Archive for the ‘Trucker News’ Category

Just in case any of my readers think I’ve given over my site entirely to animal rescue, today I want to talk about customer service.

When Marilyn and I were on our way back from our trip to Alberta, we spent a couple of nights in Winnipeg awaiting a reload. Due to seasonably warm temperatures I was forced to run the truck both nights so we could keep it cool enough to sleep.

Now anyone who has one of these environmental engines will know how much they hate to be idled for any length of time. As much as I love this DD-15, all the problems I’ve had with it involve environmental mechanisms.

On the second morning, while picking up my load in Portage la Prairie, the “regen” light starts flashing at me. While that in itself is not too serious, I know from experience, that to ignore it for too long can result in complete engine shutdown.

I tried to do a parked “regen”, following the directions in the manual but the light continued to flash tauntingly at me.
My first inclination was to take it to a Freightliner dealer since that is what I’m driving after all. Turns out there are only two of them in all of Manitoba but one is in Winnipeg and it wasn’t too far out of our way.

The first thing I noticed upon arrival at Freightliner was a lack of parking. Not a good situation when your primary customers drive big trucks. So I parked in the yard of a warehouse across the street and walked over.

The first person I encountered was a sour faced woman at the service desk who was having an unpleasant encounter with a customer who soon left in disgust and frustration. From this I figured my best approach would be a low key one, with a little humor and empathy thrown in for good measure.

“Looks like I’m not the only one having a bad day.” Says I with a little smile.

“Wouldn’t be so bad if I could get a few things caught up” she replied, not even looking up at me. She continued what she was doing for a few minutes while I waited patiently.

Finally she looked up and said in a grumpy voice, “What can I do for you?”

I explained my problem, to which she immediately responded, “We couldn’t even look at it till later in the week.” As if I’d told her I had a picture of my truck I wanted to show her.

The lady (and I use that term loosely) did me one huge favor though. When I protested that I had a load of frozen food with a desperate need to be in New Brunswick by Thursday, she said, “Why don’t you try Waterous Diesel?”

She even went so far as to give me an address and look up the phone number for me. I marvelled that their shop was doing so well they could afford to send business elsewhere, but thanked her politely and left.

Now this is the point where my Winnipeg experience made a definite change for the better.

I went back out to the truck, told Marilyn what had transpired and called Waterous Power Systems on my cell phone. The man who answered was friendly and polite. Told me, “Sure come on over. We’re a bit short handed but we’ll fit you in.” He told me how to get there, where I could drop my trailer and said he’d see me when I got there.

I was already feeling better about my situation than I had since it started.

I don’t want to drag this out any longer than necessary so just let me say this. I encountered, and spoke to, six different people during the time I was at Waterous Power Systems. Every one of them was friendly and helpful and treated both Marilyn and I with nothing but respect.

Most importantly they solved my problem in about an hour and we were on our way. Well maybe that wasn’t quite the most important part. When I asked how much I owed they said, “Don’t worry about it. We didn’t actually do enough to make it worth printing out a bill.” Then they gave me a two page printout of my fuel consumption data and bid us a good day.

Now you tell me. Where do you think I’ll go first if I ever have engine problems in Winnipeg, Manitoba again?

Thank you Waterous Power Systems. You’re tops in my books.

Isn’t technology wonderful? Here I am in a truck stop in Oak Creek, Wisconsin on a Sunday. I have no internet connection for my laptop, (mainly because I’m too cheap to pay the five bucks for the short time I’d be able to use it).

And yet, thanks to a little free download, I’m able to post to my GrumpyOldTrucker blog directly from my Blackberry. And don’t get me started on the Blackberry. In my estimation its the greatest single piece of communication technology to come around since the discovery of the hollow log.

Oh I know, some of you are very happy with your regular cell phones or the snazzy new iPhone but for me its Blackberry all the way.

And look at that, I can even add a photo directly from my Blackberry’s camera. Mind you its not the most exciting spot to be clicking pics, but beggars can’t be choosers.

This is my first attempt at using this new software but if it works as well as advertised you just may be seeing more regular posts from me.

By the way. I really would welcome more feedback from my readers. If there’s anything you wish to see more of or any suggestions for future posts leave me a comment. If you wish your comment to remain private just say so, as comments don’t become live on the site until I approve them anyway.

I look forward to comments and suggestions. Keep your stick on the ice.

GrumpyOlTrucker

Some of my readers will be interested to hear how the rest of my trip to Texas went after the breakdown, so here goes.

It took them most of the day Wednesday to diagnose the problem with the truck.  Finally about mid afternoon, after much consultation with Detroit Engines over the phone, they determined what was needed was an injector valve.  Only problem was they didn’t have one in stock and the nearest one was in Memphis.

If they had ordered it as a regular stock item, it would come via ground freight and likely not show up until Monday.  Or, I could pay the air freight, and they would ship it overnight. Duh. Not much choice if you ask me.  So then arrangements were made for the shuttle from the Quality Inn to pick me up.  That took a couple of hours and a second phone call but eventually I was checked in for the night.

The lady at Freightliner had told me this was a good motel, firstly, for the special trucker‘s rate, and secondly,  because there were several choices of places to eat nearby.  So once I had stowed my gear in the room and turned on the air-conditioner I sallied forth to find me some growlies.

What I really had in mind was some authentic Mexican food but I soon found out that was not to be.  After chatting with a fire fighter who was standing by a fire engine a couple of blocks up the street, I found out, that for some strange reason that even he couldn’t explain, all the local taco joints close up at 3:00 in the afternoon.  And as if in proof, I passed at least two of them that had CLOSED signs in the windows.

