The War Path

[Injun]

Well. Stepped away for a few days to get my temper under control. I was about to post some not family-friendly content.

Anyway, I stopped in Wells, NV two nights ago. Three truck stops and a hoochie-house. Petro bought the old 4-Ways. It's going to be an Alamo when they're done with remodeling.

So yesterday, I was cruisin' along, Girly was runnin' GREAT, climbing 6% hills in 12th with very little loss of steam and grossing 77,800. Should'a been a warning. Last time she did that, it cost me two weeks. I got through Vegas just fine, with plans to stop at the Hacienda on the Nevada side of Hoover Dam because I was told they let drivers have rooms for showers. It's all I wanted. Then, I was going to head on down to at least Wikieup, AZ if not all the way to the consignee.

I got into Boulder City and lost all my turbo boost...just where you're turning left to stay on US93. Nowhere to stop safely, so I went on to the casino. *They aren't giving out rooms and showers anymore.*

My load to Phoenix was repowered and I doubled back to North Las Vegas, to McCandless, for repairs. I can run bobtail without a turbo. I can't haul a load without a turbo. Looks like an EGR valve. Mechanic said if it's what he thinks it is, it won't be too expensive...or take too much time.

So, since I'm really not feeling too proud of myself at this particular moment, I'll get a ride down to the Valero down the street and get a danged shower.

BTW: Had a ribeye dinner at the casino steakhouse last night. It was very good. Then I won $60 off of $20 on a machine and promptly played it out. I know better than that.

Hoping to make Phoenix tomorrow. Or I'll be stuck running OTR freight for the weekend until the inspection shop opens back up Monday.


I had forgotten how easy y'all OTR guys have it. Get to stop when you want, drag your feet a little...I can't do that on the WalMart account. Gotta keep on a-pushin' it til the load's done.

Oh, and I got some new mud flaps for Girly that match and fit right. Got rid of the cheap-o hard plastic plain black one and Love's one. She's stylin' now. (maybe that was her problem...knew something didn't look right, so insisted we stop and a S***Spreader shop to make it right.)

Streakin' Beacon down the street did a crappy wash job on the outside of the truck, but the innards and running gear look good. I guess they can't multi-task very well.

 

[Injun]

I got over 550K miles out of the EGR valve.

Astonishing.

 

[Duck]

I had forgotten how easy y'all OTR guys have it. Get to stop when you want, drag your feet a little...

Running OTR for a starter company like Swift must be like kindergarten for truck drivers. They probably schedule their loads based on a 30 mph average speed since they probably have a large number of drivers who can't keep the left door closed.

Try running for my company for a while, then say that.

Or worse, .. run for someone like @DubbleD for a while.

 

[DubbleD]

Sorry for your repair woes @Injun.

@Duck ...you make it sound like that's a bad thing. I simply understand that the job is... driving a truck, hence Truck Driver.

If money could be made sitting at the diner counter... I'd be very good at diner sitting. Until I exploded.

 

[Injun]

Sorry for your repair woes @Injun.

@Duck ...you make it sound like that's a bad thing. I simply understand that the job is... driving a truck, hence Truck Driver.

If money could be made sitting at the diner counter... I'd be very good at diner sitting. Until I exploded.

Not me. I'd get bored in fairly short order.

Heh..

 

[Fageol]

Not me. I'd get bored in fairly short order.

Heh..

Did the turbo go gunnysack on Girly or was it just the EGR valve?

 

[Duck]

@Duck ...you make it sound like that's a bad thing. I simply understand that the job is... driving a truck, hence Truck Driver.

If money could be made sitting at the diner counter... I'd be very good at diner sitting. Until I exploded.

Just because you have a CDL & a truck doesn't mean you need to run your ass off non-stop all the time.

Geez.

Most jobs require some kind of training & some kind of tools.
Mechanics have their ASE certification & lots of tools. How many of them work 14 hours a day?
Cops have a badge & gun. They work 8 hours shifts & go home.
Farmers have million dollar tractors. They operate them for long shifts for a week or two, twice a year. The rest of the time those machines are parked in a barn.
My neighbor has a plumbing business. He doesn't work 14 hours a day.

What's different about us that makes it so we have to work 14 hours a day, every day?

I've never figured that one out. There's no legitimate explanation for it.
If you can't make a living with a truck working 40 hours a week like every other profession, something's wrong.

 

[Injun]

It was the EGR valve.

 

[Fageol]

It was the EGR valve.

EGR valves on ISXs don't look like they're too hard to access. Assuming that a DD15 or 16 has an EGR valve, I'm guessing that it would take twice the time to access it as it would on an ISX. I'm not knocking those motors but relative to an ISX I sure see a lot of plumbing, wiring, tubing hanging off them.

 

[Injun]

The EGR valve is on the driver side of the engine, down low. The inside fender/wheel well liner that's on the firewall has to be removed. As long as the bolts turn free, it takes less than an hour and a half to remove the EGR valve, then about an hour and a half to put it back on...including removal/replacement of the wheel well liner, black plastic thingajiggy.

I made it to FEE-nicks.

 

[Tazz]

Just her way of protesting all that dry hot air you were making her breathe

 

[DubbleD]

Just because you have a CDL & a truck doesn't mean you need to run your *** off non-stop all the time.

Geez.

