i hope yer enjoying your weekend at home man

chat at ya next week

 

Thanks.....I'll give you a holler when I get back out there Monday. Got 2 back to back loads lined up right now that will take me up to MN and then over to UT.

 

If you turn it up to 550hp, do you get any more low end torque? I always understood it was torque that's needed for pulling hills with heavy loads.

BTW, today I was on I15N in Utah. I saw a speed sign for 80MPH!! I didn't believe it a first, but then I saw a sign next to it stating this was a test section of the highway.

Deseret News | Speed limit of 80 mph now legal on parts of I-15

Now, I generally don't run over 70mph as I am more comfortable at 65mph. But, I figured how many chances am I going to get to legally run 80mph? My truck is ungoverned, so I set the cruise to 80mph for the 19 miles. I had a UHP come off the shoulder and follow me for a few miles. It was a strange feeling to be going that fast with a bear on my azz and no fear of being stopped. Once, the speed dropped back to 75mph, I reset my cruise to 68mph.

 

Hey DD,

Ever consider putting your posts all into a blog type format? That way we don't have to wade through everything. Or maybe get rev to put a "cliffs notes" version in the first post that way someone can just pick up at the end.

edit:

I went on US50 in that stretch a few months ago, it was incredible! By far the nicest highway I've ever been on. I loved how worn out the mountains looked on the east side. I did it empty, so I flew across the whole thing. My GF didn't like all the twistys though. Probably would just take 70 in winter.

 

I want the more HP because I got so used to the 500hp in the Western Star. And as strange as it sounds, I have spoken to 1 mech at a Peterbilt shop and 2 CAT mechs, and they all said that if I have it turned up to what it was made for (550hp), I should see a slight increase in performance and fuel mileage. I could never understand how more HP would save fuel but one of the CAT mechs explained that basically the motor would not be working as hard and therefore save fuel. A friend of mine had his Pete turned up and he claims he is getting almost a 1/2 mile more per gallon.

As for the speed limit in UT, I seen that too a few weeks back when I was running down I-15.

 

Hate to sound dumb, but what do you mean by "a blog type format"?

Yeah that US 50 was a beautiful ride. It was 160 miles shorter overall than running back up to Grand Junction and across 70. It may have taking more time due to the curves and speed limit, but it was definitely worth it.

 

A blog would be your own website. Each entry would only be yours. Then we could "comment" on each blog. Sort of like this:

Little Green Footballs

That way it is much easier to go through your story. Don't have to wade through all the comments.

 

Allan beat me to it, but he's right. A blog is an acronym or just a short way of saying "web log" and it's basically a diary of sorts where you can just write away to your heart's content, or rant & rave, as your mood dictates. You basically start your own mini-web site to just write your story. The good part about a blog is that you are the star and we can read what you want to write. If someone has a comment on what you've written, they can click on a "comment" button and add their comments. We as the reading public, can then choose to either read your most entertaining story without being sidetracked by everyone's comments. Or read the comments too, if we decide. It's pretty cool.

Here's one place (of many...) where you can start your own blog for free: WordPress.com
Just click on the "Sign Up Now!" button and away you go...

Here's an example of a blog at this wordpress.com web site that was just started by someone I know: Tim's Blog
As you can see it's formatted for easy reading. You can select a title for the day's post and the blog web site posts the date for you and adds a comment button so readers can comment on your writing.

I have been lurking here and following your posts for quite a while and find them very interesting. You've obviously got some others following them as well.

Hope this description helps!

Greg

 

if ya do a blog, it will be alot harder for some of us to find it....newbies included

i know yer a busy man and all, but i also know they have the internet in the dakota's

so update ya dillhole......yer fans are waiting

 

Guess I've been really slacking in updating . I am even too lazy to go back and read my last update to see where I left off :lol:

So, let's see.......I dropped my son off at home and picked up a military load out of Fort Hood, TX going to Appleton, MN. I had 2 humvee's and 1 Dodge Caravan. It was an easy load except that dang van was a little bit of a challenge because it does not have any specific tie downs and I do not carry any special ties downs for regular vehicles. Although a slight pain in the rear end to secure, I "got er dun" and delivered the load with no problems.

From Appleton, I bounced down to Zumborta, MN and picked up some misc. pipes and racks going to a job site in South Jordan, UT. I was told to be at the shipper between 10-11am so I got there at 9:45am (early is on time and on time is late). Anyways, it turns out that the load was no where near ready. I mean they were still welding flanges and such on the pipes. I didn't roll out of there until about 3pm! Other than that, the run went smoothly.

From there I bounced down to Myton, UT and loaded some "Mats" for an oil rig that were going to New Town, ND. I usually will not take any loads up to that area as it can be real hard to get out of. But this one paid extremely well and when I figured in a healthy DH out of there it still paid decent. It was an absolute cluster there. There must have been at least 40 trucks all sitting in a field getting loaded with this and that. Most were OD & heavy loads. There was only one other LS truck there and he too was getting the same Mats as I was. We sat there for about 6hrs before they even called on me to load. Once they did, there was a big debate as to how much each mat weighed and what they would load on me. Eventually, they decided to play it safe and put 4 mats and a few misc. peices on and asked if I would weigh and call them back so they had an idea of what to load on the other trucks. When I weighed, it turned out to be about 39k. That load went smooth and was delivered a day early.

Of course they was not a single decent paying load coming out of the area so the other LS driver and myself DH back down to Rapid City, SD (bike week was gearing up ). After sitting for almost 2 days with no decent loads popping up, I finally found one from Peetz, CO to Elk City, OK. Although it and the previous load both have good rates, when my DH is factored in it goes from good rates to just O.K. rates. But that's the way it works in this business sometimes right.

I am now sitting at the Sapp Bros. in Sidney, NE. I am 14 miles from Peetz, Co where I will load first thing Monday morning.

After this load, I will start making my way back to the house to take a couple of weeks off as my son, who received a full blown Navy ROTC Scholarship to Hampton University in Hampton, VA, leaves for college in mid August. His mom and I will drive him there and visit a few old friends from my Navy days.