New D unit PM

[zorry]

It's kinda of a weird deal. I'll pm you.

 

[ATeam]

You may be right, but they could also say 150 hours or once per year.
It's a small motor, limited oil capacity.

Phil, other than oil changes, have you done the other items ? Something about cleaning a spark arrester or something. It's so dependable I haven't looked at book since new.

Maintenance-wise, I have done generator coolant flush and fills once every two years, and changed the belt one time after the original broke (it was nice to have the spare in the truck). I also did the spark-arrester thing the owner's manual talks about but do not belive it is necessary after seeing no results.

 

[ATeam]

That was my next question : How to dispose of the oil ? Politely ask the shop manager if He will accept it I suppose.

I do my generator oil changes in truck stop parking lots. The oil drains into an empty oil or windshield washer fluid jug. With a piece of tape and big marker, I label the jug "Waste Oil" and take it into the shop. No one has declined my request to leave them the oil. Most of the time they say "set it there," enabling me to quickly walk out. Sometimes there is no one in the shop and I'll just leave the labeled jug near where they drain their oil from trucks.

Walmarts take waste oil too but I quit going there for that after one of them made me fill out a form before taking the waste oil. Like, seriously? It's just easier to get rid of the oil at the same truck stop you change it, but if the truck stop has no shop, a Walmart will do.

 

[ATeam]

Can anyone comment on developing a preventive maintenance program for a 2014 D unit from Stoops freightliner. Truck is also TVAL.

I'm going to be driving this soon, and am very interested in bringing down costs for the truck owner, and decreasing downtime for the team.

When moving into this new truck, you may find it wise to take an extra day out of service, maybe even two, to sit in or near the truck and study every page of every owner's manual that comes with the truck. Use that time to develop your maintenance spreadsheet (if you feel the need to have one) and learn your way around the truck.

I know you are not the truck owner but the following is still true:

If you do not own and operate your truck, your truck will own and operate you.

With a truck, the best defense is a good offense. You want to have the initiatiave. You want to stay ahead in the game. You do that by being proactive with maintenance and repairing little things before they become big things.

Unless you build your knowledge to the level of a full-fledged truck mechanic, and even if you do that, there will always be more to know about a truck than you can know. But that does not mean you cannot master your truck at the owner-operator level. Keep leaning into it. Make it a goal to learn something new about your truck every week. There are 52 weeks in a year. You can learn a lot in that time.

Choose your study topics carefully, thinking first about which topics are most within your reach to do something about. For example, there is much to learn about tire wear patterns and the wheel alignment defects that may cause tires to wear in a certain way, and all of that is interesting stuff. But you are not going to do a wheel alignment by yourself. Learning how to change the lamps on your truck and do generator oil changes in the parking lot will save you the money and down time you are seeking to save.

When you are studying your manuals, put the study priority on things that correlate with your daily pre-trip and post-trip inspections, like air brakes and push rods, for example. If the manuals say little about these items, go online and learn there.

I knew almost nothing about diesel engines, or trucks for that matter, when Diane and I entered the business. When we bought our truck three years later, I studied the manuals as described above. Especially helpful in the Volvo manual were pictures that showed and identified major engine components. It was fun and empowering to stand by the truck with the open book and say "Ah-ha! So that's where that is, and that's what that looks like."

Confidence grows with familiarity. In a sad incident at a truck stop, I visited with a decade-plus experienced driver whose tractor had been backed into the night before "by a rookie," he said. The damage was serious and major repairs were needed. He was standing there with his hood up, on the phone with the owner, trying to explain the damage but could not. As a favor to the driver, I spoke to the owner, describing, item by item, the components that had been damaged. When the call was complete, the driver said, "I don't know them, I just drive them."

You, ChanceMaster, are not that driver and are off to a great start. Bravo!

 

[ChanceMaster]

Ateam,

Great advice as usual.
I'm still pretty green as a 3 year veteran of expediting, all in the same truck, carrier, and owner. It seems to be working for me as I still enjoy it.

It's going to be even better with the creature comforts the new truck will offer. That being said, I also understand that its " all about the money". All the fancy bells and whistles will be for naught if the owner can't realize a good ROI on His venture. I'm really hoping to be able to contribute to the bottom line by being educated on ways to keep the truck rolling as profitable, efficient, and comfortable as possible.

All these tips and "tricks of the trade" should help in doing so. I like your description of " leaning into it " and taking care of the little problems before they become big ones. I've noticed that mechanical issues escalate pretty quickly out here.

Thanks again for the kind words and advice. Looking forward to highlighting those manuals.

Gary