unpaid down time ??

true about compromising but unfortunately .many things companies won't compromise with the drivers.

 

Reason you don't get paid for your time it's cause it's OTR!

 

It's amazing to me how many drivers will actually try to rationalize working for free. It doesn't matter who's fault the breakdown is. It also doesn't matter if the the truck is making money at any particular moment. Either I'm at work, or I'm not. It's that simple. When I'm at work, I'm getting paid.

 

There you go. Prime example. Would a pre trip have prevented that?

 

Not quite true. To me anytime your in the truck your "at work" even off duty your responsible for the truck and load. That's part of the reason I am local and hourly. I get paid for everything that I do.

 

I agree with you ajohnson. You must have misunderstood my post. I consider myself at work from the time I open the gate in the morning until when I drive out after I get in from my run. I'm hourly like you.

 

No pre-trip is going to help when these computerized engines decide to take a dump!
The last time mine derated horsepower at 4 am on a Sunday morning while coming down the W.VA Turnpike.
Not fun with a load of spuds in the wagon.
I limped it to Greensboro.They were the only dealer open on Sunday.
They had it 28 hours to diagnose and replace an exhaust pressure sensor....total BS!

 

I thought you were otr, my mistake

 

My truck got stuck at Volvo in Farmington, New Mexico over a weekend because on Saturday night when it flashed "SCR performance low. Engine to derate soon". I've had that happen before and what is supposed to happen is once that warning pops up, it asks for a parked regen. What's usually the cause is the DEF crystalizes on the catalyst in extreme cold temperatures. It wasn't all that cold but it crystallized anyway, more on that later.

A parked regen will cause those crystals to vaporize, returning the SCR to a (hopefully) functioning state..

My problem is that night it did NOT ask for a parked regen and the Volvo system is designed not to allow a parked regen unless one is needed. The only way to bypass that is with the Volvo link.

Got to the Volvo shop just as it went into derate. Volvo sent the on call technician who poked around and said there wasn't much he could do, the Volvo emissions expert wouldn't be in until Monday.

My grandparents live nearby so I got a place free of charge to stay.

They forced it to run a few sublimation cycles (Volvo's term for it) but couldn't figure out why it didn't trigger a parked regen request. It happened a few more times (luckily asking for a parked regen) until I had it happen again at the Travelers Oasis in Eden, ID and the truck got stuck in a non stop regen cycle. Went to the Volvo shop in Twin Falls and they figured out why it was happening so often, the line heater for the DEF was disabled. It was freezing in the lines.

 

[QUOTE="Charlie Mac, post: 5069381, member: 175291
You wanna be paid by the hour, you're in the WRONG industry.

Buckle up buttercup, this is trucking.[/QUOTE]

Ouch! That was a little rude.. No need for that- especially when I replied to your comment with nothing but respect.. Pretty sure I've been doing this at least as long as you have (notice I didn't say longer than you? that would be disrespectful to assume something like that), so I understand pretty well how this thing works.. But thanks for the advice..

Sad that drivers actually think it's OK to work for a company that doesn't pay them when THEIR (the company's) truck breaks down thru no fault of the drivers.. At that point, why not just become an O/O? You're half way there.. Bottom line, if you're prevented from working because the company's equipment failed, you should get paid FAIRLY for the time that you were ready, willing, and able to work but couldn't thru no fault of your own

PS I get paid hourly (maybe I'm not "in the wrong industry" after all), so I don't have a dog in this fight- but no way I'd accept not getting paid for my lost time due to company equipment failure