Central Refrigerated Truck Stop II

You keep non perishables like jerky and granola bars, or a cooler stocked with food, and plenty of water with you. Not supplying your truck is a bad idea. Central mentioned a driver once who was stuck in a blizzard in Nebraska. He had a bottle of water and 2 candy bars in his truck and was wearing shorts. Spent something like 3 days in whiteout conditions, when they rescued him he was in bad shape. Turns out there were trucks ahead of him, less than 100 feet, but he couldn't see them because of the snow. Moral of his story? Be prepared.

 

Don't you have an optiidle of some kind? You're in a company truck, right? They have ICON or TAS systems. Check your truck for instructions on how to set them up. I've never had a company truck without an opti idle of some kind, and I'm on truck #4.

Look into an electric cooler, they're not ideal, and they're a pain if they get unplugged, but it's easier than ice. I do not recommend the Coleman ones, but I had 2 Igloos that I loved, the last was a small coolatron and it still works great, I just don't use it.

 

None of the new Pete's have idle control. Some of the 386's are going company now. If you get one you just have to be disciplined enough to not over idle.

 

When I showed up they told me my 0400 appt was not going to be ready till 1800. Got on the. QC right then to let them know what was going on but I still would have made my 99 on time. At 1830 I whent in and was told they had no estimate of when I was going to be loaded. Got back on QC and gave them my best guess of when I was going to be able to make my 99, next 01 and 02.

 

Do they shut off though? Or will they run until they're shut off?

 

Write, "(your name) was here" with the date you got there and the date you perished so the next driver can represent your legacy once you're gone.

 

The 2013 Volvo that I had did not have an optiidle - to idle...which I did when it got really hot and the humidity was high...I just set the cruise which put it in PTO mode and I could idle forever. Because I never idle much any other time (dropping, hooking up, checking in, pre-trip, fueling...nothing), I could idle longer when I needed to and still stay under 'allowed' idle time. However, I also figured that when it was hot and I was hot and needed to cool off a bit, I idled - regardless of 'recommended' idle time for bonus.

I agree - electric cooler is the way to go - I had the Coleman and it worked absolutely great - always a cold drink when I needed one. And yes, keep your truck stocked - you never know where you are going to be. I budgeted $50/week which allowed me to get plenty of groceries and to eat out every now and then (eating out on a low budget so the 1$ menu mostly - I rarely had a sit down meal). Anyway - my two cents worth.

 

They will run til you either shut it off or it runs out of fuel. I sometimes wish it did have idle controls so that on hot nights it would turn itself on and off again stead of me waking up and doing it myself.

 

Best to keep at least three days of food and water on the truck at all times. Especially in the winter when the 80 can be shut down for two or three days in wyoming while a storm passes through. At times like that the truck stops sell out fast of food and fuel and you better be prepared for the delay or to starve, your choice. Not trying to scare anyone, but it is just to easy to stop at a wal-mart and stock up on emergency rations. I personally have never needed them yet, but they are always there and that's one less thing that I have to worry about.

 

No they don't. They'll idle till they run out of fuel. LOL