Can you refuse a truck assignment?

No one can force you to drive anything. That being said if it’s legal and your only gripe is that the truck ain’t pretty enough for you then I’m sorry to say this job ain’t for you. Yeah I would like a pretty truck but if all they got is ugly ones but they’re safe + legal and if the money is satisfactory then that’s all that matters. Also with that being said if the truck is a shop magnet breaking down every month than yeah I’ll probably want another truck.

 

The only non-Prostar International I ever drove was the Eagle Cabover. The only real issue I can remember with the Prostar was it was a few pounds heavier than most of the other tractors I drove. My last one was almost a thousand pounds heavier on the steers loaded and about 500 pounds bobtail. I never understood why.

 

What issues are they having with the dash?

 

yeah, but do you know EXACTLY the reason EACH and every single repair was being done?

maybe 1 needed a computer upgrade, maybe one needed new tires, maybe 1 needed a new pair of wiper blades.

unless you KNOW for a fact, you know nothing at all, just assumptions to what "you think" they are in the shop for.

 

The last diesel shop I was in was about 4 months ago. It was a Penski shop. I did not count the bays, but their average shop has 12 to 16 bays. That location has a contract with a business that generally uses Freightliners. Guess what was in those bays for repairs? If you are going to use a repair shop as an analytic on the quality of a tractor, you had dang well better be looking at who that shop's main customer is. Also, another factor to consider is market share. I am not going to research it, but last time I looked (over10 years ago) Freightliner had more tractors on the road followed by International. The law of averages states clearly if there is more of a make on the road there will also be more in shops too.

 

this is true....my last job before retirement, was also a Penske shop. they had the food company (was Agar, cannot recall the new owners name) and our 4 trucks...all were Freightliners.....and on any given night (my shift) the shop would be full of Freightliners. so i guess Freightliner is also a bad truck..??

 

Yeah, most of the trucks we have in the shop are Internationals… because most of our fleet are Internationals. When I started with this company four years ago, most of the trucks in our shop were KWs, for the same reason.

International’s reputation took a huge hit beginning in 2008 when they started using the Navistar MaxxForce engine, designed to meet EPA standards with an overly complicated EGR setup instead of the DEF system other engines used. I guess the design looked good on paper, but in practice it was prone to failure, and after four years International ceased production of them, and paid millions to settle lawsuits related to the engines.

If most of the trucks you build for four years have defective engines, your reputation suffers! But that was a decade ago. It’s absolutely fair to say that 2008-2012 Internationals were junk, but I drive a 2018 with 300k on the odometer, and it has been a seriously good truck for me.

Oh, and they discontinued the Prostar after 2017. The LT isn’t a rebadged Prostar any more than a Prostar was a rebadged Eagle. It’s a different truck.

 

I’ve had internationals for almost 15 years straight with my 2 companies I’ve been with. There are some disadvantages from Freightliners, but, I’ve made it work for me.

 

You can refuse anything you want, however it could result in you loosing your job. If you are a new guy, take what they give you until you have been there a while.

 

I really don't see what difference it makes about the brand of truck at the end of the day. I'll drive whatever a company has available. It doesn't mean that I don't have preferences though. I'm of the opinion that Volvos are the best truck on the market. If my company Ean Internationals, I'd have no problem with it. I was at one company that the aforementioned Maxx Force International ProStar. The owner got a nice deal on them for obvious reasons lol. He didn't do his research. I ended up running one for a while, and it really wasn't that bad. I had to figure out how to drive it. That's underlined for a reason. Every brand of truck drives differently. Hell every individual truck manufactured drives differently. I made that ProStar work because I drove it slower. Set the cruise at 62 or 63. One of my buddies had one and told me to set it at that speed in order to get the most out of them. He didn't have any problems with them either. The only issue I had with them was the DPF getting clogged but that's the norm after so much driving of a modern day truck. OP, it ain't nothing wrong with having preferences. However, trucks will end up in the shop if you don't take care of them or drive them improperly.

 

Total dark. No info whatsoever.
Which rends the unit inoperable.
They are working on a solution, as we speak.
Maybe a recall in the future.