My new experience with Gordon Trucking, post-buyout

Well, it appears the major problem was the fuel filter, which they changed. I was able to drive 3.5 hours almost always at the governed speed of 60. But the REGEN light flashed the entire time; it was never steady warning me to regen...it went straight to flashing as I pulled into the garage many hours ago and stayed that way. But there was no degradation of performance so what the heck.

I will idle all night - my APU 'ENG' fault won't clear - because it's supposed to be cold again tonight. Hopefully, that won't make the regen worse. We'll see.

 

And no, I won't idle. Even though the outside temp by the thermometer is 11 and that is below the 15 degree 'idle' temp, it shuts off. So break out the bag and sleep warm anyway!

 

This was a day. Many hours at the T/A shop and a new fuel filter seemed to take care of the major speed loss I had; now, I can maintain my governed speed (60!) few hole on flat ground and it doesn't do too bad climbing these mountains they have in Ohio. But I still have the two engine warning lites and a constantly flashing regen light. It started flashing - there was no steady warning first - right when I pulled into the bay at the T/A though there was indication at all. And it stayed flashing for 3+ hours at highway speed.

But I have a long list of active and passive faults, most of which have EGR or DPF attached to them. Hopefully, when I get to a GTI terminal, one of the wizards will be able to fix them...or replace it.

And this trailer still has no gear crank, so that will have to be fixed before I drop it at Unilever. Ah, the pitfalls of The Open Road. I'm convinced it's all because of this horrid cold we've had.

 

Lesson learned. Thanks, APU-experienced drivers! I did sleep fairly well,in spite of it all, but having some control over my environment would have been and will be much better. And a good morning to you, dear reader. Now off to Pontoon Beach to get the silly things fixed...I hope.

As for Indy and other places being short handed, we were advised about that in orientation.

 

Okay, fellow GTIers, a couple of things.

1. Yesterday, I hauled my first (broken) Heartland trailer, as you know. Today, I'm in a Pilot in Missouri taking a 10 on the way back to Ohio with a load of Rawlings sporting goods for Walmart. On my way down the hill to the Subway (yum!), I saw another Gordon truck pulling a Heartland trailer AND ... a Heartland truck pulling a Gordon trailer! A first for me. I knew it was just a matter of time and having them both in the same parking lot at the same time...well, I think we're taking over the world!

2. My first hometime request was approved for the end of February. Awesome! Now Bri knows how long she has me and can HOPEFULLY send me out of the Midwest. I'm not holding my breath or I would turn as aquatint as my truck is...under the thick white coat of dried salt.

3. But I need to know how to arrange a maintenance trip to fix this APU sooner rather than later. I'm learning to live with the one remaining yellow "engine" light; the tech at Pontoon said it was most likely electrical. I'm not one to argue, but that still leaves my inoperative APU. And I very much want it to be operative again! How do I do that?