Abilene Motor Express....A New Place To Call Home

My credit card in my pocket has enough credit available to get me to Dubai for a new job. Minimally I’d drop the trailer at a truckstop, fill up and bobtail to my new job.

 

It looks as though Celadon turned the fuel cards back on late last night.

 

I’m quite sure Celadon has nothing to do with the shutting off or turning on of the fuel cards. More like EFS or Comdata. They’re the ones on the hook for monies owed for fuel. It would seem to me the finance/lease companies forked out some cash to put fuel in the trucks that would make the recovery of those trucks a little easier.

 

I read an article that had a transportation attorney stating if they cease operations to park the truck in a truck stop, rest area or similar place to lock it up, hide the key, take pictures of the truck send to company at the location then notify the by email or Qualcomm/peoplenet where the truck is located and leave it. Truck will have no insurance.

 

Agreed... I sure would not mind working around the Illinois/Indiana area a bit more... got family and friends there I could visit more often as it seems I’ll have a bit more flexibility to visit more people in the coming years... lol

 

Currently sitting in Colton... had like 4-5 left last night when I got here but RVA didn’t see anything available... ok, I shut down...

this morning I get a very small 65 mile load to deliver by 9am tomorrow over close to the Pacific Ocean... ugh, wrong direction that I want to go... TO said it was a 24/7 operation... I called RVA to confirm if the 9am was an assigned appointment time and they confirmed it’s a 24/7 operation... so I should be able to drop it today and not in the morning... great, as I would much rather drive into and out of LA on a Sunday afternoon than fight traffic come Monday morning...

Head to the drop... guard informs me they are closed... when I said I was told you were 24/7 he laughed and said nope... opens at 6am... can I stay on your yard so I’ll be here first thing? NOPE, that ain’t happening either... great, thanks buddy...

Called RVA, take it back to Colton... OK!!!

3.5 hours and 142 miles for nothing...

Called RVA again... nothing else... they will call someone to see what they can find for me to get rolling back east... (home time next weekend)

any bets I don’t get a call back as told???

Between this and equipment issues after leaving Denver last Thursday, I’m feeling really out of sync lately...

 

A couple weeks ago, on my way to Califnordia, a little indicator warning light popped up on my dashboard. It looked like a wrench.

Now, I'm driving a new truck. 2020 Kenworth. I'm the only driver the truck has had. At the time the light popped up, I had about 46k miles on it, all of which were put on by me. It was getting close to time for a PM, but I hadn't done one yet.

I've never seen this indicator light before, and had no idea what it meant. So I called our shop in Richmond and told them about the wrench.

"Have you done a PM yet?"
"No."
<pause>
"Have you had your fuel filter changed?"
"No"
<pause>
"You need to get your fuel filter changed."

The amount of hesitation and pausing in this conversation did not leave me with the impression that whoever it was I was talking to over the phone had any idea what they were talking about. So after I hung up, I called the Kenworth repair shop around the corner from our yard, where we take all our KWs for service when our shop can't fix the problem.

"Is it a check engine light?"
"No. Looks like a wrench."
"A wrench with an engine around it?"
"No, just a wrench."
"Oh, well that's not anything to worry about. Just means your computer threw a fault at one point. You're good."

This dude sounded much more confident. So I was inclined to believe him. Except for the small matter that my truck had been running sluggish for a few weeks. I'd be hauling an empty trailer up a not-particularly-steep hill and lose 20-25mph off my speed. Hauling a loaded trailer up Sandstone or Afton would drop me into the low 20s, which was much worse, performance-wise, than it had been when I originally got in the truck.

I was planning on taking a 34 in Barstow anyways, so just to be on the safe side I parked at the TA there and had them change the fuel filter.

It did not clear the light.

When I returned to Richmond, I talked to John, the guy in the shop. He said "Oh, that light just means you need a PM." Well, the truck was 3500 miles short of 50k when the light first appeared, so the timing fits, at least. Okay, cool, no worries. Once the truck hits 50k, I'll get a PM.

Got the PM yesterday. Went to the TA over by the Bass Pro Shop because they could get me in and out faster than our own shop on the weekend. They changed the oil, oil filter, air filter, all that Jiffy Lube stuff.

It did not clear the light.

This morning, I drove over to the shop and told 'em a very abbreviated version of this story, and then asked them if they could clear the light so I could get on the road. They brought out their laptop, hooked it up to my truck, and (eventually, after about 20 minutes), told me that I needed to take thea truck to the KW shop around the corner because the engine had derated.

So now I have an unexpected day off.

 

I love this Volvo dealer in Yakima. Watched guy do my first PM and alignment guy let me stay in the truck too. At least I know alignment got done, every time I write up in RVA they never do the alignment. Most kick you out shop, this place is pretty cool. Hopefully check engine light is software, no issues power wise and what not.

 

If memory serves me correctly. I was told that when that happens you need to turn the key 7 time's (Let the computer re-adjust) and at the last turn do start the engine to clear the problem.
Hope it works for you.

 

Ah, the key switch reset. The diesel equivalent to, "have you tried turning it off then turning it on again?"