Lightweight trucks

We ran our Rockwell Meritor automatic into the ground as a husband wife team. If there was any flaws with it, we found it. The biggest problem it has is that a shutdown of at least 20 minutes is required every few days.

Guess what? Teams do NOT shut down for nothing. If a truck is sick enough to be shutdown long enough to fix the boo boo such as a buned alternator, we are right back out there rolling the miles before the engine block has had a chance to cool.

The auto would brick every 5 weeks or so leaving FFE with absolutely no choice other than to find a rotator big enough to tow us back to the Lancaster shop at any expense. In fact the two JIT loads to Iowa scheduled for delivery (JIT = just in time) loads just became very late loads now run by another team set in a manual transmission equipped tractor under the president's fleet, that means it's a FFE owned Pete governed at 75 mph and sufficient horses to keep it there run by a so called elite team. All the damage cannot be fixed by the King's Men after a automatic bricked properly twice.

How to fix the problem? Shut down the truck 20 minutes. Sorry. That's not a solution because some of our loads will arrive with about 9 minutes to spare. To sit 20 minutes means a late load and a service failure. To be towed is a service failure anyway so if you are going to have it, run until it breaks but good and big time so you can be writing out the report as to why the customer is not getting his load on time and why we the Husband wife team is handed back our century with known limitations instead of one of the FFE 379's President Petes. We already have the same materailistic crap in our Century to keep two people happy anyway. We are running late on that 63 mph display that is misleading at 65 on the speedo lol. How many more lies to do we wish to live? That's why we moved on to McKesson. No more BS at a million dollar load of medcines.

 

Lightweights are strictly solo trucks.

Never thought I could deal with one myself (nor have I), until I saw what @redoctober83 was able to work out when he had one.

Really, if even considering....should ask for his input on what he did way back when, when he had one. (Way before he got all uppity & #### and bought his own truck, then got his own authority. Geeze, these guys......LOL).

He really had set up really well. Enough so, that I would have actually considered if I had gone strait company. My co- driver at the time, was so vehemently adamant against a lightweight. But, after seeing what @redoctober83 worked out..... believed he could easily make it work.

Disclaimer........neither of us went that route, but could see it work with some redesigning.

PEACE

 

No. the true meaning of Light, dates to Light Infantry as defined in our Army Manual back in Napoleon's Rule. It's one backpack and only that backpack.

Oh look!! rolled up video screens to which a virtual xbox can stream your game onto the screen from the cloud in real time 4K glory. Provided you are this high to have your Mommy's [permission to wave this credit card for some game functions such as maintaining your ser.. er.. account for a easy one time fee of 1000and look NO TAXES>>!!! whoo...

Those are not actual us dollars, those are game dollars. It means nothing. Just enter the card information.

=)

 

There will be a design change here and there if I wanted to experiement with the lightweight class of trucking. It's either going to betray a whole Nation's worth of Regulation since Glass Segull has shown to be a utter and total flawed.. or it will open a door to allow the hotshotters to finally assert their place among us, unfettered by inadequate pickup dually trucks that cannot seem to roll 100K without some sort of major work.

sarcsm////

Anyhow...

Looking at the liteweights with a cold eye, I can possibly imagine things like 15 miles to gallon with records upwards of 20 if not more recorded onto the ECM under Avg mpg or gal/hr.

I have some ideas floating around at the moment, but they are just that floating. That will need to be altered into something tangible in hand before I try to share some of the ideas with you all. I do take it seriously despite my ... mistreatment disguised as sarc and ateasing. I need a certain amount of adjust ment so that I can think that low or count that high or consider hiring of children or dwarfs at a good rate to fit into the smaller lite trucks. A minor classification of CDL would open interesting doors provided they are under a Active Commander at the time of the licensing issurance for motor pool services inside these 48 states.

Liteweight trucks might fit in with Europe. I know I tease euros quite a bit. But we might have finally found a new oomplalo er... properly spec'ed um.. let's see here... the wonka expr no no no.. wait.. let me get back to you on that,.

 

15-20mpg & Willy Wonka thinking? A little Dickinsonion thoughts, too?

Good lord, man......I have always liked your frame of thinking! I knew I liked you for a reason! LOL

Just be careful. You have to protect those ideas quickly, first. Before all the Megas catch on & try to steal them away from you.

Aww, ####! Never mind. They ALREADY have........mu ha ha ha!

 

@Drpparker95 here is what I did when I had a lightweight truck. It was pretty easy to create and gave me all the room and space I needed in the lightweight. There are days where I miss my old lightweight truck because the inside really did feel like it had more space. The cabinets in the full size truck are just stupid. They waste so much space. If you actually measured the space from the back of your chairs to the back wall in the bunk, you would be surprised just how much space is wasted.

I have a set of plans drawn up right now that would allow for a full-size bed, kitchen area with 2 burners and a sink, a shower with a toilet, and a dining table/couch area to sit at and be very comfortable!

 

I am going to reference you to the pictures I just posted. Those are the pictures of what my setup was in my lightweight truck. I could fit everything you listed and the kitchen sink! It's all about how you utilize the space in the truck. You'll just have to ask the detail shop to remove the passenger seat since it's basically useless in these trucks, lol.

 

It's all plywood I cut to fit. When you take the seat out, you'll have 4 bolt holes in the floor. I used those to attach a piece of plywood to the floor that I anchored the fridge to and then used L brackets to attach the side panel to. I then used the bolt hole that the safety net or the hinge for the bunk bed is attached to to anchor my other up right piece. I didn't cut any holes in the truck at all, used all existing bolt holes. Also makes for a very easy install and removal if you switch trucks