Spoke with the Other Fella that drove for my last Part Time employer, was curious how was all going where he said not so hot. Seems the old Pete I drove had been sitting A LOT, owner had found a few to try as far as drivers but none have worked out so far. He had beans to haul so after a long sit the owner pre-loaded one evening and we caught a hard cold snap that night. He went to leave out where the engine overheated shortly after and he managed to limp it back to yard. T-stat stuck shut where had been sticky cold for quite awhile, also got a w/p as seals got cooked. He got three loads then called the week. Following week the Second truck was busy, the Pete was lined up to haul from a local farm, KW was delivering beans to IL barge terminal went and reloaded fertilizer where it began to smoke puff and miss, slight rattling going on. Driver called owner who was headed in to dump, got KW(2007 W900 Cummins ISX Premium Delete) towed to KW Fenton. Found broken valve bridge, parts ordered so owner swapped trailers(MAC on KW has conventional Dolly Legs) and delivered the fertilizer. Called next day on progress, cam is bad, MORE parts ordered(this is a Tuesday), so second driver takes Pete as loaner to keep running. No word on Wed. so owner calls Thursday, cam and bridge arrived, did not order and ASSumed the cam bearings were coming with cam, didn't, more parts ordered will be late Friday to complete. Second driver is now dealing with rain, touches brakes Pete skids, trailer does NOTHING, almost panics touches brakes again all good, deals with that four more instances. Calls owner who tells him I had told him was doing something like that but had not the time to get it in shop. Second driver heads to Pete and gets diagnosed, TP valve. Had to order as is Oddball for some reason, takes a full day to receive. Driver is ANGRY at this point as owner knew had a issue, safety concern. Call KW, trying to complete, parts came in late, not going to be done Friday, finally get call Saturday after noon was ready. Following week the two are hauling again, the two are speaking on phone, as Owner in Pete states Oh Hell, losing air. Small leak behind dash ALSO NOTED needed looked at some time back much worse. Limps to KW Fenton, the Suspension dump toggle grenade, KW does not have, order from Pete and go to pickup, takes ALL DAY to complete makes two more loads and calls a week. Truck goes to regular maintenance shop, fifth wheel and slide table finally get removed, clear rust from frame rails and under table, straighten top flanges and re-install table, replace pivot lock pin bar and alignment guides for wheel, rebuild jaws, as was VERY TIRED. On way home pinion seal on front diff starts throwing oil, reman diff from last summer seal fails, back to Pete for warranty, not covered as has to have yoke speedi sleeved which was NOT done on first repair, owner PO'd. As Junkyard stated when I spoke to him of this, "Welcome to Owner Operator Trucking!"
Not only can owner operator trucking suck at times it's much worse when you dont take care of the little things quickly as they come up cutting corners always bites your butt Also I thought the only way small guys like that made it cause they do there own wrench turning on the simple stuff and go to dealer for last resort
Every time I think about hiring either of my trucks/ trailers out to do some part time/ full time hauling, I read stuff like this. Local - when I need to haul my own stuff- might be enough for me.
The owner is a farmer but really has no idea as to what it takes to keep a older Pete or any truck functional and then how to work on it. He can barely change a belt or a lamp as needed to keep the batteries charged or DOT from spot inspecting. I always did and do my important work, services are cheaper done by local garages where they can be rid of the fluids/filters not me trying to dispose of. He is more into his own service work where has settled to extended service hours/miles Schaeffer Oil system but on engines that are bordering on time to overhaul. I am suspicious the cam/bridge failure was due to lubrication issues.
I guess I've never bought into the whole schaeffer miracle oil thing. I guess I always figured the engineers at Mobil, and Shell would be able to do the same thing. I could see it making sense if you're doing huge numbers of miles on small margins- playing the pennies game so to speak. I just try to change mine when they need it, oil is cheap, when you're operating on a smaller scale like me.
Oil is cheap when shops want 20 thousand plus to overhaul an engine these days all my new equipment is factory drain intervals at 500 hours but we still drain at 250 I see it as cheap insurance I have never had motor problems due to lubrication and I dont intend to It's the factor of what's it really cost you to shave or cut corners and if your playing the pennies game were your consistently on a thin margin that 300 dollar oil changes make a difference it's time to get out of that business cause you are not making money
All my machines get regular services just prefer to know they have been done and lives extended for those pennies. Same owner is trying to justify being in a trucking business to justify ownership of those machines for his own farm harvests. Does not understand one way volume increases do not pay the dead miles back, kept trying to push me for more loads per day(one way), the other driver as well while could not rationalize the $$/mile did not ever change no matter the miles increases, only when get return loads was there any true increase but he just cannot see that. He really does NOT need to be in the trucking business.