Where Are You Continues, Again.....

So just a few remarks... and I'm not judging. Seriously, a little over $2,000 repair cost is a rounding error on the costs to operate a truck. It's the same amount as 4 new drive tires. Or roughly 4 tanks of fuel. Hardly remarkable. That in mind, here is that list through my eyes versus yours or your fleet manager's:

That hood mirror. After half a million miles bouncing down the road in all sorts of weather from sub-zero to desert heat, it just failed. The truck wash didn't cause that, they just happened to put the one last thing to it that made it finally fail. Mirrors are consumable parts like tires and brake shoes. If the truck wash hadn't hit it with the spray, it would have fallen off anyway on some random bump in the road, or the next time ice formed behind the glass, or while you were inside the truck stop and another truck knocked it loose then drove away. Something that breaks or fails in the normal course of trucking. Not even worth getting mad about, really.

The trailer roof repair was a great deal. It's why I use my own Great Dane dealer here in Atlanta for similar repairs. And again, normal wear and tear. The leak could have been caused by anything from an overhead strike from a spotter moving it lifted too high, to a forklift raising a skid of product into the roof. In other words, routine.

Same with the apu repair. It costs $200 to have Thermo King open the case up for anything. Add in one or two gold plated Thermo King parts and honestly, you got out cheap under $600. However, the belt had nothing to do with the mount bracket. They are independent parts. You certainly needed the bracket. And the difference between replacing and adjusting the belt is the actual $40 belt. My only heartburn would be with the dummy that told me the mount caused the belt to get loose, which would discredit anything else they said. It just doesn't work that way.

The hub repair is also somewhat routine, however much less likely when bearings are assembled properly in the first place with correct preload versus being done "by feel." Sure some folks will debate that, but far as I'm concerned adjusting bearings by feel ranks right up there with checking tire pressure with the toe of a boot, in terms of precision. Some people accept that, I do not. There are several solutions on the market that don't cost much to ensure bearing preload is correct.

IMO the repair price was on the high end. And I've personally written the check for such repairs and know that for a fact. That said, it was at a truck stop so you're paying for convenience. Getting it repaired sooner may or may not have saved the bearings, which added around $200 to the bill I'm guessing. Regardless, I would encourage you or anyone else: if you see evidence of a hub leaking oil or grease, get it fixed immediately. Short of already being in a truck stop parking lot where there's a shop, or maybe one at the next exit, that (to me anyway) is a no-go situation. If that had been my truck and it wasn't close to a shop, I'd have paid to roll a service truck.

It only took one close call to make me a believer. Some years ago, I was in McAllen TX. At my final pickup I shut down for a 10 hr break before leaving, and was fully loaded with produce. The next morning on pre-trip inspection, I spotted the oil slick inside a trailer tandem letting me know I had a hub problem. I considered options. There was a Utility trailer dealer 6 miles away in Pharr, conveniently on-route. I had a bottle of hub oil on the truck. So I decided to refill the hub with oil and run it over to the trailer dealer versus calling out a service truck. When the dealer's spotter moved my trailer into a shop bay, I noticed it seemed to be tracking a little weird. But it was an ancient trailer and I sort of brushed it off thinking worn suspension or just due to the tight turn he was making. Then when they seemed to be taking a long time in the shop I went out to see what was up. Long story, but the oil seal leaking was due to an improper bearing install, which itself was caused by even earlier unaddressed spindle damage, making the last repair guy think the bearing was fully seated when it was not. The inner race had nearly welded itself to the spindle due to the heat from lack of lube and friction from being loose. It had to be cut off. Speaking to the cost aspect, that repair cost me $350 for the same thing you got at TA, and that included a man spending several hours dressing up the spindle with emory cloth to make sure the new bearings would install correctly.

The moral of this story is: In that short 6 mile trip, I came very close to losing a tandem while going down the road. There's a lot of things I'll limp into a shop, or maybe deal with until a load is complete. Axle leaks are not on that list.

 

Speaking of repairs and whatnot. Here's part of my day today.

In between reading and replying to email, and getting caught up on the two social sites I'm active on, I already have a list of chores. I have to take a ride down to check on a loaded trailer to make sure the reefer unit is still running and has fuel. So while I'm doing that may as well take care of a few more things.

