Broke Down Again, This Time In Rochester, NY

Looks like we are broke down again! This time the bunk climate control unit has decided to stop working after only a week and a half. Freightliner Cascadias really suck bigtime!

That's me sitting behind Matt's computer on the bed. And that's my cruddy-looking litter box I've been doing my business in for the past 4 and a half years. As you can see, it's had better days. Maybe now that it looks like I may be staying a while, Matt will shell out some green and buy me a nice, new one. Don't hold your breath. He says "as long as it doesn't leak, there's no point in buying a new one."

So we sit...and wait at a motel for a part that's been backordered due to its popularity since the same problems are happening in so many of these new, poorly-built trucks. But don't expect a full-blown recall or anything.

Brand New Truck!!! Oops!, Someone Already Hit It!

It has happened... Well, a lot has happened, actually.

For some reason Matt's company decided to trade several 2006 trucks in early at only around 450,000 miles on the odometer. Matt and I were assigned a brand-spankin'-new, red, 2011 Freightliner Cascadia two days ago. Hooray! Never have I experienced the smells of a factory new semi truck with only 19 miles on it. Quite an experience for this aging cat. And to think that only 8 months ago Matt and I thought we would have to part company due to anti-idling laws and our company's seemingly rigid pet policy.

Now the bad news. And it's mounting. We drove only about 242 miles to North Platte, NE from our company terminal where we got the truck before realizing some bugs that had to be fixed. Unfortunately they weren't the kind of juicy, crunchy bugs with wings in which I occasionally indulge, but technical crapola that caused us to go to the nearest Freightliner shop to have it fixed. A part was ordered to arrive Saturday so we spent the night Friday evening at the nearby Love's Travel Plaza.

At around 9 or 10pm we heard a loud scrape-crunch noise on our driver-side caused by some 4-month rookie driver whose passenger wife was too lazy to get out and spot for him to make sure he backed in next to us safely. Now he will likely lose his job, and we will have lots of downtime getting this damage fixed! See photos. So now while we waited for the technical stuff to get fixed, we looked forward to going back to the terminal and wait for them to do the body work. But they told us to wait until the middle of May when Matt and I take our vacation to have it fixed, since it would be at least a 1 week job. So we get to drive around showing off our new accident, while everyone thinks Matt probably caused it himself. Lovely. Oh well, everything has its price.

The part that sucks the most for me....is all the time I'm spending locked up in my kennel. All day while Matt transfered all his junk from one truck to the other, most of the day while we waited to be told what was needed to fix the truck, the day following the accident while we waited for UPS to deliver the part we needed, while the damage was being assessed at the corporate terminal by honchos of note, etc... It's a wonder I don't start making messes in this thing. Glad I have a towel in here...

Today we're in Ohio, on our way to Rochester, NY to deliver Monday (too much time to deliver), so we can get a load through home to have the nearby terminal also assess the damage and order parts and panels. Phew! Lots to do when rookies hit our truck!

Mixed Review On New Truck Offering

Matt and I had a look at the new trucks the company is buying. The reviews are mixed. The new truck is called Cascadia by Freightliner and has a new look, but not that new.

First the good bits.

1) Better insulation! The walls are thicker and better sealed, which means fewer ear drops for me when it gets cold. The Century we have now lets an arctic breeze in through the window crank and the door handle. Our current truck has to start up and shut off very frequently while we sleep in order to blow hot or cold air to maintain a comfortable temperature. No longer an issue.

2) Bunk furnace! Now we don't have to run the truck at all during the winter months. We can leave it shut off at night and sleep with no disturbing vibrations or shaking, thanks to a separate heating unit in the sleeper compartment where Matt and I snooze.

3) Better fuel economy! I don't really understand this one, but Matt says it means the company is less likely to go belly-up with lower fuel costs.

4) Comfy seats! Good for Matt. I lay on the dashboard.

5) Closet doors on closets! No more mesh nets that allow junk to spill out onto my tender little brain-cover. My noggin will be happier for it.

And now the not so good bits...

1) A/C not separate! We still have to idle the stupid truck in the Summer months just to stay cool. If Matt leaves the top sleeper windows open and the bottom vents open and the front windows open a little I won't die from suffocation. Also helps if he leaves the blower on low (so as not to drain the battery) to keep some sort of air circulation.

2) Power windows on both sides! Personally I have no problem with this. All I need to do is stomp on the buttons located on the inside door panels and the windows open up...FOR ME! I can get out and run around and get lost in joyful abandon. Matt says I will wind up in the kitchen of a Korean restaurant if this happens, even though I assure him I would return...eventually.

3) Power door locks on both sides! This means I can step on the buttons to allow strangers in the truck to pet me and give me treats while Matt is away...or asleep in the bunk. I get so lonely when he's gone. Again, no problem for me. And I don't see too many Koreans in truckstops.

4) Brake-seize-up-thingy! There is this thing that causes the brakes to seize up if you get too close to another truck or 4-wheel thingy, all for the sake of safety. I really don't know much about this except that the trucker we spoke to yesterday swore a lot about it...and loudly. I learned lots of new words yesterday, but cannot yet manipulate my mouth or tongue to speak them. Matt won't allow me to type them.

5) No place for the XM Radio antenna! In fact Matt says there is no where to attach anything at all on these new Cascadias. No flags, no banners, no CB antennas except a mount for small antennas only.

6) Limited storage! No more big open storage space above the windshield for me to jump up into (that makes Matt so angry!). Matt will miss it, too.

Matt says progress is two steps forward but one step backwards. I fail to see the logic there as lessons are usually painful to learn. Why take the one step back? Do humans forget the pain involved in learning? Go figure. Anyway we will probably be getting a new truck in March or so when the old one gets turned in. The old one should have 500,000 miles on it by then, maybe more.