2015 Cascadia OTR Performance

You may be laboring under some incorrect information. Break in on these new DD15's (and the 16's) is 150K. At 15K, she's still working real hard just to get the pistons up and down. Tolerances on the machining are TIGHT!

You mentioned Lone Mountain. They do tons of Lease/ Purchase. They sell outright too (most anybody will), but most of their business is L/P. With L/P you do not OWN the truck until the lease is paid off. You have no OWNERSHIP rights, like to sell it or modify it etc, which means the leasing company (in my case JCT) owns the truck til it's paid for and since they own it, they get to say what is what on it and with it. Some have their own shops you have to go to. Some shops do well w/ things . . . others THINK they know a system but don't and when they mess w/ it; it messes up the electronics BAD and if a L/P Op takes it to a FLR Dealer the dealer HAS to call the leasing company and the Dealership can ONLY do what the LEASING company says - which many of them that is: "Nothing. Send him back to OUR shop." So they won't mess w/ it. Pretty much because they know the LEGAL owner is just gonna tell them to send it back to THEIR shop. No sense spending their money (tying up a bay on a gamble they'll get the business for whatever fix, mechanic working on diagnostics etc) if they know from plenty of experience the LEGAL owner is just gonna say: "No. Send him to OUR shop". Complete waste of their time and time IS money in this biz. Big time.

I suggest (very kindly I might add) that if leasing to buy you may FEEL like the owner - and in human sense you are cause you own the financial responsibility you signed on for - but you are not the LEGAL owner: no title in your name means you don't own it in a LEGAL sense. You have no RIGHTS to that property and how it is handled. Not trying to be mean or hard in any way at all, Partner. Just trying to offer some tough (and it is tough) education.

I think you are right. I'm not slammin' them at all. I have no right to. I don't have any personal experience w/ Lone Mountain. I will say this, though. I am a detail guy and a businessman and this isn't my first rodeo in business ventures. You HAVE to do your due diligence. I did mine when I opted for Lease Purchase for my own truck. I checked a BUNCH (including LM). I then checked them out again, and again and again and AGAIN until my wife said: "Honey, if you are about to tell me one single thing more about [X] company you are checking out in this Lease Purchase thing? I'm gonna whack you in the head with this black iron skillet so YOUR head will hurt as bad as mine!" So, I did my research (it's called "Fleece Op b/ there are a LOT of con artist companies out there - you gotta be careful) and ultimately went w/ JCT. I'm glad I did. I am very, VERY happy w/ them. They have delivered, executed, DONE (whatever business term suits your fancy) EVRYTHING they said they would and then even more. I'd NEVER dream of doing this crazy LP/Op thing anywhere else. And I'm NOT trying to recruit anyone. I just did my Due Diligence, took a gamble and am VERY happy I did my research. It has paid off. Not saying OP didn't do that at ALL. Just relating my personal experience. That's it.

All I'll say about Lone Mountain is they were very recommended but as I did my Due Diligence in researching them; the further I went, the further the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I want to be totally fair here; I can't give you any whys. Nothing specific. No; they do THIS the others do THAT, THIS doesn't seem right, THAT seems off . . . I can't tell you why the further I went checking on them the more uneasy I grew. I just did. My gut was nagging at me; No, um No, um, no but the NUMBERS and other data suggested yes, yes, yes. As dumb as this sounds; especially for a "detail and data guy", I learned a very long time ago, in some far off places, doing some crazy things as a young Navy Corpsman serving with the finest Devil Dog Marines a man could ever have the privilege to know and fight with: Trust your gut and that little voice in the back of your head. If it says duck; don't hesitate - suck dirt NOW! You'll figure out why it said it very, very quickly and be GLAD you listened. The skin off your nose from the face-plant will not even enter your mind. You will be too busy handling the situation that erupted and going; Than GOD I listened to my gut.

I guess what I'm saying to the OP is: If your gut is telling you something isn't right - I'm sure it isn't. Is it Detroit's DD-15 and Freightliner? Who knows? Maybe. Is it Lone Mountain? Who knows? Maybe. WHOVEVER or WHATEVER it is, though, you gotta duck, tuck, roll and bail on something somewhere if it's that bad. Somewhere inside you, YOU know where the problem is. You just gotta learn to listen and trust your gut. Unfortunately, that is not something anyone anywhere can help you with. I don't mean that mean. It's just one of those suckky things about life. Some things only you can do, and I'm afraid this is one of them. Your answer is inside, not out. It's there. You just gotta find it.

IMO.

 

Funny sidebar as relates to a post in Running w/ JCT part Deux. I'm gonna stretch the rubber thin and call it Darla related because it DI involve some of her technology. More accurately . . . my lack of adjustment to what I should be running on the MANY driver info screens. I started it there, but that folder is where so many folks go to ask questions about JCT and we play around too, but it just seemed like this may a be a better spot for it. So decided to cut and paste it here and just mention where to find it for the regulars interested and save that space for some others.