Most jobs require some kind of training & some kind of tools.
Mechanics have their ASE certification & lots of tools. How many of them work 14 hours a day?
Cops have a badge & gun. They work 8 hours shifts & go home.
Farmers have million dollar tractors. They operate them for long shifts for a week or two, twice a year. The rest of the time those machines are parked in a barn.
My neighbor has a plumbing business. He doesn't work 14 hours a day.

What's different about us that makes it so we have to work 14 hours a day, every day?

I've never figured that one out. There's no legitimate explanation for it.
If you can't make a living with a truck working 40 hours a week like every other profession, something's wrong.

I'm at home now. Got home yesterday as a matter of fact.

Will be home till Sunday noon.

Then I'll be home Tuesday evening and Wednesday evening and Friday evening thru early Monday morning of the following week. (That 34 won't count)

I'll have logged 5000 miles from yesterday thru the end of next Monday. Wife still wants to know when I'll be an OTR trucker.

 

[Injun]

Running OTR for a starter company like Swift must be like kindergarten for truck drivers. They probably schedule their loads based on a 30 mph average speed since they probably have a large number of drivers who can't keep the left door closed.

Try running for my company for a while, then say that.

Or worse, .. run for someone like @DubbleD for a while.

Nah. I'm through hauling reefers from producers to DCs. When you pick up, they take forever loading, run you heavy and when you're finally loaded, it's hurry, hurry, hurry to get to the delivery. When you get there, it's "*yawn* You're who? Wait...it's break time. Come back in an hour....Nope, not done yet. Leave your radio on, we'll call you... Wait, who are you? The last shift was supposed to unload you. It's not our job. Close your doors and wait for them to come back on. We need the door. Go park over there."

OTR grocery drivers take way too much abuse. I'll take a nice relaxing van.

 

[Duck]

Nah. I'm through hauling reefers from producers to DCs. When you pick up, they take forever loading, run you heavy and when you're finally loaded, it's hurry, hurry, hurry to get to the delivery. When you get there, it's "*yawn* You're who? Wait...it's break time. Come back in an hour....Nope, not done yet. Leave your radio on, we'll call you... Wait, who are you? The last shift was supposed to unload you. It's not our job. Close your doors and wait for them to come back on. We need the door. Go park over there."

OTR grocery drivers take way too much abuse. I'll take a nice relaxing van.

That's never once happened to me. Except at large grocery warehouses. We deliver mainly to small places that have to shut down if they don't get their daily shipment of dead cows to chop up. Small packing plants that order Tyson meat & cut it up & slap their own name on the package, sausage factories, etc.

 

[Injun]

That's never once happened to me. Except at large grocery warehouses. We deliver mainly to small places that have to shut down if they don't get their daily shipment of dead cows to chop up. Small packing plants that order Tyson meat & cut it up & slap their own name on the package, sausage factories, etc.

...and how long are you waiting around for the cows and chickens to die? I've waited as long as three days. Garden City (Gardenville? ...whatever) KS. Normal wait in Dodge City was 24 hours. Plainview, TX? Two or three days. Beardstown, IL? A day.

 

[Duck]

...and how long are you waiting around for the cows and chickens to die? I've waited as long as three days. Garden City (Gardenville? ...whatever) KS. Normal wait in Dodge City was 24 hours. Plainview, TX? Two or three days. Beardstown, IL? A day.

The longest was probably 24 hours, .. once. Marshalltown, IA right after they got raided by immigration.

Usually 10 hours max. Half the time it's loaded when I get there. It's a crap-shoot.

 

[Injun]

Back in Las Vegas. Sitting in a dock three and a half hours early to unload, then run to another shipper to load up for Washington.

Girly passed all her tests with flying colors and will get a 300K mile extended warranty. Engine and power train, but it also includes the stuff bolted to the engine and power train that have to do with the operation of the vehicle...like turbo, EGR valve, radiator, etc.

So, on my way back up here, just south of Wikieup (don't rmember if there's a "c" in that or not and too lazy to look it up) I was passed by a FedEx Ground set as the driver was blasting down a hill. Naturally, I began to overtake the doubles on out way up the next grade, despite my gross weight being 79,900. I got into the left lane to go around him and he moved into the left lane. I returned to the right lane and he did, too. I had to brake it down and drop a gear to keep from running up his tail because of his asshattery. Picked up the radio and told him, "Now, you're just being an ***hole." Then, at the next wide spot, I pulled off the road for a few minutes so I wouldn't have to continue playing his BS games. Besides, I needed to pee anyway.

So. Who's the professional here? FedEx? or Swift?

 

[8978]

Oh man!!! Professionalism is right out the window. This was all out war and you knuckled under. I couldn't have done it.

@Duck, this is where a set of those rocket engines I was talking about come into play. James Bond style

 

[Rigjockey]

Oh man!!! Professionalism is right out the window. This was all out war and you knuckled under. I couldn't have done it.

@Duck, this is where a set of those rocket engines I was talking about come into play. James Bond style

Hey if ya'll are getting rocket engines then I want rocket engines. i was promised jet packs by the year 2000, Still waiting on that.

 

[Injun]

I didn't knuckle under to anybody. That ***wipe wanted to pick a road fight and I just refused to cooperate. I could have passed him eventually, but at what cost? My fuel, needless wear on my truck, my nerves and possibly causing an accident by stirring the idiot up? Add to that the very real potential of wetting my pants because my molars were floating on a yellow sea. Peeing was more important to me at the moment than participating in a game of road rage.