What engine would you use if this was you?

Lol! That truck was leaving empty after the first load was delivered in the photo.

The second time coming in loaded, the lift axle got destroyed.

Truck was gone for 6 months after to replace the lift axle.

 

Mach;

That is so true. I know the driver well. He’s a long time employee at that company.

I often times haul all the extra loads for him on our B-trains to the sites he works at.

I do remember him saying that he was getting a new crane truck and was very excited to get it.

He spoke with the truck engineer and company boss on how he wants the truck set up that would work best in the job he does.

He wanted:

-The largest crane allowed on a truck for their setup.

-must have a big engine

-must be a tri-drive

several other things that I’m not quite sure about.

The truck arrived.

It came with a weak DD16 Detroit. Burns a lot of fuel.

Tandem drive with steerable lift axle which he absolutely hates.

But he did get his crane that he wanted.

After just 700 miles was put on, the clutch was burnt out.

9,000 miles on it, the lift axle was destroyed.

The company is now bleeding money repairing the truck and fighting with freightliner on who’s paying for all the problems.

Freightliner replaced the clutch under warranty. But I’m not sure who got the blame for the lift axle.

But in the end, the engineer said all the stuff the operator wanted will not increase carrying capacity and doesn’t justify the high cost of a tri-drive. The company owner went with the engineer and cheaped out.

Now the operator wants the crane removed and put on an older truck and this truck gone.

When I spoke with my boss on what is the best trailers to haul that company’s stuff he listened to what I have to say.

The b-train is the best in my opinion because it can be split and go into construction sites with half the weight.

It was not long ago that because our b-trains needed rebuilding they hired another company with a straight 5 axle trailer to help haul the stuff while I used our tridem stepdeck for the rest.

That driver took out his driveshaft trying to go into the site with 95,000 lbs on the deck.

I had to do his job for him and took the trailer in myself. (I’ve been working that type of job for 5 years already and know what to expect. This was the other driver‘a first time)

I’ve got plenty of pics for this.