside an unairconditioned tractor. Whew!

It was getting late, but instead of going to the motel (which I could have done) I decided to stay with the tractor into the next shift for my continued presence to "urge" the slow moving technicians along and hopefully get out of the shop that night and back on the board first thing in the morning.

Finally the part was replaced at 1900 and they were ready to evacuate and charge the system when.... the power went out in KC MO! The grid couldn't take the strain of the record heat.

So, there we were staring at each other and the technicians started about talking about "tomorrow" to finish my A/C. Not being happy about being without income for another day, I remember thinking "What would ET do in a situation like this to get rolling?".

I finally asked what they needed to have to continue. The answer was power for their refrigerant charging machine and trouble lights. So, I jumped into the (very hot) cab, fired up the tractor, and plugged their equipment into my company approved 1500W inverter.

Everything they needed came back to life and I was out of the shop 90 minutes later with frost blowing out of my A/C vents, while all other work was at a stand still.

A/C works great now and boy do I sleep better at night. Thanks for the inspiration, ET.

 

Well, started this am with frost on the hood (27 deg) in OR near Crater Lake. Motored
down to Ripon, CA. 80+ but have slight breeze. Was even thinking of using Idle Aire, but they are closed here too, but they left the Open Sign on in the office...wishful thinking?

 

Ran my first container out of the port in Eddystone yesterday. Definately different!

 

I was just at the Great West Truck show in Las Vegas and IdleAir had a booth. Their handout says they are open at 21 locations across the country including the Love's in Ripon, CA, with 41 more planed future locations, maybe it's all just wishful thinking? PS, I have read this thread all the way through starting from ET's 1st post (took a few weeks). Very informative and easily the best on this website. I just wish I had ET's narrative abilities.

 

IdleAire was purchased by investors and they are actually doing a pretty good job of rebuilding the company and restarting locations after changing the business model. I don't doubt for one minute they will get those other 41 sites reopened.

And yes, ET has an amazing talent in writing. I've been nagging him for YEARS to put together an actual book.

Cmon ET! We need more of your weeks in review!

 

I agree that this thread would make a great read as a book, I may not have ET's talent for the written word but would be happy to lend my proof reading abilities gratis.

 

Actually Idle Aire was open at the Love's in Ripon. Went in to research. 1.99/Hour. AC, TV, Power and Internet. Their computer was down so there was no way to charge for service. The dude there sold me an adapter plate for the window for $10. Used all night long...worked good. Now if it were always only $10 for all night they would not have gone out of business in the first place. Not sure they could afford to maintain the equipment given how some truckers abuse stuff.

 

Well I'll be keeping an eye out, that's for sure. I haven't seen an open Idle air in I can't tell you how long.

 

At $10 per night, there would be no way for them to have stayed in business. Cant even pay the employee and the electricity use for that, much less the cable and internet access. Won't even talk about maintenance on the HVAC units. You lucked out on that one with the computer down, but I wouldn't expect to ever find it that cheap. Sad thing is, when I left Arrow, I threw my window panel away. What a dummy.

 

Well, it seems like all the excitement is coming my way this week.

I started out yesterday by doing a PTI and discovering that my marker lights were flashing on and off like a Christmas tree. Obviously there was a short somewhere and the circuit was cycling on the circuit breaker.

It was 0400 and I debated just waiting until dawn to get on the road to avoid the hassle of getting it fixed. I'd been through enough troubleshooting sessions (haven't we all?) where the "technician" takes the better part of a day to find a broken wire or a loose connection and I wasn't particularly in the mood for another day without income after 2 stints in the shop to fix my A/C. Afterall, it would be daylight and no one would know unless I was specifically stopped for some reason and the DOT inspection "blitz" is over, so the risk is probably low. Then I could get it fixed after I unloaded....

However, I was placarded for hazmat and based on previous experience, I finally decided that I didn't want to take the chance, so I pulled into the local shop to wait for it to open and be first in line, at least.

Fortunately, the tech was able to find the wire rubbed raw in a few minutes, so I was on the road by 0800. So, I got on I-55 and motored south through Mississippi toward Louisianna, and Texas.

I was about 1 mile north of the LA border when what to my wondering eyes did appear but flashing blue lights in my rear view mirror! The DOT man passes me and waves me into the abandoned scale site at the state line and bids me stop in the center of all that concrete. Now what have I done wrong?

Come to find out that I had been "selected" (probably by virtue of my placards) for a full level 1 hazmat inspection. Oh, joy.....

I have to say that Mr. MS DOT was very decent about it. He was in charge and let me know it, but he was very professional, polite, and even a little funny. However, he was also most thorough and commenced to take 45 minutes to crawl around, over, and under my rig. Paperwork, registration, license, permits, placards, tire pressure, brake adjustments, engine oil leaks, and.... lights (!). Questions to me on what I was carrying, how it was packaged, how many, etc. Everything got checked with a microscope and a tape measure. He even broke the seal on the load to check load securement. (I had debated whether to strap that load and now I'm glad I did.)

After the better part of an hour (and me with armpits down to my waist from nerves and 100F heat) he announced a clean bill of health and I was free to go. I'm now sporting a '1' sticker on my tractor window that should absolve me from further inspections for 90 days or so.

I guess the moral to this story is trust your gut and don't run illegal, even if it's something as simple as marker lights in the daytime. Drive safe, everyone.