Problems With 2012 Cascadia and Schneider Maintenance

that would be where I pointed them too. be real cool and ask about in a general way with one of the mechs who seem cool. Most are , but are restricted in what they can almost f not more so than we are. They would just soon fix it all , cost be ######. They get it, GB does not.

 

If you would like to stay on with SNI I would make an effort to get their attention on this. What your dealing with is BS and no one wants to take the time to do what is necessary to get you operating profitably. Personally I would write a letter to the head DBL of your OC explaining what your dealing with trying to run that truck and why you will leave unless they give you a different one that runs like it should. Then ask for time at home and when you get to the OC clean out your truck nice and clean and take the keys into your DBL and simple say respectfully.. "here are the keys to my truck, I cleaned it out for ya! I like working here and working with you but this truck is just not worth all the trouble. If you can find a better truck for me then I would be glad to come back to work here. Otherwise I will be forced to find a job elsewhere". Then walk away and deliver the letter to the Head DBL and leave. Actions speak louder than words! See if they won't call you back with a different truck for you. If they don't then move on!

 

You need to stand up to our mechanics. They will b***h and moan about having to be more than a parts changer, but it's up to you. Remember, FMCSA regs state that if you pretrip or otherwise inspect and are dissatisfied with the maintenance of your equipment, nobody - not a DBL, not his boss, not the CEO of the dang company - can force you to run. I have had my rig into the shop too many times to count.

Had an effed up headlight that I mentioned at my last PM. PM didn't take care of it. Next stop was Gary. Reaimed the light and didn't address the poor beam pattern. Made it worse. Edwardsville - reaimed again. Made it all but impossible to operate in the dark.

Dealt with it for a few days, and ended up back in Gary. They gave me a buffing kit and sent me to express. They buffed and buffed and buffed and couldn't fix the beam. They were sure it was the lense. Got to a point where they said "well that's as good as it'll get..." I told them "look at my other side. It looks like you would expect. Now look at this one. A man who's blind in one eye and can't see out the other could tell you a headlight beam isn't suppose to look like that! Can I please just get a new headlight assembly?!" I got a roll of the eyes out of the dork in express, and he started writing up the new assembly. And of course since that whole run-in, my lights are great.

As I said, it's up to you to get something done. It's up to you to be a big enough pain in the rump that they have to take care of your truck. I hate having to be like that myself, and like it even less that I have to give you that advice, but it's the only way to get something accomplished.

 

I hope they can get everything fixed up for you. The battery deal is a typical beancounter move, replacing one battery on a set of already worn/used batteries - they'll constantly fight eachother and drag eachother down until the whole set is ruined again. If you have a good working set of batteries it should be no problem to run your bunk heater at a comfortable temperature for the full 10 hour break, along with a little bit of TV, etc., usage. If they aren't, there is a problem.

 

I was at That oc just a few days ago too and Al tried with mine but his computer wouldn't link to my truck. I agree, he's the only one worth dealing with out of all the ocs i have been to

 

I'm in my 4th 2012 Cascadia since starting at Swift. Not one of them has been capable of 10 continuous hours of bunk heater or running a 12v cooler more than a few hours before having to crank up the engine to recharge the batteries. Might be an issue related to the design of the Cascadia electrical system, or could be they are simply using cheap batteries. In that regard it seems the experience is the same with what you have at Schneider.

 

Al in Edwardsville is a really cool guy. I met him for the first time the other week when I was routed there to get a new black box for my qualcomm and he was great.

 

It sounds like they're not using high quality batteries, or they're not changing out the entire set. When I was working for Maverick, I had a 2012 Cascadia where the batteries wouldn't last but 3 hours or so. They changed the entire set, and from then on I'd get about 9 hours or so of full power running a cooler, TV, DVD player, and all of my stuff up front like the Qualcomm, GPS, dash camera, etc. Once that 9 hours was up, the truck would shut down power to the power ports in the bunk area and shut off the interior lights, but the climate control would keep going for at least another 3 hours after that.

But, that whole system goes out the window if even ONE battery is bad.