Stevens Transport aviary

My truck crapped out 100 miles from the yard on the way to my first D&D pick up... I am still on that truck... 530 k miles and still going strong.

Once they get the bugs worked out, you will be good.

 

Wind chill won't reduce the temperature of an inanimate object. It will make it cool faster, but it won't make it any colder than the air temperature.

 

Good luck KMac. Hope that they get you goin again soon. TBT5150..

 

'garp' is right. Wind chill only applies to we humans and not solids and liquids. Wind chill is the effect of the cold on our skin factoring in condensation, sweat, humidity etc. In the summer they call it the heat index but it's the same thing. It can be 33F with a wind chill of -10F and water won't freeze. Wind chill can reduce the temperature of fuel or metal faster but it will never drop below the actual temperature. Clear as mud? Thank you Mr Radford, 8th grade physics and Wiki.

Next week; What grows on a truck stop toilet seat, part 1.

 

Thank you BOTH of you>amazing how many folks "think" that wind chill has an effect on inanimate objects.

 

We always put anti-gel in our tanks if weather is predicted to be below 40 degrees (we use Howe's fuel treatment the rest of the time, both keep excess moisture out of fuel). Almost 5 years OTR and haven't had any problems, even in -16 weather in WY.

 

Remember. Stevens is a training company. They are REQUIRED to teach you the laws by the letter. In real life there is the literal law (Stevens teaches) and APPLIED law. (Most people practice)
Look at it this way. There is a sign that says NO SWIMMING, but you see someone that has fallen in and is drowning. Do you watch them drown because the sign forbids you from swimming?
Can you be cited if you swim to help the person? (yes...according to the literal translation)
Well so it goes with QC's and HOS laws.
So many people violated the HOS (flagrantly) and for many other reasons, we have come up with electronic devices that rule our HOS.
Think about it for a moment. The 14/11 hour rules are there to keep drivers from becomming too fatigued and endangering people on the highway.
You plan your day, give yourself a margin for the unexpected, but arrive at your truck stop at 11:02 of your driving day.
Are you any more dangerous than you were three minutes earlier? In the eyes of the law you are.
With paper logs, this wasn't a problem. But with electronic logs, it is.
But Compliance has to tell you the letter of the law. It's what they're required to do.
But I can tell you that people all over that building often wish the driver would do the expedient thing.
Yes, the driver is the one taking the chance. Yes, technically it's your butt if something happens.
But if you're driving across the street, or down the block and not tripping your QC, are you endangering the public? Why would the DOT stop you and inspect your QC if they witnessed that?
I suppose there might be some out there that would also cite you for swimming.
But the reality is, the chances of anything happening are about zip.
But it IS your choice.
(Personally, I would take the chance)
As for citations being being issued for this? I place that under the same catagory as 'once upon a time...'.
As you mature in this business (and any other) you learn what is expedient and what is wrong.
Running 30 minutes further than your 11 so you can stop at your favorite TS? Stupid! (wrong)
Running 3 minutes further than your 11 so you can make A truck stop? Expedient (still illegal)

There are many stories told around the hallowed halls of Orientation and the Lounge. And many are just that...stories.
They're there to drive home a point:
Be safe, be legal, be careful.
But sometimes you just have to take a swim. (my opinion)

 

Truck is running fine... that happened back in August... thanks though!

 

The dirty secret on the inside is how lousy these QC's are!
Many don't realize that these units work off cell towers, not sattelite.
I swear Qualcomm Corporation uses the cheapest, lowest quality cell tower system in the country! I cannot begin to tell you how many times I get calls from drivers who's QC is not receiving a signal, and I'm talking to them (clearly) on their cell phones!
There are areas where the coverage just doesn't exist. Central Wyoming on I-80, southeast Texas and much of Nevada come to mind.
Once the device loses signal for a specified amount of time, it will show VIOLATION even when it regains signal. It thinks you disconnected it so you could cheat!
So call safety or compliance and spend hours (many times) going thru the process of getting the thing 'fixed'.
I won't even go into the NaviGo piece of merde!
Seems one of the children pushed for this so ANYONE can go into NYC. Nevermind it does not function well there due to the tall buildings, bridges and poorly placed cell towers for the network. (see above reference to cheap network)
The best thing those QC's are good for are tire chalks (my opinion)
And for the navigation system? What a joke!
Example: Load from Paris TX to Cheyenne WY.
Quickest and shortest is US 287 thru Amarillo, Lamar, Limon, Denver.
Truck yesterday calls. He's in Hays KS. (I-70 between Salinas and Denver) Why? His NaviGo told him so!
"Yea, I knew it wasn't a good route, but my NaviGo told me to do this." It had routed him up I-35 to I-70.
Now he's 133 miles out of route.
Another. Two trucks loaded and heading to the same location within one hour of each other. Both load at Ontario OR and are heading to SoCal (one is Riverside, the other Ontario)
Truck A is routed across 84 to 15 in Utah, down thru Las Vegas and into SoCal.
Truck B is routed down US95 to Winnemucca, then west to Sacramento, south on I-5, over the grapevine and east on I-10 to Riverside.
Both trucks are running late due to the mileage out of route. Both are Alliance, so the extra mileage come out of their pockets.
The best route? US 95 south to Hesperia, CA, then I-15 down Cajon Pass into Ontario/Riverside. Shortest, quickest.
Both drivers are using their NaviGo. Both drivers are 2 year or longer drivers, so they drove with paper logs and Truckers Atlas in their past.
Both drivers are proud owners of the big bright STUPID button.
We receive an INCREDIBLE amount of calls from drivers asking us to reset their QC's. Or (if they're smart) put the things on the floor and use paper logs once their device fails. Often the communication portion (load assignments, texting functions) continue to work when the logging and NaviGo fail.
We are witnessing the dumbing down of drivers as we train them to rely on the GPS system.
I don't care if you use NaviGo or RMC or Garmin or any other. It is simply one tool in your array of tools to navigate.
Use your atlas. Question stupid routes.
Again...example. Yesterday I received a call from a grad driver. He is at the TA near the yard. (I-20, x472) Needs us to 'load my NaviGo so I can get to the yard.'
"Sorry. We don't have any access to the system. You'll need to use your maps."
"I don't have any."
I give explicit instructions how to make the short trip.
Two hours later he calls. He's in Ft Worth and lost!
He cannot navigate without his GPS. What a shame.
What a pathetic example of poor choices made by management!

 

So can you just ignore the GPS and do it the right way? Or is that frowned upon by the company?