My journey so far as a new O/O

I pull Amazon trailers for now. So Amazon called my company asking if I had broken down because I stopped for an hour. So because neither of us wanted to loose future contracts, I didn't mind explaining what happened.

 

So, UPDATE:

About 4-5 months total of driving. Truck's holding up. Mostly...I had an issue of voltage dropping, going uphill with heavier loads (20,000lbs). Sometimes it would drop to 10 volts. I checked it out, looks like one of my battery terminals was loose. I tightened it, the voltage still drops but only down to 13 volts. Had my batteries load tested - 2 good ones, 2 bad ones. Had the mechanics clean all the terminals and lock it down with washers in between the lock nuts. So far so good. Will replace all batteries when I get home.

My AC evaporator box was leaking, repair bill came up to a $1000. That's along with an inverter install.

My APU crapped out on my 2nd week of driving, I now disabled it - removed the battery connections and closed the coolant lines. Not gonna fix it any time soon, too much work.

As far as actual work, I'm still pulling Amazon loads. The pay is kind of ####, but it's easy work. Light loads, drop and hook, in and out from the terminals. The season started for Amazon, FedEx, UPS, so I'm gonna stick around until new year's. Then, hopefully move on to flatbeds. With that being said, overall I'm making way more than a company driver at FedEx Ground, even with Amazon's ####ty pay, even with some minor mechanical issues, even with Amazon's random cancelled loads.

Also had an accident. At fault, but very minor, insurance didn't even count it as an accident, only "incident". Had to pay the guy $1700 for repair to keep the "accident" off my record.

As far as flatbedding is concerned, I have to get a headache rack because I don't have any room in my truck for equipment. But to get that, I have to remove that big ### muffler and that cab aero crap.

Gonna keep this truck and fix it up some more. No point in selling or trading it in. No one wants an International with 1.3m miles on it. Gonna save up for my dream truck - Pete 379 with the same engine and 18 speed, and I'll put a driver on this International.

 

I have storage compartments underneath but one side is full of tools, the other is full of random truck crap - tire air line, extra electrical line, extra washer fluid and oil jug. And the middle is taken up by that APU control box. So, nope, no room in my truck.