Running produce to Alaska

You might have a point there. I guess I am doing the same thing and hope for a different outcome.

We did have all fuel lines replaced during my reset up in Alaska and I was hoping that would fix the problem with the tanks not equalizing. The shop is great and they have a shower and laundry and I actually stayed in the truck inside the building over night. Anchorage and the Matsu Valley had a winter storm warning and at one point they forecasted up to 10" of snow.
I bailed out Saturday afternoon and it was snowing pretty hard, but I wanted to get out of the valley before night fall and being snowed in. It all went well until the truck ran out of fuel going up an 8% grade.
I had enough traction to not slide backwards. I figured it had to have drawn air someplace with all the work done. Both tanks are full, shut of valves are open. It is about to get dark, it is snowing like a son of a gun, balmy 15 degrees outside and to my surprise I have cell service. I give the shop call and tell them what happened and where I was. They are on their way.

I fire of the bunk heater to stay warm, dig out the jumper cables and hook the reefer and truck batteries together and fire of the reefer. I get my winter gear on and venture outside and start pulling my tools out. I take the canister for the fuel screen off and it is only half fuel. After filling that up with Diesel I move on to the spin on fuel filter and guess what it is not very tight. Ha, that will be an easy fix I think. I fill up the fuel filter and put it back on and use my strap wrench to tighten it and start priming with the hand pump. A friendly 4 wheeler driver stopped and asked if I could use a hand. I put him in the truck to push the starter button and I keep priming and what you know she fires up and runs. I thank him for the help, pack up everything and get out of my winter gear. The truck runs great at fast idle and I am stoked. That is when the engine died after running out of fuel again.

Alright, here we go again. Gear up, dig out tools and hook the reefer and batteries together once again. Same scenario fuel filter is out of fuel. That is when I started checking for tightness of the fuel lines and what do you know the line from the screen to the transfer pump is loose. I do the song and dance of filling filters and priming and get the truck started for the second time. I watch it for 5min and all seems well. I put my stuff away and see if I actually can get going without chaining. Truck gets going without a problem and I get to the pullout on top of the hill. Get out my winter gear, give the mobile wrench an update and get some dinner. Truck is running fine and the mechanic will sit at Eureka Lodge until I make it to Glennallen which is about 90 miles.

Truck ran good all the way home. I guess it did help to have tools and supplies and a small jerry can with fuel. Halfway home my headlights developed an auto dim feature were they would turn off on their own. Not a fun thing at night in the middle of nowhere. Luckily for the 30" lightbar and not much traffic. It turned out to be a bad dimmer switch that after some coaxing kept the lights on.

I did have quite the surprise when I got back. Actually, talk about being blind sided. My buddy decided to shut the truck down due to the unreal repair costs and had me deliver my two cars and than clean out the truck. Oh well, I was wanting to take some time off and here I go. It was a bit unplanned, but might as well make hay while the weather is good. So I am at home and enjoying some time off and figure out what I will do next. The girl friend is exited and tells everybody that I got myself fired.

 

They have a place right here in Tacoma too. I could talk to my banker her dad works for them too. I got my feelers out and I know I will be back to work before I know it. I always say I want to take time off, but end up working. I have cut back on miles quite a bit already.

 

Well, here is a quick update. I am back at work and made one trip North so far. I will leave Monday for the second one. I made good time going North and the only little hick up I had was the alternator went out on the reefer trailer. I ran a wire from the trailer plug to the reefer battery and charged the battery of the truck pig tail. The only draw back was I could not shut the truck off since the reefer battery was back feeding and keeping the ignition on. Not a big deal, just some extra idle time. I was lucky and got a ten dropper on the first trip out.

Like the new ride and the tridem reefer trailer. I took a picture outside of Haines Junction for the signature. If I cannot make this gig work I will call it quits and become a hermit.

 

Alaska is just a small part of Fairchilds operation. They are running loads all over the country. Who are you working with at Fairchild and what terminal is closest to your home base?

If you have a good truck and are diligent on maintenance Alaska is not too bad, but it will cost you a lot more than running the lower 48.