Back to work...

Well here we go, leave tomorrow morning after some medical leave time. Received my clearance from the Dr. then from occupational health, new DBL switch, and a road test again because I was out of the saddle more than 50 days. That went pretty well. Got a little rusty on the right turns, but also tested in a Cascadia, different then a Columbia. Now to find a truck, first one they came up with was a Cascadia and it was just not acceptable, OH LORD, that smell on the inside, think someone may have died in there. Then they came up with another truck, DBL says its a Kenworth, and I'm like, REALLY? SWEET!!! Go to check it out, 2014 T680 120K. Spent yesterday with the wife cleaning out the inside, and loading it up, it turned out real nice. Son is bummed out that it only is a single bed, he wants to come out with me after school is done for the summer. Its due for a PM, has a check engine light on, low fuel pressure it said, previous driver left me a note saying it has a little wobble in the steering and probably needs an alignment, almost new drives, new RF steer, and going to see about getting the LF steer replaced, most likely the source of the wobble. I suspect Schneider castrated it for power so we'll see how that goes, and they hooked it up with the all so popular Eaton 10 spd. I will post some pictures today yet after I download them from my good camera... Stay safe out there...

Not my truck, but this is what it looks like, forgot to get a decent shot...

 

Well, still sitting at home. Took truck to Kenworth yesterday morning to get a PM, extra keys made, check engine light looked at, alignment and fifth wheel adjusted and not ready as of 0730 this morning. Master Fleet can't do the maint. on it for some reason. 1st time I actually drove the truck on the road, very quiet, hardly no engine noise compared to my previous Columbia glider, didn't notice any rattles from anywhere. Ran by Wingfoot to get LF steer replaced, now all tires are in excellent condition. Shift points are different from Freightliner, and the clutch is so light, you can barely feel your pushing it. Just need to get it a good bath now.
Can't wait to get a load and hit the road, getting board sitting around... Ya'll stay safe out there...

 

Yes, he was, now he moved to corporate doing something. I have a new DBL who came from dedicated. Seems like a straight forward type person. I just got home last night late so this is the first follow up on this post. Over 3000 miles, regional in 10 days. not bad considering... getting used to things they changed since I was off, and what ever happened to trip planning reason, can't seem to get a straight answer. Jill is just as stupid as ever, and over 100 miles out of route due to construction detours, welcome to summer time.
Still working on cleaning out the inside of the truck a section at a time, floor is coming up fast for a good scrubbing, one guy I talked to at a truck stop recommended Mr. Clean in a spray bottle and a stiff brush. Have also been trying to straighten out the right side fairing/wing, somebody backed into it when the previous driver had it at a truck stop somewhere, right mirror has scuff marks on it also but it must have folded when the unknown fool backed up. I got it pretty straight, its thick aluminum I think, not fiberglass like the Cascadia's, and got the 2 lowest mounting brackets straighter. Now just need to shim it out a little bit, make it look decent again. Also need to get engine brake fixed, don't work at all, found that out going down a long hill.

 

Ya, the light switches, why 2? I know KW is known for lots of buttons and switches but REALLY!!!
Yes it does have a jake/engine brake with a low/med/high position.
On a side note I forgot to mention before... 46+ K load and 8.6 MPG average, very nice...
Took it to KW this morning in Green Bay for the engine brake issue, and to recheck the alignment, from 2 weeks ago,
steering wheel is still off center.

 

Ok, after spending 2 weeks out getting to know the truck better. BTW, this is a company truck. Still some things that I may still need to get used to. The engine brake works better now, but it still has a problem with slowing the truck on hills, even empty. Seems if I downshift to 9th it works a little better, but will not kick in till you tap the brakes when under cruise control. The ride is awesome, far better then Freightliner, the cooling fan when it engages slows the engine down faster for downshifting, makes getting the next lower gear smoothly difficult. The windshield wipers clear the windshield great, no skipping or streaking, the headlamps are fantastic for the road at night, great for older drivers. Picking up a relay load that was scaled with a Freightliner can be tricky for some reason over 30,000 lbs, what was not overweight on the drives with Freightliner will most likely be overweight on the T680. The collision mitigation system is not so picky as the Cascadia, it will pick-up some secondary objects rarely depending on the situation, and sound a chime, but will not apply the brakes like a Cascadia. If you get within 3 seconds of a vehicle your following, under cruise, truck will decel and or apply brakes to match speed. You need to determine what you want to do before you get to less then 3 seconds behind someone, like on an Interstate if you want to pass on the left side, and remain under cruise. The cruse sometimes kicks out going over bigger dips in the road, you know the ones that really make your seat suspension work. The air compressor is somewhat noisy when it kicks in, somewhat like a muffled engine brake sound. I think if the right person heard it going thru a small town with engine brake restrictions, it could be thought of as using an engine brake, and you can feel it drag the engine down a little bit. When the cooling fan kicks in you can feel it steal horsepower also.

The fuel mileage is still making me wonder, I had 42K from Richmond VA area going to Sioux Fall SD, and the onboard computer said I was averaging 13.1 MPG, at 50 MPH over about 1400 miles. Got the MPG report from the company over the message system on the QUALCOMM at it said I was at 107% efficiency. The sleep quality is also excellent, love the big thick mattress, nice and firm almost better then the one at home. This one also had no fan in the berth for airflow, I picked up one of those 12 volt fans at Pilot and mounted it to the backside of the left closet wall above the control panel, paid for it with fuel reward points, so the price was right. Still attempting to come up with a solution for windshield privacy curtain, as this one don't have it. Wife likes to make things, so she said she will see what she can come up with. Checked with Kenworth parts and they said around $600.00 per side, OUCH! Big blanket in the sun visors will do for now. Ok that's about it for now, if I come up with more stuff I will let you know.