I can count on one hand how many breakdowns I have had over the years. Or how often I was asked to switch because of a break down..
Sounds like when I was at Poly or Crete. At Poly, I was once under 3 different trucks in one day, and the last available truck I took had a coolant leak in the sleeper heater core (with no coolant shut off valves)
Trucks break down, a fuel pump and a transmission problem are not uncommon and more than a few guys lose a bunch of time in brand new trucks due to malfunctioning emissions systems. This is trucking, the first saying I learned decades ago when I bought my first truck was "It takes big bucks to play with trucks".
Yes, this is normal. As long as your working for an operation that does not pay you for your time with a broken down truck, you will constantly be wasting your time fixing trucks, waiting for repair, and swapping trucks. Your time is free and it costs your company nothing to be neglectful of maintenance issues.
Get another truck. Keep going through trucks until they toss in the towel and give you a virgin tractor with less than 20 miles on the clock. I went through 5 trucks in a couple of days, 4 of which were broken down in interesting ways with each of them. The 5th tractor was the one that I should have been delivered from the very beginning but for a shop boss who discriminated against me by not allowing this particular large horse big torque tractor to be sent to me. Until my supervisor had a one way high volume converstation with him. I was issued a brand new Mack CH the following week. With the expectation that there will be no more breakdowns. And there was not. Do not quit or act childish, do what you can with the tractors you are given, fix them until they finally fix you by issuing a new one to you.
They're putting me on local work this week while the pump gets replaced, so that's good. Appreciate all the feedback from everyone.
I do not know how to drive a truck that has a faulty fuel pump or a blown head gasket. But what do I know ???
I'm pretty new to the industry myself. I run Mack trucks through the mountains in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Mostly Pinnacle and vision. I've made some mistakes, and had some teething of my own. But I will say, as bottom of the totem, I catch beat up tractors regularly. I've had five or six breakdown in three months. Brake malfunctions, transmission issues, ancient batteries. I reckon it's just paying dues in the business we're in. Chin up and best luck.
That should read 2k miles. Some of those brand new trucks are pulling other brand new trucks to a terminal. 2 of my brand new trucks had just about 2,000 miles when I got them, and the plastic was still covering the seats. The last one, a Volvo, I had from start to finish. I got it brand new with just under 2k miles, and it was retired with just over 500k. I had it the whole time. It was the best truck, with the fewest problems, of any truck previous. My current truck is a '17 Cascadia, which had ~2,000 miles when I got it - also brand new. And it has, so far, been just as reliable as the Volvo. Every used truck I have been assigned to has had major problems. Every new truck has not. Granted I have only been assigned 2 so far. But the track record stands for now. Maybe it's just how the previous drivers have treated the truck, I don't know.
A lot of issues with older trucks can also be laid at the feet of previous drivers. For example: I started this company in a 2013 Cascadia. It was the spare before I got it. No one cares about it, or for it. A day in the shop to fix'er up, and this truck turned into the most reliable rig in the fleet. I was later offered a '13 Western Star. I jumped at it, ran it for four days, and dumped it into a dealership for an inframe rebuild (at 207,000 on the clock!) Once the Western Star was in the dealership, my ops manager offered me my old Cascadia back. Oh, you bet I grabbed it! In the time I've had this Cascadia, I've replaced the batteries (factory originals that finally died), a water pump (again factory original), the EGR cooler (factory recall) and the S-Cam and slack adjuster on the passenger steer (actual breakdown). She's never stranded me and wouldn't know what to do with a wrecker. I'll keep my Cascadia, thanks. She's been the most reliable and most profitable truck I've run yet. And when,my company decides it is time to put her to pasture, I'm gonna try to buy her.