mercer transportation

Well I got lucky this morning. I was sleeping when the engine quit, got up the see the stop engine light flashing weirdly but no alarm. I figured I would have a smoke before I got dressed to see if I was low on coolant or whatever caused the shutdown. To my suprise I looked at the truck next to me and saw a reflection of FIRE coming from under my rig. Boy I tell you I never put on my pants and shoes so fast in my life. I got out, got the hood open and got the fire out pretty easily. But I don't know why the fuel line which was in the flames never melted. Or for that matter whatever wire melted to kill the truck I am very lucky that I seen it when I did. So here I sit in leary, tx waiting on the mechanic to see how screwed I am. I can see that it started under the starter, on of the main cables is completely melted apart. Thats probably why I could put out the fire so easily. Man there is a lot of melted wires under there. Anyways I am very grateful the someone was watching over me this morning, it could have been a whole lot worse. I will update you guys when I find out more info.

 

It's a matter of terminology but those are NOT "eLog" apps unless they connect to the truck ECM and automatically record drive time AND the drive time cannot be edited by the user. They're good useful apps and can be used in lieue of paper logs (company permitting, not at mercer) if you are able to print the logs on demand.

 

I won't have to remove the Gen 1 device and the Gen 2 should install quickly. I just won't mount it permanently until I see if it is better or not. It seems people that have issues do not all have the same issues. I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 phone. My problems are not picking up driving and gps not staying connected so I have to put in locations manually 60% of the time. Kind of defeats the intent of the eLog in the first place doesn't it? I spend way more time getting the drive time corrected and synchronized than I would running three log books and keeping them all in order!

 

I've had more trouble with a Reitnouer I had and none from this one both bought new. Been trucking a long time and I would have to say your opinion is not a valid statement. Don't take it personally.

 

Your not the only one... I too have similar issues... Wish there was another option besides JJ Keller... I'm not a fan of their ELD product.

 

You sure got lucky you woke up in time. I was feeling bad for myself because I woke up at 3am because it was kind of chilly in the truck. Seems the blower motor in my Espar heater crapped out. My problem doesn't even come close to what you are going to have to deal with.

Any word yet on repairs and how bad that will be getting it done away from home? Are you loaded or empty? Hope things work out for you.

 

Unfortunately it's a big commitment when a company picks a vendor for eLogs, and by the nature of the system they all need to be compatible with that system. That does not allow for "mix and match". The system is not yet what I would consider "mature" and because it operates on our phones and tablets there will always be issues. It has to work on Android and iOS, different versions of both of those, different pieces of hardware, and in combination with an infinite number of combination of other programs running at the same time. Compared to a dedicated unit like most other ELD systems use there are too many things to go wrong that can never all be accounted for. A dedicated device made strictly for the vendor and performing no other task becomes far superior in performance and stability. Time will tell how this all works out. I wish we had a place for those of us using the JJ Keller logs to compare notes and help each other through issues.

 

monkey, do you have a c15 caterpillar? if so check the fuel line that comes from in back of the head around to the filters area, above the starter, the clamp there on the rear of engine toward the firewall is known to rub a hole thru the fuel line at the point where it bends around the block, this will leak above the starter. its fairly common, happened with mine and everyone of my sons 5 concrete trucks with the cat engines. worth checking

 

Well after the loves mechanic and two other indy shops refused to work on it because "I won't touch electrical work on a international", that gave me the kick in the butt to tear into it myself. It looks like the ground lead and one of the hot leads that were bundled together just wore a hole in the insulation and arced. I the the ground cable was already melted completely through by the time I got the extinguisher on it. Once I seperated everything, I could see that the two cables were the only ones that shorted. Luckily the 5 smaller wires had the insulation melted off but still intact, so I just taped those up. I cut out the melted pieces of the big cables and spliced the together along with some 2 gauge with that loves had for extensions. I was shocked when I hooked everything up that it actually started. It is going to cost me either way but I chose to bounce home to a mechanic I trust. Ther is a lot ofwiring to be replaced. Here is some pics.

 

man!!!! at least you got it going. in the long run, getting to someone you trust will be much cheaper in the long run