Good thing you caught that turbo whay you did, or you would have lost it on the grapevine for sure!! :evil: :evil:

The grapevine takes MANY turbos lives.

Tow bills suck too. :evil: :evil:

Good Luck and Happy Trails
:wink: :wink:
tootie

 

01/22/08
Last night was one of a few times that I was able to sleep at night and not have to idle the truck. I slept so well that when my alarm went off I just kept hitting the snooze button and before I knew it, it was 8am local. By the time I went through my morning ritual and got running, it was a lot later than I planned, but it’s all good because I had a great nights sleep.

Once I got rolling, I had a nice little tail wind pushing me along I-5. Between the tail wind and the flat terrain, my fuel mileage jumped up to a whopping 8.4mpg!! This went on for about 200 miles or so. In fact, when I shut down tonight, I filled up and then calculated my fuel mileage and I am presently getting 6.81mpg. This is even after running over Donner’s pass and cruising at 70mph in Nevada. I just hope I can keep the mileage up there all the time. Guess the new exhaust manifold and turbo helped my mileage out a little.

Anyways, because I got a late start, I didn’t get all that far and shut down in Mill City, NV off I-80. It’s no big deal because if my calculations are correct, I am only about 500 miles from the customer and should be able to get unloaded tomorrow as long as the weather holds out. A quick 30 mile jog down I-80 and then up U.S. 95, I-84, U.S. 11 and wala, I ‘am there.

 

the mech said basically the same thing, except he said he would have bet i didn't get past those hills in NM & AZ

 

Glad you got the manifold and turbo fixed, and that it was an easy fix. Did the fix improve your power on the hills??

 

it certainly did!!!

 

01/23/08
I was up bright and early this morning and hit the road as planned. The outside temp was a sky rocketing 4 degrees. As I made my way north on U.S. 12 the temps got down to negative 7!! The warmest temp I experienced all day was this afternoon in Wala Wala when I delivered and it was 19.

I did make it to my customer with 15 minutes to spare before they stopped receiving. I could have made it there a lot sooner but got slightly delayed in Pendleton, OR fueling up. I did not really need any fuel as I had over a half a tank, but the price was $2.99 and I couldn’t pass up topping off my tanks. Guess everyone else was thing the same thing as the fuel island was like a parking lot.

When I called in this morning, the dispatcher asked when I would be delivering because there were 2 options in the works. I was not given all the details except that one was loading out of Oregon and the other was in Idaho. Well unfortunately, by the time I got to the customer and checked in, got un-tarped and un-strapped, I was too late calling in as everyone went home for the day. If I call in tomorrow morning and am offered a decent load, I will continue my “lucky’ streak of not sitting more than over night. I know it doesn’t always work this way, but it sure is nice.

Speaking of things working out, I was told last week that anyone that is on direct deposit will see their settlements on Tuesday since Monday was a holiday. Well I was expecting to see a few bucks off that first load I hauled to Langeloth, PA. So I was a little concerned when I checked my bank account last night and there was no deposit. I called payroll to inquire as to what happened. Long story short, I was told that this had been deducted, that had been deducted, some more of this and that and well not only did I not get anything, but I was still in the negative by about $350.00. Crap!!! So I asked if I would be seeing anything from my 2nd settlement, and well to my relief, after all the deductions, including the $350.00 negative balance and the cash advance for fuel, I will have a nice chunk of change deposited. In fact, it will be a lot more than what I would have made in 2 weeks as a company driver. Hope that “streak” can continue as well.

Anyways, after I got unloaded I had to make a decision on where to hold up over night. Having no idea where I will load out of, I didn’t want to go too far in one direction because of the possibility that I may end up heading in the opposite direction to load. There is nothing in Wala Wala and had to decided weather to go north, South, East, or West. I decided to roll the dice and head south back to Pendleton and hope that I made the right choice. Besides, at $2.99 a gallon, I will top off again tomorrow to replace the fuel I burned going to and from Wala Wala and for idling all night. And you can bet at that price I will squeeze every drop I can into my tanks.

 

You'll love that cheap fuel right up until you do your IFTA and have to pay the taxes.

Oregon is the worst state of all to buy fuel in, by far.

 

they'll get you either now or later and right now i prefer later :wink:

 

Fuel in Troutdale is 2.79 !!

Is Davis doing your fuel taxes?? If so, are they doing the trucks as a group or individual??

We always filled up in OR with Arrow (lease truck) and never got hit with any extra taxes other than the .13 per mile for running the state.

With your own authority it is different. Then IF you buy fuel in OR you would only buy enough for the miles driven in the state.

Most companies you lease to give you 2 weeks of running BEFORE taking out ANY deductions except ins. That sucks not getting a settlement when you are expecting one.

tootie