I already printed out the Tri Pac control board and fuse diagram to figure out why the pre cooler fan is not coming on with one truck, causing the apu to run hot and trip the breaker shutting it down. Might be a fuse, or a wire fell off the precooler switch. Or maybe I forgot to stick the switch back up on the precooler when I changed it. In either event, shouldn't be a big deal. On the other hand, I should have learnt by now to never predict an easy repair job.

The other truck apu has a refrigerant leak and not cooling. I'm cautiously optimistic that it's dry seals from not running all winter. I'll pick up a charge can with oil/stop leak in it and try that first. I'll also bring my electronic leak detector and wave it around for good measure, in case my wallet is too heavy and I don't know it yet.

I also have a trailer with a bit of damage on one door, reported by the driver upon reaching his delivery yesterday morning. Looks like the spotter at the last pickup likely did it, striking something while backing with the doors open. It's not real bad, but I'm packing a big brass driver I have at home, so I can hammer it flush again. Once the load comes off, I'll be able to inspect the inside of the door for any further damage. Looking at the outside, it's not likely but not impossible.



I'm not going to make a claim on the shipper, or even mention it to anyone. This is routine wear and tear, and I'll get it fixed myself in short time. Trying to get someone else to pay for it will cost me more in wasted time than it's worth. It makes me mad that some careless person did this to my $72,000 trailer, and did not report it. But I'll just get over it since getting mad about it doesn't pay very much or fix anything.

And that trailer... the load was scheduled to be delivered yesterday at 0800. Except apparently nobody at shipper HQ knew the plant was closed. Or thought they could get that "hot" load unloaded on an off day. We all know that never works. So I've got a truck/trailer tied up on a 2+ day layover without any assurance of an unload appointment or plan until tomorrow. Once the situation became clear, I took control and notified the broker of the re-delivery process and sent the driver to our terminal for his weekend to begin. Broker was amazed that I wasn't going bezerk over the thing, which is what he usually gets. I was honest and told him I blamed my self for not refusing any load tender from the big chicken company that begins with a "T." And if it was easy, everyone would be trucking chicken.

Something to keep in mind when you think the folks in the office are doing nothing but talking on the phone and getting fat.

 

Those infrared temp guns are handy for all kind of things.
For the folks that pull multiple trailers in a fleet such as @otterinthewater and @Rocks it can point out a problem you may not be able to see.
I don’t use mine as much as I should, but I do touch the hubs on my walk around.

 

I carry mine with me. I mostly use it to make sure my trainee is actually alive and not faking death to miss driving in LA traffic.

I only pull dry van so I don’t have a need to check temp back there. I do check for holes in the trailer...but unless the wind drag from a gaping behemoth of a hole is noticeably slowing down my pace I just hit it with aluminum tape, give myself “a self high 5” and boogie.

 

does the boogie kinda look like this?
Handstand Dancing GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

 

That is hilarious!!!

 

You just ain't right.
Consider the source though.
Turns out that's a compliment.

 

You could have saved yourself some money and just get a
small mirror

 

As I suspected, all the repair chores were not what I expected. The apu that wasn't cooling was over charged, and may have a stuck expansion valve. I know that was replaced by Thermo King some time recently, now just need to research to see if it's less than a year for a free do-over, or if I go buy one and change it. The other one I thought was gonna be a pre-cooler fan problem turned out to be a no-start. Apparently the Holley fuel pump I put on there was good for almost 3 yrs. They sell those at Advance, so that's no big deal.

The trailer doors are damaged more than the picture suggested. Both doors have similar damage, not just the right one. I won't be able to do anything until the product is off and I can get to the inside to figure out what it's going to take to straighten things out. Or if I don't have a big enough hammer and end up taking it to Great Dane. Really not happy with that one at the moment.

I'm sure @062 suggested the IR heat gun for checking other things like hub and brake drum temps for bearings and dragging brakes, coolant and a/c lines to verify flow or obstructions, etc.

 

How's Miss @Rocks doing these days? Haven't been on in awhile. Busy / family stuff / working 6 days a week as of late, just haven't had time (or the werewithal?) lately.

Hope all is great for ya, and the rest of the gang on here~!

Tomcat