Stepping Out With My Own Numbers

Today I am 77k pounds out of a plant about 15 miles west of Noel, MO back to New Orleans. On 250 loaded miles to my spot I got 8.2 MPG. That's better than the last trip already and the hills getting out of there back to 49 are slow and steep. I was like a machine in the Peterbilt and I'm slowly working my way back to machine level in this truck. Just getting my head around the new motor.

I've noticed after a few days in it that it operates a lot cooler than the old Cummins I had. Even on the big climbs back to 49 and some of the climbs there to 40 the oil temp barely went over 200 and the coolant never hit 200. In the mornings when I start rolling and the motor isn't at full temp, the oil pressure is huge at 100 psi. As it reaches full temperature the pressure drops steadily and stays at 45-50 the rest of the day. The high oil pressure and the cool running I think will really increase the life of the oil. I'm in the Navistar oil testing program and every 25k miles I swing by and have them take a sample. Navistar claims the A26 can go 70k miles between changes as long as you're in the program. I'm interested to see how that goes.

I'll be keeping a close eye on the drive tires because of the 6X2. I do not have a low rolling resistance tire on it. I went with Continental HDL2 EcoPlus because they are a traction oriented tire and have 27/32nds original tread depth. After researching the 6X2 I felt a low rolling resistance tire would wear out too fast and not be able to handle the torque load a 6x2 generates. I thought about getting the Michelin XDN2 but I don't like the shoulder design.

 

It is I guess but, if you compare it to a Greatec or to a Michelin XOne other than the XDN it has a different tread design meant for higher traction and not maximum MPG. It has a blocky tread pattern with an open shoulder vs a smoother radial style pattern with a closed shoulder. The Yokohama 902L is another wide base tire with low rolling resistance but is a traction oriented tire.

 

I like them because of the additional 4/32nds as well. I put 232k on the Bridgestone wide base I had and they still had another 20k in them. I run an H rated Bridgestone 283A on the steer. I was getting outrageous mileage out of that tire on the Peterbilt and I couldn't justify going with something else; it's a really good tire. My trailer has 2 Bridgestone and 2 Michelin due to a TA bringing me the wrong tire twice. The Michelins are much better on the trailer. The Bridgestone tires on my trailer wear at the shoulders while the Michelins aren't wearing at all and are even.

 

These new trucks have a green data port now and if you have devices that use the black data plug, they will not work. My new cable for my ELD is was supposed to be here but isn't in yet. I'll be using it as an AOBRD for now until I get back. I'm not waiting around for it.

 

Back on my he load board today for the first time in two weeks. I'm booked up through Monday morning. Going to Indy to VA then back over to MO. I have a guy I load with that has freight in this part of MO and he is working on hooking me up over there. He has a gravy run to TX. I hate TX but if it pays well enough, I go anyway. Getting back in the swing of it. This month won't be that great because I missed out on a big chunk of it getting the new truck on the road.