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February Locations and Banter

RoadTime

RoadTime

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
Coldest night ever?

Probably not. But for me, I can't remember a colder one, topping out this morning at -11/-36 WC it definitely beat when I had to spend the night in Denver a year or two ago. The van was an incredibly hard start in Denver, hopefully the heater block that was on will be of some help today.

Found out how wimpy my home furnace really is, it just could not keep up, as the temperature inside continued to drop. I was very tempted to sleep in the van, the Espar had to be doing a better job then the home furnace :rolleyes:
 
Dynamite 1

Dynamite 1

Moderator
Staff member
Fleet Owner
I would think the ? would be on ROI. How long are you keeping the trucks these days and how much do they stay out over night when heat is required. Also, figure in when it gets real cold and you dont want to shut them off. They do work really, really well though !!
 
Wolfeman68

Wolfeman68

Veteran Expediter
Fleet Owner
US Marines
jelliott said:
I am talking about putting them in all the company tractors. Any feedback on that good or bad?
Click to expand...
On the good side, they will save a lot of fuel and wear on the truck engines. Drivers will be warm. Of course, in weather like this, you almost have to run the engine or you could have trouble starting.

Bad side is who you will have to deal with to get them installed.

I've been looking into these capacitor starting batteries which would eliminate the need to idle. They guarantee a start in temps at minus 30 degrees. Don Bentz sells those.
 
Dynamite 1

Dynamite 1

Moderator
Staff member
Fleet Owner
The one from Maxwell or something different. The one from Maxwell replaces one battery and is used to only start the truck.
 
jelliott

jelliott

Veteran Expediter
Motor Carrier Executive
US Army
Those batteries are nice. But they are not cheap. But compared to jump starts.....
 
ebsprintin

ebsprintin

Veteran Expediter
for the fleet use of the espar, the shop would have no trouble learning how to install and maintain them. there are probably a couple tricks involved, but nothing that couldnt be learned. as a one owner unit, mine has held up for years with only one motor replacement which someone with access to tools could do themself. it pretty much diagnoses itself.

eb
 
Wolfeman68

Wolfeman68

Veteran Expediter
Fleet Owner
US Marines
ebsprintin said:
for the fleet use of the espar, the shop would have no trouble learning how to install and maintain them. there are probably a couple tricks involved, but nothing that couldnt be learned. as a one owner unit, mine has held up for years with only one motor replacement which someone with access to tools could do themself. it pretty much diagnoses itself.

eb
Click to expand...
The shop could service them no problem. Install no. Not if you want a warranty. At least in Michigan.
 
jelliott

jelliott

Veteran Expediter
Motor Carrier Executive
US Army
Warranty in the install is only on the install. Unit warranty is unit warrant per Espar.
 
flattop40

flattop40

Expert Expediter
Well lets see. Week in review.

Truck breaks down loaded. :( According to dealer it's the clutch went out. In an automatic? Who knew? Not me. Did not know there was a clutch in an automatic in these big trucks. IF all goes well should be back on the road by Wednesday. Estimated cost 3k give or take.

Woke this morning to frozen pipes. After an all day ordeal I have water at kitchen and second bath but master bath is still waterless. Temps were -28 with wind chill close to -40 and 730 this morning and calling for the same tonight.

Really tired of winter but my bench mark day for spring is when pitchers and catchers report and that is this week. :) Bring on the warm weather!!!
 
jjoerger

jjoerger

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
US Army
One winter my wife and I were on a run that went past our home. We stopped in to grab a few things. No one was living there at the time and everything was shut down. When I went to use the restroom I was shocked to discover that the toilet bowl water had frozen. The reason for the big surprise? I live in Florida.
 
flattop40

flattop40

Expert Expediter
Also a big thank you to Dynamite 1 for coming to my rescue and finishing the load. And I would remiss in not mentioning the hard work Ryan did in coordinating the cross dock and logistics on his end. It truly does take a team effort to run a successful operation for both the broker and the owner/operators alike.
 
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