It started w/ me messing w/ a poster about his Avi. Funnin'. It was is a baby orangutan. Mine is Animal from the Muppets. I teased, he teased back; we had fun. He posted a kinda ball in my Court thing and I was responding when it struck me; I was really better putting it here. I would encourage you all to check out the back and forth. It is hilarious. Great guy. FUN banter, but in his last post he mentioned not going out west any more. So I started to reply when I thought it would be better here. We WERE (given his ability to maintain witty repartee) gonna totally side track a place where a lot of newcomers do go to ask serious and legitimate questions. THIS group is getting to be kinda it's OWN regulars and I COULD stretch it to relative to the subject matter. SOO! Check out the fun, then come back and here we go!

It was fun indeed. I feel ya on the out West thing. I did the whole all, ALL of it for my first couple years then went w/ a flatbed company outta Oswego, NY that didn't like crossing the Mighty Mississippi in a solo truck so my days out west dwindled fast, though I became intimately familiar w/ the flatbed lanes east from The MM to the Atlantic to Canada to Little Havana; but hadn't been west of KC since 2005 when I came to JCT last July. I was crazy as a JUMPING BEAN to jump on the JCT train w/ $200 to my name (my wife got $100 to hold her over and I got $100 to hold me over), butt deep in debt and behind on the bills from DOT shutting down the companies I ran for from 2011 - 2014 and savings getting sucked out the chimney faster than Santa can slip down it, no refer experience what-so-ever, hadn't seen the left coast in over a decade and in a WHAT? LEASE/ PRUCHASE???!!!

Seriously. Is that a sane decision to act on just because your gut tells you it's what you need to do now? Adventure of a lifetime, though and I'm lovin' it and actually have been able to (slowly) recover from my financial hole I was in. Have things changed out there? Um; Yes . . . but honestly; not that much. It's not that things had changed as much as I had forgotten a ton of stuff kinda unique to the West and Cali in particular. Like (ahem - this is HYPOTHETICAL - Aminal really didn't do this. Ahem); Coming out of Lost Hills, CA Love's on I-5, heading south to Colton (LA area). Tooling along, diggin' the tunes, beautiful ride through the valley. They had lotsa rain so it was real green. Cali haze obliterating Everything from about the mid mountain level up. No sky, just a gray blanket but beautiful valley floor where I-5 runs. Smell THAT smell. "Whoo! Stoccckk Yaaards! Up the wiiiiinnndowww!"

Wait a sec. I don't remember any stockyards south of Lost Hills. Hmmmm. Maybe a new one. Where am I exactly? Danged California. Sure would be NICE if you guys put up mile markers on the Interstates. You know; like the rest of the country does. Oh, here comes a blue Interstate shield sign - NICE, no north or south. I KNOW I'm on I-5. WHERE, though? Would be nice if the sun wasn't completely obscured by this weird arse blanketing haze too.

Danged big stockyard from . . . the . . . smell; NO. No WAY! THERE! YUP THE COALINGA STOCK YARDS AND THEY ARE ON MY RIGHT!!! Hey, Darla has a built in compass on one of the driver info screens. Which one WAS it? Maybe we AREN'T in Coalinga (exit passes); What Exit? DANGED CALIFORNIA! You can't put the exit number on the sign that says Johnson Rd 1 mile like the rest of the country? NO you gotta put it on an 8"x10" little sign with a stupid 3" arrow pointing right AT the ground and hammer it all the way INTO the ground there, right AT the exit that you can't read till you are PASSING it, IF then! Y'all ever heard of INTERSTATE SIGNAGE RULES??!! No WONDER you get so many earthquakes and floods and fires and mudslides - God is mad at you for being mean to truck drivers! Little signage too much to ask? How about an every OTHER mile marker or even an every 5th mile marker? Hmmm?

OK, was the compass plus or minus? Try + (on the steering wheel), Nope, try -, Nope. OK, ++, --, +++! THERE! ######!! THAT WAS Coalinga Stock yards!! YOU STUPID SOMNAMABEEYAACTH!! YOU ARE northbound - and if THAT was Coalinga - you been northbound for an HOUR!! Hell, an hour and fifteen minutes now! OK, Ok. Just flip at the next exit. How far is that. Check the exit guide. TWENTY MILES!!! Really?? How much fuel did I waste (mental math) how much time did I waste (mental math) How much did THIS cost me (mental math). Can I still make OT P/U? Mental math. Barely but my log book ain't gonna like it. That darned thing is gonna be griping at me for 20 mins. ######!! Oh well. It'll just have to bi+ch. I'm gonna make OT P/U! HIT IT GIRL! RUN DARLA RUN!! We'll just have to chance the cops. Stupid California w/ the antique 55mph truck thing! Y'all notice the rest of the country is OUTTA the 70's oil embargo?!!

