Coming to orientation Aug 13th...

Update........
So... a couple of people have told me they thought it was best that a rookie start out in a freightliner... their reasoning being that the ride was harder, yet more confidence inspiring. After a full day of running the countries back roads ( US-89) I am kinda of the same opinion. Yeah, the volvo rides softer, and feels much nicer after a full day in the saddle, BUT..... I am a rookie.... and I have now done the same back road in a freightliner, and a volvo.... lol... I must admit the Freightliner felt much more sure footed and inspired more confidence on those same roads. The "floating" sensation the volvo has at times makes it feel like your just holding the steering wheel and hoping its pointed in the right direction. Kinda hair raising when the road is only 10 feet wide..... I noticed that it took me longer to cover the same distance, because I was overall driving slower in the volvo... Eh, just something to get used to.

So I made my 1st real rookie mistake the other day. Woke up early in Helena, because the truck needed a second day in the shop. Didnt leave till afternoon, yet still tried to put in a full day of driving. Sometime in the evening, I decided to bypass my pre-planned stopping point because i still had 3 hours of drive time left... bad idea... Dark, road construction, rain, traffic.... so I decided to stop at the next truckstop... it was packed... so head to the next.... also packed... and the next... and the next.... I ended up driving WAAAAAY past my comfort level... Tired, running out of hours, bad conditions, ect....
The feeling of shear relief I had when I finally found a place to spend the night.... wow...
Lesson learned...

Truck wise, I'm still very happy I switched. only a couple bugs to work out of the truck now, but I may wait until after my upcoming hometime to deal with them, since none are going to stop the truck from covering miles. After this next weeks hometime, I am going to have to go over my tuck and set it up for winter.. that may change my "bug" list anyway, so it makes sense to just wait till then.

Bluethunderr... Call and ask. I know someone who lives 175 miles from modesto, yet is based there.

Carsonallen1977.... not all rookies get "bad" trucks. We had 7 in my orientation, only 2 of us had significant issues with our trucks. The other guy who did got a loaner until his was fixed, I just tried to fight through my problems until I gave up and asked for a different truck.

Warpdrvr.... After dealing with back road hills all day in a 10 speed loaded to 79,850lbs, I am wishing for a 13 or more speed! lol.

 

Update....
Dont get me wrong, I prefer the Volvo to the freightlinner... But.. it has some interesting quirks to get used to if you spent all your time in an FL. I suspect its like the Ford/Chevy/Dodge argument. There will always be debate as to which is best.

Hmmm.. they seam to have a fetish for sending me down winding back country highways.
this time running US-95 up from Blythe CA to Las Vegas. I went 30 miles without seeing a single other vehicle.. GREAT drive though. The constant hill.....dip....hill.....dip... prevents it from becoming boring. Also, being out inn the middle of nowhere and stopping.... shut down the truck on the side of the road for a few minutes.... And just listen.... No "people" noises.... And for a full 360 there is absolutely zero "man made" anything in sight... (other than the road of course)

Hmmm... Las Vegas. Geeze... i should have figured parking here would be a pain, but somehow it didnt figure into my planning. Not sure W/S is gonna be to happy with my mileage this trip. I think i tacked on an extra 30ish miles trying to find parking... Finally back tracked a bit and found a casino with rig parking. 1st "sit down" meal I have had since getting into a truck... lol.

Other news... Due for hometime to start in Modesto Tomorrow.... ummmm.... yeah.. not gonna make it.. lol. Not to upset though, I kinda built in a little "extra" time before I must be home Saturday... And there is still time for that. Even if I don't make it, I knew getting into this job that trying to plan specific days isnt always going to work...

So far this truck is ticking along like a watch. The much anticipated APU was a let down though... it runs great... but has no A/C... Eh, will check into that after I get back from hometime.

Warpdrvr.... Chains are on my list of things to check when come back. I have super singles on this truck, so I have a little less work to install them. I know I have several sets of chains, but I have not taken them off to look....yet.

As for the parking issue, I TRY to get an early start, so i can shut down early while there is still parking. Doesn't always work when your delivery is set for 1900 hours or later.