It's a Team's Life
Fantastic Experience
The date for the truck build was set in Cleveland, OH and we were there to witness the event. First we had a group meeting and then off we went to find our truck in the production line. First we found the day cab that did not have back windows. The shell had all ready been painted white inside and out and was being brought into the plant to be completed. We watched as the wiring was first installed, then the door panels and then the mirrors and then we were off to find our axles.
You might wonder how we knew these pieces were our? Each piece had the last six of our VIN on a pretty good-sized tag. The day cab was easy to find, as it had no back windows. We found our axles and these were easy to locate as they had disc brakes and the VIN.
Next we found our fuel tanks and we are trying a new combination, one 120-gallon tank and one 80-gallon tank. The 80-gallon tank will be on the same side as the after treatment system and it will be plumbed to only fuel the generator. This setup should work well for us with the expected fuel mileage we will receive. We were also able to watch as fuel tanks were being built from a flat piece of steel.
Next we found our DT12 Transmission and then we found the DD13 engine and watched these two paired up. Without the tag this combination would have been hard to find and this was a common site.
Next we went over to find our frame rails. There are two production lines and our truck was on the A line which I thought was pretty cool. The A line is for trucks that are out of the ordinary or are getting something special. To see our 40' frame rails and only getting one drive axle it was very apparent why it was on the A Line. We saw our current truck as a day cab and I thought it was very long but to see those frame rails with nothing attached they seemed to go on forever and ever.
mounted and our after treatment system was added and it continued to march towards the frame rail paint booth. The workers mask off everything that is not to be painted as the rails enter the wash bay, move on to dryer, then into paint booth, and next through the oven to dry.
We were able to study our new dash and a couple of the new additions such as our On Guard System and the new paddle shifter for the DT12 transmission. We also watched as our new bright orange seat belts were installed. The new truck will also have Virtual Technician that will be like have a mechanic that is inside the truck to diagnose any ECM codes for us.
We ran out of steam after walking over four miles in the plant, standing and watching as the workers worked on our truck and we were not able to stay till around midnight when the truck would be started and drove off of the line.
I do know this it was something to see how all of our parts
were in different parts of the building and were converging to meet up with the
frame rails as they progressed.
What an
awesome experience and I know as we drive our new truck we will think of the
many people we talked to as they were tightening bolts, positioning parts and
wires, or adding the axles and how pleased they were to meet us. One of the reasons they are pleased to meet one truck owner operators is that they know we choose to buy their product.
Bob & Linda Caffee
TeamCaffee

Saint Louis MO
Expediters since January 2005
Expediting isn't just trucking, it's a lifestyle; 

Expediting isn't just a lifestyle, it's an adventure;

Expediting isn't just an adventure, it's a job;

Expediting isn't just a job, it's a business.