Instant O/O and Loadboards II

please tell me hwypilot that the truck came with one and it leaks????????????????dont tell me you all added one!!!!! cause ill fall off my chair laughing with tears in my eyes,,,that would be just to much!!!!!!

 

Hey Dino,....How did it go turning the truck back in????,...........

 

Hey, get Rob to answer his phone and update his Youtubes!

 

The sunroof! Heheh - well come to find out there's some good and some bad in that story, but as it turns out it wasn't what I thought.

Rolling through some misdirections leaving Alabama, a rebel traffic light bounced off the top of the truck, and got me worried. When we finally stopped for fuel I checked it for damage as best I could, and noticed some "noise" in the bodywork up top (wavy body work, and a couple of lines that looked like cracks).

Now to clear that up some, I came down I-10, then a turn or 2, and the GPS wanted to route me through a 12'0" tunnel - not happening! I looked around and saw a truck route break off to the right and followed it. Up over a high bridge, and then the box told me to follow a road past a truck depot and into a residential area (more like a ghetto's ghetto from it's look).

So I scanned the street ahead while I was stopped at the light, and all the trees were trimmed back to 15' or so - looks good. The hanging signal looked a little low to me, but I'm thinking - there's a depot on the corner, and the trees are high - they have standard heights for signals and no warning posted. So I proceed with some caution at about 10mph through the intersection, and steer to the side as far as I can and then "thump" went the roof. I'm thinking wtf just happened man, there's nothing more I can do here! I look back in the mirror, and the signal is swinging around with the service door on the back hanging open.

We're pressed for time, and I just roll onward into the night until the next fuel stop. There was a 2 hour window about 14 hours in front of us to get unloaded on Saturday and an early jump on Mondays reload in NM. During the next fuel stop is when I saw the odd bodywork up near the corner of the sleeper roof, which looks like some water getting into the fiberglass.

So once we were unloaded and at a motel for the weekend, I figured I'd give it a day of desert weather to dry out some. I backed up alongside the hopper tonight, and climbed up on the roof with some clear duct tape and patched her up. But here's the deal - it's existing damage that's been patched in a hurry on the roof of my truck!

So in a way I'm relieved because I can't really see that the signal did anything to the truck - can't even find the spot it hit. But I'm really skunked by the fact that I bought the truck with rough bodywork up where I couldn't see it! It's 12 feet from the ground, and I didn't drag a scaffold out to look the truck over when I bought it. I'll be taking that up with the dealer I bought the truck from, but I'm not going to expect much - it's been bought and paid for along time now.

Counting on someone to look the truck over really left me short some change here - because there are a couple cracks in the finish now, and the damage is taking on water. I've got the cracks taped over, but I don't like rolling the truck with tape on the roof.

Other than that - the trucks holding up well. No problems this week, and it's now covered about 14,000 miles and only showing 5/8 gallon low on oil. Other than that - it's been smooth sailing - and I spent about 2 hours today picking through it and found no issues.

Now there's a posting that even Dino could claim! LOL If it paid by the word, I'd be buying the drinks We'll be rolling out in the morning to start the next week early, and get alot closer to the next oil and lube. Hope everyone out there has got it going on - because the thread has thinned out some in the last few days. Or is everyone getting bored with the lack of entertainment here? Let's take a poll - should I run over something? knock something down with the trailer? or just drop a random part off the truck somewhere? What's a guy have to do to get people talking these days!! Doesn't matter to me, and hope everyone has a great week and gets it done - more later and be safe!

 

now thats what were looking for hywaypilot,and im very glad to see things are going well.for a change,seems you a hippo boy teaming up slowed the roll of the badluck chochoo train of luck, guess old hippo boy needed some leadership ,to set him straight,very happy to dee things are going good!!!!!! as for me i turned my truck in last night,and as for you and your traffic light deal the standard hight is 15 ft off the ground and dont sweat it!!!!! everyones scraped a tree or a low traffic signal once or twice lol the dino

 

Hwypilot, good luck with that dealer and the damage. Thats going to be a rough one.

Hey, keep posting your runs. Seems like you guys are definitely getting the freight. Hope they pay decent. Gotta get Pharm back into his Pete and get that baby rolling too. I'm personally not interested in backing into things or whatever, unless it puts you out of service.

 

Out of sheer, morbid curiousity, why on Earth would you go around, rather than thru, the I-10 tunnel?

Bankhead Tunnel is in fact 12' and be glad. It would have put you in greater downtown Mobile where life is reeeeeal, real tight to get out the other side, but the I-10 HazMat bypass route, i.e. 90 to 165 to 65, is very clearly marked at the end of the Bankhead ramp. Unless I'm mistaken, which is very possible, Eclipse doesn't do HazMat, so..... unless y'all were trying to run 98 to 49 to 20 in Jackson or some such, please refer to my original question. I'm curious.

 

I'm not bashing in anyway shape or form. I want only the best for Rob and you. But you guys gotta stop the GPS addiction. At least you noticed the low bridge ahead of time and veered down another road. Those GPS's are not meant for trucks and it's gonna get you into way more trouble. I believe in good old fashioned maps but if you must have a GPS go to Rand McNally's website and get a truck specific GPS. I'm afraid that #### GPS you've got will just cause way more trouble then it's worth.

 

That tunnel is 12'?

I didn't know that! I've gone under it twice! Once with a Freightshaker with a condo and once with a shaker midroof. The freight (flatbed) both times was very low, so that wasn't an issue, but the tractor on the condo should have been. I don't remember seeing a 12' sign there. Are we talking the same tunnel? The one going into Mobile on I10 coming from east?

 

They only come in handy when your picking up broker loads.