Glad I moved over to Poly Trucking

i helped 2 young Earthlings get some beer, they said they were headed to the beach, probably to clean up trash, I figured. Is there a beach near Hagerstown?

 

What happened? ?

 

I really enjoy dealing with the UPN plant. Took my load of recycled plastic in there Saturday morning. My load to Buford, GA wasn't scheduled to be ready until Sunday...but in typical UPN fashion...it was ready early. In fact all loads that were scheduled thru Monday morning were ready. Plus, when you check in at the gate, the guard not only knows who you are by name, he knows what you're bringing in and what you're picking up...very very organized, very professional, and very friendly.

The shop was also ahead of the game. When I left GP, I was 2200 miles away from a service. I ran 1150 miles to University Park and almost 400 more to my back haul pickup and delivery to UPN...but, in my haste to get thru Chicagoland, I forgot to call the shop before they went home on Friday evening to have them bump my miles out a bit...to my surprise, they had it already bumped out before I got to UPN...will wonders never cease.

I am having a problem with my truck however. I had a trailer last week that had wiring problems...or I thought it was the trailer. I had tail lights, but no corner marker lights...then like magic...they'd just come on. I checked and swapped relays in my fuse box...just to see if it was my truck, which made no difference. Since all the other lights worked fine, I knew it wasn't the ground, and this trailer had solid pins in the connector box, so spreading the pins was not an option. Once I got the trailer back to the shop I wrote it up, hooked up to my next load and left. Since the trailer before, and the trailer after gave me no problems, I was convinced it was indeed the trailer...until yesterday. My current trailer had all lights, except the tail lights and the side turn signal's marker lights. Since these are on a different pin in the connector box than the previous troubled trailer, I had suspected the trailer again. I fiddled about and all started working...much like the other trailer...just all of a sudden...tada they came on. Then today, in the pouring rain, they went out again, and wouldn't come on unless I grabbed the pigtail in the middle and pulled down past the tool box step...then they would come on. Once I got to the Cartersville TA, I decided to investigate. I got out my handy dandy test light, hooked one end to the ground and the other to each marker light hole...and nothing on one and light on the other. I checked the trucks plug, and had power to both. So, it is my pigtail. Since a new pigtail is $90, I wanted to check to see if it was the replaceable plug end, or a break in the wires since a replacement plug is $15. I found out. I had the clip on the ground and the probe in the bad part of the plug and started flexing a section of the wire at a time....until I found the bad spot. I know it's the bad spot because the wire inside started shorting out and you could see a green glow thru the insulation...at least until it burned thru the insulation in a puff of smoke...so much for saving $90. Since I am putting in a 34 here...I'll fix it tomorrow...if I don't get rained out.

 

SS, I'd call Aaron at the ship tomorrow. Tell him what you just wrote & suggest they approve you buying one & replacing it. Rather than call Fleetnet. If it was less than $30 I'd just do it & turn in receipt. I say less than $30 because that's the most I've ever done. It was a relay for trailer lights.

 

Thanks. I wasn't sure if I needed any special permission or a p.o. number for a major purchase like that...even when I was sure of the problem. If it hadn't shorted in front of my eyes I would have just called Fleetnet...which would screw up my 34 because they would probably send me away from the TA.

*update*

Called the shop...they said if I was sure of the problem, on that amount I had to either call Fleetnet and let them pay for it or call Pat/Martin and get their o.k. to ensure I get reimbursed. When I talked to Pat, he o.k.'d it and requested I put "o.k.'d by Pat" on the receipt...glad I checked. When at Crete, they ok'd cash purchases up to a certain amount...wasn't sure what the cutoff was here...and have no idea where my handbook is anymore.

 

If you see this truck passing you at high speed...what do you do? Look in the mirror to see if they're running from a tornado, or stop because they are racing towards one.... (no, I didn't see it in person, but since I am the stubborn person that I am...I generally don't fear rain and storms...unless I see these guys)

 

for anyone wondering why the shop here at poly is the way it is its simple, why would they wanna fix ur truck when u can drag all ur stuff into a junk loaner, and when that breaks down u can just drag ur stuff into another junk loaner,all for the amazing low price of nothing.

 

SS, there is no specified amount written anywhere. It's just one of those things we figure out as we go along.

Againstthewind, hope it gets better real quick.

 

As I was sitting here watching tv and killing time I noticed something. Truckstops use to be filled with a high percentage of Freightliners and a few of others. When you would look down the row the overwhelmingly high percentage were Freightliner of one model or another. But, when I was sitting here today, I noticed that, while there are still a lot more of them than any other...it's not as out of balance as it once was. It seems as KW, at least here, has made a dent in Freightliners dominance. And not nearly as many Internationals as there use to be just a few years ago.

not a Poly comment...just a random blurb I thought was interesting.

 

Here at the motel, ready to start orientation. Says it's 3 1/2 days. Anything I should know about ahead of time? Ha!