Twenty minutes later: "Chirp! ATTENTION. A NEW IMPORTANT MESSAGE HAS ARRIVED." Push the buttons on the dash a hundred times to get Nancy The Nag to read the message out loud. "Hi [name], (in her drunken monkey staccato voice). You are projected late. You OK for OT P/U? Thanks, [DM name]" Well, yes and no. Yes by reality. No if I don't gently flex and caress the rules a bit, which I have every intention of doing and am already in full on "Oh, I will be there On Time despite stupid California and all this left coast conspiracy to confuse, then slow and make me late $#!+" mode; this mentality DESPITE the fact California didn't make me get on the interstate going the wrong direction. I mean truth is truth. No Golden Bear jumped up with a gun and said "GET BACK ON THE INTERSTAE HERE!" It's just the consequences of a minor misjudgment in the normally anticipated ramp directions where when eastbound heading south the south bound ramp is to the right - mostly, were undiscovered and lengthy recovered due to California style. Still my bad. But I got in my head the MATH works on me picking up OT if I mash it and do a slam and jam and I mean to let Darla roll and stroll to her best ability and do it.

I can be as stubborn about doing things as a . . . well . . . a mule. It was said; the only thing more stubborn than a mule is a mule driver. He kinda had to be. To get the stubborn mule to do that which is against its nature and drag that wagon where it knows its not supposed to go - he had to be more stubborn than the mule. OK, I'm in "gonna do it - regardless" mode; which I can by simple [rate/distance/speed/ terrain/traffic] math - AND with 20 minutes to spare - over 400 miles. OK, it's TIGHT, but I can do it and I intend to. But the COMPUTER at the company, which is tied to my Qualcomm for logs and position location knows I can't do it w/o violating the California speed limit and HOS Rules. So the little BEEYAATCH tattled to my DM. SO, I call him.

AFTER fiddling with a bunch of things to get it so I could do it hands free. This is safer than just picking up the phone how? Anyway, he answers and Sapulpa has a new fangled phone system that only works right half the time BUT when it does . . . it has caller ID! "HI [name]. How's it goin?" Nice, friendly, good natured voice. "Good, good [name]. You?" "Real good. Thanks Man. What's up?" "Just wanted to let you know, 'cause I'm driving and can't stop to answer your message (tap, tap, tap on the keyboard in the background), your computer is wrong. I'm not late. I got this. The computer can be . . . off a bit (more tapping in the background). I think they call it satellite drift. Something about the way they bounce signals off each other, and coordinate and can be a little off themselves in THEIR position. I got this. I'll be there. It's definitely tight but I got this." "Looks like you might have made a wrong turn or something. A bit off route for a little bit". "Hmm. I'm gonna go with satellite drift on that too. Appearances can be deceiving on many levels. Especially w/ computers. That's my story and I'm sticking to it anyway. I'll be there on time." "OK. Cool. [name] Please be careful, OK?" "I will. I'm crazy, not stupid. Big difference." "I hear ya. Just be careful." "I will. Promise." "C-ya" "C-ya and raise ya". (chuckles and "Byes" from both).

So, I guess to tie it to the thread; Darla did great. I switched from economy mode to performance mode. Economy was a forgone conclusion at this point - I messed up. I made a promise to make it right. I intended to keep it. Economy would have to wait. I kicked the Classic Rock tunes loud and told my Mule to RUN HARD Whew!!. She did. We got checked in AT THE WINDOW . . . 3 minutes early!! Yes, Nancy DID nag me about my HOS for a few minutes, though. She'll get over it. Come midnight eight days from then, she'll not remember it happened. Come 181 days from then and she'll never know it ever happened at all. It'll all be OK.

Out west? Still the same. Only the billboards have changed and they STILL don't believe in appropriate signage in California. No worries, though. Driver, drives, Mule pulls we both stubborn as hell and . . . we got this! Even after all these years. We STILL got this.

 

They didn't have a replacement guard in stock and I sure couldn't see sitting until the one's they ordered came in so they said that since it was an open R/O waiting on a part, and one of the ones ordered was for me, I could go ahead and roll and just come back when it came in. It was ordered for my truck, it wouldn't get put on another one and I could just call and keep checking and when they did come in, swing by then and get it. So, I'm not so sure how that will work. My gut tells me there's a 50/50 shot that it gets put on another truck, but still; can't just burn rolling time waiting. If you are curious to what the 2015's look like w/o a Bambi Basher - I'm obviously no photographer but here is Darla's temporary new "Do". I actually think it's a real pretty rig. Helps to have a new trailer and both truck and trailer freshly washed, but still. I like the look. Crisp and clean come to mind.

View attachment 78287 View attachment 78288

 

Hmmm. Work when I click on them. Opens a TTR page w/ the pic. Have to hit back on the browser to go back to the forum. Beats me. I'm FAR from being a techie. LOL. Lemme see if I can just copy and paste them into the text. Nope. That's not working. There we go. Had to go all advanced and stuff.