So you want to "own " your own company

Wasting your time. No-one will hire you. That used to fly in the 70's and 80's. It doesn't anymore.

 

well the loads didn't develop like I had hoped they would.

I got two loads for $625 to cover 225 miles today.

It was supposed to unload Monday at 7 AM and when I called and spoke with the receiver, they agreed to take me off tonight in case they needed me to cover another load for them. On monday, I had a 7 AM deliver and an 8 AM reload appointment set out of the same place.

It worked out nicely also because now I just have my pick up for them now on Monday AM. I get to sleep in an extra hour.

So now I don't have to warehouse the material for them.


After getting looked over by 3 mechanics, Saturday, the guy I hired to do my heavy mechanical is stopping by the house to take my truck to the shop to re-shim the power divider input. It's enough to have a noise when the drive-line is unloaded at the top or bottom of a hill.

I was supposed to have dropped it off this afternoon, but the two loads mussed that schedule up.

Major brownie-points scored with this consignee/shipper today. Will be interesting to see how that one develops.


While I was there, a Knight Transport driver came up and asked if I had any lightbulbs I could give him.



Uh...Sure. I'll get right on that for you bub....

 

Jon, that sounds exactly like a level valve that's out of adjusment. I don't think the power divider needs shimming. Go to your freightliner "service" dept, not "parts". Ask them to pull up the proper specs for level valve adjustment on your truck, they may want your VIN, KW has many different suspension setups dont know about Freightliner. Ask them to print that spec sheet(s) off and keep that in your glove box. It's about a 20 minute job, if that, to check and adjust. If you're not sure about adjusting it ask one of the mechanics in the shop to kind of explain, it's a really simple thing. Might even tell you how to do it on the spec sheet, mine did.

 

Does everything that Nightwind originally posted apply to ALL commercial operations, such as a cargo van pulling a trailer?

Thanks

Sent from my BlackBerry 9810 using Tapatalk

 

Finished my first trip as a o/o. I went from NNJ to ca. And back. Had a couple set backs: first I must have stirred the bottom of my tanks because I went through a couple sets of fuel and water separator filters,had three tires loose almost all pressure except for like 20 lbs. ( caught them in time and just added air with no further problems) and started to overheat coming out of CA through the mountains. Last I changed all my wheel seals and did a brake job before I left except for one side and blew the wheel seal on that side after making my last drop in NYC. It was a little hectic my 03 w900l kw does have 800k on it and been sitting for a year. Flushed out my rad. And tried to clear my cac so it doesn't overheat again. And I'm on to my next trip.hope all the bugs are worked out!!!!

 

Chris,

While the truck was in for steers/alignment today,

The mechanic and I got to talking about this and told him we had already re-shimmed the power divider input. Suggested to him about the ride height and he said he'd call Freightliner on the ride height procedure.

I yanked out the computer and pulled up the page on the ride height for my truck. Yes, I am collecting all the electronic manuals on my truck as I can find them.

We read it on the back of the truck, he took the measurement and it was 3 3/8". Spec is 2 3/8 to 2 7/8. We set it to 2 1/2"

Because of a worn kingpin bushing on the right side, we put on a take off steer tire to get me by for the week considering the one tire had a bald spot. (don't thing DOT would like that.) It's going to take them 3 days to get all the parts in and we estimated for the WORST CASE situation.

Since I have the Hendrickson Airtek with steertek air-ride front axle, (jeez I hope this suspension is going to be worth it) we also ordered the full axle.

The kingpin itself is actually part of the main axle beam. We are bringing in ALL of the parts in case they are needed. It's an $98 restocking fee if it's NOT used, but a 3-day down time if it's needed and not there.

With the ride height set to 2 1/2", I took it home and picked up a load also. It is absolutely quiet now. No more growl.

Best of all, he did the ride height as a pre-check for the alignment. It's going to be part of that cost.


Total bill if the axle has to be replaced, $3600ish to include:
Kingpin bushing kits
Axle
All mounting hardware
two Dunlop steers,
3-axle alignment
Casing credits
All labor

I can take off about $1500 if the axle is not needed bring it back to just under $2100.

 

I got a paid for truck and its rotting as we speak. Scared to put myself through it again. My child support should end this year. Tax issue's resolved (Almost) . Making payments on all my IRS lesson's for at least two more years. Got those people out of my life, you know the ones who think you can pay their bills too. I would like to just work in the Light bulb section of Home Depot !

 

Glad it fixed that Jon. I still think, but could be wrong, shimming the power divider was unecessary. I've got the t-shirt on similar scenarios. I wouldn't sweat it though everyone has been there. The symptoms you described were just a dead ringer for bad or out of adjusment level valve. Got that t-shirt too.

 

good evening kelgar50, I am considering purchasing a truck, still am in the information gathering stage but none the less. My question to you is, I hear Mercer is a fairly good company. Mercer is the one the company that is high on my list. I am intrested in oversize/dimensional loads. Any comments or insights would be helpful. Happy safe motoring to you!

 

NightWind, how can one access your spread sheet, I also would like to see hard numbers also. You are a fountain of what sounds like great info.I too am a company driver for many years and wonder what it might be like to be an o/o. I am 51, not some young dreamer, I have all the major expences that a man that has raised a family has but feel a little short changed. I know my work ethic, experience,strong suits and short comings. Expence and cash flow scare me but still think it is possible to be an o/o. I have wide load and oversized experice and feel the rates and load avalibility are greater in this field. Thanks, if for nothing else but too read this. I'll take any words of wisdom.