Post Gordon ~ Thoughts, Commentary & Reflections

Auxiliary Power Units
From 2012 to 2013 company burned through 3.4 million gallons of fuel at avg cost of $3.58.

Steps have been taken to reduce amount of fuel used.
One step includes APUs on 85 company sleepers. Keeps block warm in cold weather. Reduces fuel consumption for interior climate control. Recharge vehicle battery and provide AC power.

Reducing idle time and fuel used increases efficiency and lowers fuel cost which increases Shareholder value.
Example: Driver idles truck for 8 hours, consuming 6 gallons of fuel. Vehicle mounted APU for same 8 hours uses only 1.6 gallons of fuel. 4.4 gallon difference per night!

Comfort Pro video from Carrier TransiCold. Provides sleeper compartment air conditioning, heating, ac power,
Components. Climate Control Unit (CCU). Duct work, External Condenser (ECU). Driver Control Panel (DCP). APU mounts on frame rail of truck. Consists of engine and belt-driven generator. Draws fuel from truck fuel tanks and runs like separate, normal small diesel engine. Warmed coolant from APU heats truck engine and vice versa (truck engine coolant heats APU when APU off and truck running).

APU provides power to CCU. Through duct work provides heat or cooling, plus 115 VAC. Driver Control Panel (DCP) uses words and icons to display status information. Allows driver to control system in automatic or manual mode. Provides various data to driver.

DCP Manual Mode. Press 'Start' to begin. Flashes while starting. 30 second glow cycle when temp below -5 degrees Centigrade (23 degrees Fahrenheit). 10 seconds of cranking. If CRANK LIMIT appears on DCP screen, refer to operations manual.
IMPORTANT. To shut APU down manually, 1st press HVAC OFF, then APU ON/OFF.
To turn heater on, press HEAT button. Can switch between HIGH/LOW heat. In HEAT/HIGH mode the AC power is disabled. To change temperature setting, press left or right arrows with heater on. Unit will turn on/off to maintain target temperature. Ditto for AC. Will only turn if temperature is sufficiently high. Can toggle between low/high/auto fan speed. Independent of heat/cool modes.
Additional tips. Pre-cool cab before parking. Keep curtains closed in hot weather. Keep curtains open in cold weather.

 

Hazard Recognition
Hazard recognition is important part of job of professional driver. Video.
Music: Johnny Cash, 'Love Is a Burning Thing'--cue the horns!! "I fell into a burning ring of fire; I went down, down, down and the ring went higher..." continues while video scans across cab to 3 scenes.
Recognizing hazards AFTER leaving roadway is an essential skill. Must be just as cautious on private property as on public road.
Hazards include: Fixed objects. Overhead objects. Pedestrians.
Assess each situation, recognize hazards and make decision in a few moments.
3 Situations. Entering store parking lot. Entering Dock 1. Entering Dock 2.
Music cues up again. "Love, is a burning thing... Bound, by wild desires..."
Does short quiz and asks for 5 hazards. Says I'm wrong. "Let's take another look..." More music.
Likes me this time. Didn't really see boulder but seemed like best guess. Bingo!
Music cues again. Review what was a hazard. A boulder wasn't one of them!
Emphasis placed on knowing potential hazards.

Entering Dock 1. Cue music. Quiz again. Doesn't like me again. Another try. Still doesn't like me. Okay, fine. More music. Another quiz. Likes me this time. Asks if I noticed potential hazards. I noticed the quiz doesn't exactly track with the video hazards. Okay, fine.

Entering Dock 2. Cue more Johnny Cash. A hazard-rich place. Select only 5. Doesn't like me again. More music. "Let's take another look." Okay, fine. It likes me. Okay, I did miss the mail box. It's true. It's true. More music.

We must be vigilant... when you leave the road, hazards are still present.

Course end. Library closing in 4 minutes. Okay, fine. Tomorrow's a new day--if I can successfully navigate the hazards to my car!

 

Hi, joseph. Yeah, dunno. Came away with same take, that free guacamole, for example, makes up for something vis-a-vis Chipotle, the Burger King vs MacDonald's factor. You know, even if you don't like them, MacDonald's executes, gets their predictable food right; Burger King just as often fails to get orders right, has to apologize for this or that. You avoid a so-so Burger King (Spencer) and rather eat at a better run one (Bloomington). MacDonald's doesn't have much food/service variability store to store.

Both the Qdobas and Chipotles build variety into their fare in a way that the burger joints can't easily match. Appearance of freshness, too. Not sure. Pricey. Costs as much as a good buffet!

Only ate at Qdoba that one time; have eaten at Chipotle a few more. Off IU campus here in Bloomington, both are really busy. When I asked if there was a charge for guacamole and the guy said, no, the gal in front of me turned, said, "That was a good question to ask! Thanks!"

So like me, she already was a Chipotle customer, fairly new to Qdoba...

 

Hey, good for you. Not trivial. Never smoked... don't have that monkey, but sure do like a good buffet. Why pay $5-$6 when for $7 you can pick and choose among good, if average, food? But ya gotta choose a good buffet, since many are not. My brain says, if there's food left, keep eating. Ugh!

That's a challenge. Subway right now has a footlong meatball sub for $4 and at least here in Spencer, piles on the veggies. I like everything except jalapenos. Honey oat bread. Always have them cut it in half so I can eat half later.

Never makes it to later...

 

Ha ha. I grew up with very, very average, basic food. We had the four food groups and the four seasonings, salt, pepper, cinnamon and paprika.

Too many kids at burger joints for my comfort, too.

Not many kids at the buffets I like; at the China Star the other night, though, a brat wet-sneezed right at the food standing next to his Mom without covering and at head-height he's right there with the food. Well, I'd had enough by then. Especially then. His mother was indifferent, ignored it.

Right now breakfast is a microwaved medium baked potato (they were on sale and I've got 15 pounds... ) covered with olive oil (green onion and chopped cilantro today), then goat cheese, two scrambled, microwaved eggs, all sprinkled heavy with celery seed. (Because I read celery and celery seed reduces blood pressure.) Don't know how long this'll last.

3 week attention span.

More stuff goes bad in my fridge than gets eaten. Frozen's good.

For a while it was beer-battered cod from Sam's Club...

 

Shareholder (Driver) Meeting

Drove over to Bloomington around lunch for pizza and a driver meeting. In my box was a message from management that the company had settled with all the families and all others involved in a recent horrific accident.

This financial settlement just sorta knocks me over. It comes hardly 3 months after an accident that the company accepts full responsibility for and which resulted in multiple deaths of young people in the prime of their lives and sent others to the hospital.

A settlement has been reached with all of them. 3 months after the tragedy. The message asked to have all these folks in our thoughts, including for the driver who has to live with this tragedy and for his family. Man, it speaks to the ethics and ethical conduct of this company. Big time.

Would your company do the same? When I hauled mail for 10 months for a Chicago-area contractor to USPS, the company had a lawsuit against them and can't tell you how often it came up that, well, "Jerry's under a lot of stress with the lawsuit and all... " Sure, until it's over, you can't move on.

The statement also said that the company fully cooperated with a DOT investigation into the accident and the company's safety record will not change--per the DOT.

I'm a long-time, real 'Bah-humbug' type when it comes to Xmas and the holidays in general...

Not today.