Coming to orientation Aug 13th...

Discussion in 'Watkins & Shepard' started by SpiritWolf, Jul 23, 2012.

  1. SpiritWolf

    SpiritWolf Light Load Member

    192
    118
    Jul 10, 2012
    North Highlands CA
    0
    Speaking of not keeping it current... I kinda went on a tangent in another thread and neglected this one... opps...
    ::sigh:: pulled a dumb move the other day.. pulled off the road to use a bush, and when pulling back on to the concrete, Instead of cutting the turn sharply, I kinda eased back onto the concrete. Dumb... hooked my right front steer tire on the sharp concrete edge, and ripped enough tread off of it to require a new tire.
    :biggrin_2552:
    $825 spent last night..... Bonus side, they cut me a deal for some of the centramatics I have been wanting to put on....So i now have a new tire, pluse those on the front axle.. eagerly wanting to see if they help with some of that persistent vibration I still have. Will see today. Still need them for the rear axles though.

    Hmmm... I dont normally have "extra" time during a run, but this time I was 2 days ahead of schedule, So I shut down in Houston for a day to visit a friend. He gave me a guided tour of the city and some of the attractions. Got to take a tour of the Battleship Texas and also Houston space center. Sometimes this job gives you an opportunity to see things and do things you wouldnt otherwise get to...
    :biggrin_25519:
    Anyways. Time to get back to work.
     
    jomar68 Thanks this.
  2. Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.

  3. SpiritWolf

    SpiritWolf Light Load Member

    192
    118
    Jul 10, 2012
    North Highlands CA
    0
    WOW!!! Ok...im SOLD on Centramatics now.... only have them on the steer axle, but it cut the vibrations of the truck by 90%. Gotta hurry up and get them on the drive axles now. lol.
    Hmmm....my A/C fan died.... goody.... only have the rear A/C and APU A/C now.... ::Sigh:: makes driving in 90+ heat and 90% humidity utterly miserable. well...this drop run out of Myrtle ends in salt lake city, so i will get it fixed there. Hopefully not overly expensive.
    The A/C works, just has no airflow from it... As long as I go 70 and keep the windows rolled up its not too bad in here....but park, or get stuck in traffic...and it feels like 150 in here.
    anyway. Currently sitting near Kansas city Missouri waiting for Monday to roll around.
    Going to go back to my entertainment of watching the lot lizzards knocking on trucks, being chased away, and running from the cops. lol
    Never seen a place with this many before, and it is humorous to watch... So far counted 8 total..well, 6 "working" now, as 2 got hauled off to jail... lol
     
  4. SpiritWolf

    SpiritWolf Light Load Member

    192
    118
    Jul 10, 2012
    North Highlands CA
    0
    Not really much to update here. Took a couple days off over the 4th, and did some work on my truck. Got my new computer monitor mount installed, so Now I can use both bunks instead of just the top one. Going to try that tonight to see how it is.
    Also got a much needed truck wash, and my medical renewal... ::sigh:: California apparently now REQUIRES me to take a "breathing test" because I am over 35 and smoke... they TRIED to tell me that I HAD to have a C-nap (or whatever its called) machine as well before they would sign off my medical, but since I passed the stupid test and informed them my next errand was to my lawyers if they refused......they signed the certification.. Yet another reason I hate living in California... oh well...another 2 years before i have to get renewed again... Time to get my load paperwork and head off down the highway.
     
  5. SpiritWolf

    SpiritWolf Light Load Member

    192
    118
    Jul 10, 2012
    North Highlands CA
    0
    :::sigh:: Got to meet my fiance at my home terminal for a 34hr last Thursday. We decided to go hiking for the day. a REALLY nice break from trucking. However, Friday I woke up with my right eye lid swollen and puffy. Went in to a med clinic, and they gave me something, that so far has done nothing. Its now Sunday, and my eye is swollen almost completely shut... Im gonna have to go see another Doc today to see what the heck is going on. I flat cant drive like this.....not even my car
    :biggrin_25511:
    At least it happened at my home terminal, and not 2000 miles from home.
     
    harlycharly55 Thanks this.
  6. SpiritWolf

    SpiritWolf Light Load Member

    192
    118
    Jul 10, 2012
    North Highlands CA
    0
    Not sure which I am raging more at today...My truck, or the stupid peoplenet elog...
    the list of swear words i wish to insert here is overwhelming.
    To start... the Elog... Seriously..... Thursday is again didnt actually register a change to off duty, even though the scroll at the bottom said off duty..... And I lost 3 hours before i caught it.. Namely when it suddenly told me I needed a break in an hour. Gee....thought i was off duty already.. Nice. Then tonight, I am running REALLY tight on schedule, as in I have 3 minutes estimated to spare before i have to either park or take a 30 to get access to the last 2 hours of drive time I had. Down to the last 60 miles, and have 63 minutes remaining... go to hit the dimmer button, and low and behold, the elog wont dim... wonderfull... fine, pull over, to go through the system to dim it, and figure i now HAVE to take the 30... try to log off duty...and it freezes. Great.. 8 minutes later, still frozen, and not responding at all to the reset... ::sigh:: Unplug it.... and it reloads... nice.. my 30 minute break, doesnt register on it, so now it looks like I drove over time...I sent troy an email about it, so now I have to wait till its edited.... can I PLEASE go back to paper until this thing is made to work?!?!?!?!
    Truck wise... Just sprang a small oil leak from 1/3 the way up the left side of the engine... not sure where, but going to take it to the shop in the morning to figure it out. Also have an air leak that has finally gotten large enough to figure out where its coming from... It looks like an expensive part... wonderfull.... Oh, and my vaunted APU? the A/C part hasnt worked for the last 3 weeks.

