My new, final resting place

Stick around. I post regularly and you'll get an idea what an OTR reefer driver does for a living...and where.

 

I only use Howe's and I'm pretty sure the second time wasn't gel. The first time might have be because it was early and I might not have had enough to treat the fuel that as in the tank. I never gelled up with Gordon even running the Rockies.

 

So the new guy wants to see what being an OTR reefer driver is all about.momsy, here it is:

I went to bed with a sluggish truck last night, probably as much due to carrying 45+K pounds of freight as anything else. I had two amber caution lights, what Cummins calls the Malfunction Indicator Lamp and the Check Engine Lamp when I turned off the light and closed myeyes for sleep. Neither one require immediate attention, panic, or concern; just attention.

I awoke this morning with a very different scenario; I had the same two Amber caution lights plus the steady red Stop Engine Lamp. This one does require immediate concern, attention, and action...before it starts blinking. Blinking red is very, very bad, Grasshopper.

So I was at the TA (wisely, I had decided to pull in there as opposed to my preferred Love's nearby) and went to the guy at the front desk to arrange for some looking and 'action.' The bottom line was a many-hours wait in -10+ degree weather for their day crew to come to work and my own company's day crew to show up and coordinate things. My guy Matt told them 'just change the fuel filters again,' so the fuel filters were changed...again; they were changed yesterday, too. He also told me they sometime have to replace th filters 2 or 3 times to extinguish the lights; it's all about fuel pressure and trucks are built to very exacting tolerances. It doesn't take much water or gel in the system to turn them on.

And off I went on my merry way to make my delivery and pickup.

The day-ending line is that, as I sit here in the Village of Coloma, Wisconsin, at 1630, I am warning light free and have a clear annunciator panel...for now. However, I'm also on the warm side of night, which is forecast to be warmer than -10, but only up to 0 degrees, so I'll see what I wake up with tomorrow.

Oh. And I am not at a TA. My trip to Orlando will be nothing if not eventful.

 

No. Our trucks still shut off after 3 minutes no matter what the temp is. That's a first for me and I'm not sure it's a good idea. But maybe they've run the numbers and found it cheaper to buy filters and antigel than fuel. Who knows.

 

I'm sitting in a Flying J near Ft. Campbell, KY, and I'm still 13 drive hours away, so I won't make the delivery tomorrow night, as originally planned. That's what 2 maintenance delays will do to a schedule and I'm not happy.