Hey yall I live in houston tx andnwas thinking of applying for there texas regional any input form younguys how it is has anyone run the regional routes hows hometime.....?
Systems Transport
Discussion in 'Discuss Your Favorite Trucking Company Here' started by ramblingman, Jan 12, 2014.
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Congrats to you both for making it through the most stressful part of your trucking careers. You hit it dead on the head though Plains Ranger. Everything learned in CDL school as you already learned needs to be forgotten and everything you learned in training is just the tip of the iceberg. It's more of a stress test sharing a truck with some greedy ####### for 8 weeks than it is a learning experience.
A couple tid bits I'll share with you that i did not learn in training and ended up learning the hard way. These may not apply to you if you are not going on the 200 fleet (OTR) , but I'll share regardless.
1.For your first 3 months you will be on the green fleet and required to scale all loads no matter what. Scale tickets cost 10.50 now and are a hassle to get reimbursed for. During training your trainers probably paid for these scale tickets in cash and got reimbursed and your probably thinking that's your only option. If your scaling inside the fuel network (pilots,FJ's,Loves,Petros,TA's) you can use your EFS Card or Comdata Card (use whichever one is approved for the fuel stop your at) to pay for the scale ticket with just your truck # and Trip #. While we're on the subject of fuel networks to retain your yearly .5CPM raise only a 90% compliance is needed. You can fuel at any fuel stop in the aforementioned network any time.
2.The trucks will turn themselves off after 5 minutes. You guys didn't train during winter and if your trainers were anything like the 3 of mine he probably didn't prepare you much for it either. The trucks factory setting to override the Idle shut off feature is at 0*. As of last winter due to fuel gelling issues the shops were ordered to turn the trucks up to 15* (your truck may not have been updated yet,let the shop know ASAP if not). If your dash temperature gauge is below 15* LEAVE THAT TRUCK RUNNING. Even if it warms up the truck will continue running untill you shut it down manually. Also if you have a check engine light on the idle shut down will not function and you can idle it as much as you need.
3. On the topic of Fuel Gelling. If it gets below 15* start using the fuel gel. Use 1 bottle per tank for the first 3 fill ups and then a 1/2 bottle per tank after that. If you buy fuel in the south and run north it may not be properly treated. You can buy 2 bottles of Howes Anti Gel at a time with the EFS card anywhere inside the approved fuel network or stock up when you hit one of the yards.
4.There is a terribly convoluted coolant System on these trucks due to the APU and Main engine sharing the same coolant. This is brilliant in theory as the APU warms the waterjacket of the primary engine, but a nightmare in winter due to coldwater leaks. If you don't know what they are now by the middle of this winter you will likely know them well. Once you track down the coolant Leak (look for red fluid) if it is rear of the main engine compartment It's the APU and you can generally fix it by closing a valve underneath the passenger seat. You can see it between the top step and bottom of the cab just barely within hands reach. As long as the valve is closed make sure you turn off the APU via the switch inside the casing itself or the interface inside. If you don't your liable to blow up a 12,000 generator. I was able to avoid having to call breakdown service many times due to tightening/replacing clamps and shutting off coolant flow to the APU.
P.S never add Green Coolant or water to the coolant Reservoir to top it off. We use long life Red Coolant in these engines and if you put anything else in the entire system needs to be flushed and refilled with Long life Coolant which is very expensive.
5.The power divider is essentially a 3rd differential that locks the two differentials together. The front and rear drive differentials are open however. Therefore you can run the truck up to 65mph on dry ground with the Power Divider locked and no significant short term damage will be done. Not recommending you do that just using it as an example to explain operation.
-To properly engage the power divider while stopped take it out of gear and engage the power divider then put it in gear and drive away.
-To properly engage the power divider in motion take it out of gear while rolling and engage the power divider. Wait a second or so and then jack the rpm's up and put it in gear. I've engaged it up to 65mph without issues.
Hope things are going well for you guys. I'd appreciate it if you posted periodic updates. Prospective drivers can read this thread and see my personal experience starting trucking and my experience with Systems. It would be cool if they could see something comparable from someone else though.
Then again maybe this thread is comprehensive enough considering when i started there was nothing more than a couple several year old vague at best threads on Systems. Wouldn't want to make it to easy on the newbies
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Drive Safe Guys.Last edited: Sep 17, 2014
plains ranger and Alaska76 Thank this. -
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Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds
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