    Why Do I like my Job again?
     
  7. SpiritWolf

    SpiritWolf Light Load Member

    192
    118
    Jul 10, 2012
    North Highlands CA
    0
    ::sigh:: I give up...
    specifically on my truck.. the company is great, but.....I haven't been able to finish a run without a breakdown in so long I forget whats its like to not have constant truck problems.. in the last 4 weeks...
    # crankcase filter sprang an oil leak.
    # water pump had to be replaced.
    # Air leveling valve blew again.
    # Windshield cracked (ok, not trucks fault, was hit by a rock kicked up by a passing car)
    # ABS failed
    # a coolant line blew out dumping my coolant so fast the truck shut herself off leaving me on the side of the road to be saved by an expensive call to a service truck.
    # ANOTHER coolant line failed with a slow leak (about a gallon lost every night)
    #. High voltage warning codes.
    #. The inverter shorted, and killed my desktop computer. ( yeah i know..surge protection... I should have had it....and I do now.)
    # "Inlet air heater #1 error" (and #2)....Dealer couldn't figure that out, since she wouldn't reproduce the code in the shop, and the sensors were working fine there.
    # and Now......she is having issues developing full power, and is shuddering when trying to climb hills.
    Dealership thinks its a fuel injector... but, since she isnt throwing a code to show which one...they say the only solution is to replace ALL of them...to the tune of about $6,000.......(yeah, two different dealers told me that).oh, to top it off, her power steering pump is going bad...

    Im done with this truck. Re-morgaged my house and sold my kids... (just kidding...I think) , and I'm going to put a down payment on a NEW truck with a factory warranty...

    oddly.... I love my truck... I just can't deal with the constant headaches, and financial loss with this specific truck. So, yeah, I will be buying another Volvo 780, with the I-shift. As Soon as I finish this run to the Conover area, I will be heading towards home, and trading this truck in to either Bruckners or TEC... depends on who gives me the better deal. Both have approved my loan, so......sometime in the next 2 weeks I will be switching into a new truck.

    Take #2.......and we shall see what happens...

    P.S.... thanks for the lemon Ashley...
     
  8. BackIsSore

    BackIsSore Road Train Member

    1,284
    1,257
    Oct 18, 2008
    USA
    0
    Thanks for posting all of this, it's a great example to show the new guys thinking about buying a truck to make sure they have more than 20 bucks in the bank account for things that can go wrong. You are not the only one who's bought a 4-5 year old truck that turned out to be a dud, but at least you're able to survive all the issues from the sounds of it.
     
  9. SpiritWolf

    SpiritWolf Light Load Member

    192
    118
    Jul 10, 2012
    North Highlands CA
    0
    Im like a cat..but I think im on my 8th life. And have a ton more gray hairs.
    I came into this with my eyes open, and with a $15k reserve fund. It almost wasnt enough. All told, I think the numbers break down to $33k spent on repairs, and about $15k in lost income due to downtime. All in the last 4 or 5 months..
    Currently stuck in Phoenix because the trailer I was supposed to pick up Saturday is MIA.
    I gave up with TEC after getting the run around all week, and have put a deposit on a truck in Amarillo Texas at Bruckners. As Soon as I can get there, I will take a coupld days off to swap trucks, and hopefully be able to hit the road consistently for a while.
    The Irony here.... The ONLY run I have had in the last 5 or 6 weeks where I didnt break down? Is the run im taking now to replace this truck... go fig.
     
  10. BackIsSore

    BackIsSore Road Train Member

    1,284
    1,257
    Oct 18, 2008
    USA
    0
    With the way life goes, the next guy to get your truck won't have any issues! I was looking at used trucks this week myself, but after your experience I'm really leaning towards new. Are you still going with the big 780 Volvo? What's the dealer looking for as a down payment to take a new truck like that off the lot?
     
  11. SpiritWolf

    SpiritWolf Light Load Member

    192
    118
    Jul 10, 2012
    North Highlands CA
    0

    Down payment entirely depends on your credit. I have seen as low as $10k all the way to $100k.
    Im in the $75k down, and due to bad credit, still having issues getting a decent loan
    And yeah, I am sticking with a Volvo 780. I like the interior set up, I love the I-shift, I love the air ride, ect.. just...tired of this particular one not being reliable.
     
  • Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.