Well having found nothing but fast food joints in one direction, I turned and headed back the other way past the motel, and eventually found a Bill Miller Bar-B-Q.  By now I was suffering greatly from the heat, so I was eager for the chance to get inside with the A/C and sit down, no matter what the food was like.

Well this place was only one step up from a fast food joint.  Food was picked up at the counter, served on disposable foam plates and paid for at the cashier before you can  go and sit down.  Aside from that the food wasn’t too bad.  I had a combination plate of sausage and beef brisket.  This included baked beans, cole slaw, fried potatoes, onions and pickles, sweet iced tea and apple pie for desert.

Following supper I returned to my motel room and spent the evening working on my websites.  The free breakfast provided the next morning was excellent.

It was mid afternoon the next day before the truck was ready, (I won’t bore you with all my agonizing over the delay). My Laredo load had already been put off a day, and my dispatch was anxious not to have to call the customer with more delays.  However, once I got on the road I wasted no time in high tailing it south on I-35 and by that evening I was loading mangoes.

The load had been brought across the border from Mexico by a Mexican truck and driver, which backed into one loading dock, while I back my trailer into the dock right beside it, and the load was transferred onto my trailer.  There was a US Customs officer on hand to cross all the T’s and dot all the I’s and within a couple of hours I was once more northward bound.

Everything went more or less smoothly for the rest of the trip including the stop at US Customs in Detroit to get the transit bond cancelled after the load was x-rayed.  Sunday night I delivered the load in Cambridge, Ontario, end of story.

Well I should have known that my week had been going just a little too smoothly.  I left Nova Scotia on Wednesday with a load of snow crab bound for San Antonio, Texas.  Had a bit of rain for the first couple of days, but that only served to clean a few thousand bugs off the grille and mirrors.

Plenty of time, and the truck was running well. Regular stops for meals, showers and sleep. All was right with the world.  Then I was informed that the earliest appointment I could get for delivery was 5 PM Monday, so that gave me even more time.  I actually dawdled a little.

Then when I was less than an hour from point of delivery a message came on the satellite, “By the way there could be a lumping fee of up to $150.” And me already 10 miles past the last truck stop coming into San Antonio.  They would put that amount on my card they said, but then came a mad scramble to figure out where I was going to be able to access the money.

Finally after studying the truck stop directory and the atlas I drove right past the customer and on east a couple of miles on I-10.  After the third truck stop I tried, I finally had my $150 in hand as well as a couple of hundred I decided to take out of my own account through the ATM just to be on the safe side.  Back to the customer, and still a half hour early for my appointment.  But then I was informed I had the wrong PO number and they couldn’t find me in the computer.

By this time it’s after business hours in PEI and everyone’s gone home for the day.  However, I tracked down a dispatcher on his way home for his supper and he reluctantly turned around and headed back to the office. Thanks Johnathan.  A half hour or so later, I have the correct PO number, I’m backed into a receiving door and waiting patiently for the lumper to show up. Finally the lumper knocks on my door and informs me the price will be $180.  Thank goodness I had the foresight to take out the extra cash.

Now when I left home the temperature was in the upper teens and low 20′s Celsius.  By now I’m looking at low 40′s, which is something I’m not really accustomed too, but thankfully the A/C is working fine and I’m pretty comfortable except when I have to go outside.

A couple of hours later my load is off, my bills are signed, and I head back over to the Flying-J for the night.  I’m not really expecting a quick turn-around because there are hundreds, maybe thousands of trucks in the area all looking for paying loads.  So, I settle in to the truck stop, hook up to the WIFI signal and work on my websites.

The next day (Tuesday), mid afternoon, I’m informed I have a reload out of Laredo about 2.5 to 3 hours away.  Trouble is it doesn’t load until 7 PM Wednesday.  So I hunker down, make myself comfortable, happy in the thought that I’ll at least get a reset on my logbook. Well the real problem began after supper, when without warning the truck’s engine shuts down.  There goes my A/C, and believe me it doesn’t take long in these temperatures to notice the loss.

To make a long story short but sad, I ended up awake most of the night, since the earliest appointment I could get at the Freightliner dealer was 7:00 Wednesday morning.  I worked away on the computer inside the truck stop till 3:00 in the morning or so.  Then I tried sleeping in the truck, but the heat and humidity soon drove me out into the cooler night air with a nice breeze blowing.  I ended up for the last 4 or 5 hours in a chair in the driver’s lounge in front of a blaring big screen TV.  I don’t know why they call it a lounge as any lounging I was able to do in that most uncomfortable chair was painful to say the least.  Somehow I managed to doze on and off and maybe got a total of an hours sleep.

Anyway I’m now at the Freightliner dealer awaiting the news.  I know it has to do with the emission control system, and it shut off on me 5 or 6 times on the two mile drive over here, but at least it didn’t require a tow which would not be included under warranty.

The long and the short of it is that a truck is just like a kid.  When it behaves it’s a genuine pleasure to have around but when it doesn’t, it’s like a kid throwing a tantrum.  There ain’t much you can do except stand by and wait for the air to clear.

Here’s hoping all your miles are happy ones.

Hi all.

So whats it like to be a British Trucker? To be honest, it’s a thoroughly thankless task. Crowded roads, impatient drivers, inconsiderate employers and draconian legislation all add up to stress, tiredness and misery.

British road are very busy. Rush hours are, as you’d imagine the worst time to travel – but they seem to be getting longer. Morning rush is between 6.30 and 9.30, and the afternoon peak seems to be from 3 to 6. There are no roads over here that you can just get on and drive for hours and hours. The longest single road in the UK is a little under 400 miles, but to travel the length of it would be considered a full days work. Along the way you’re sure to encounter road works, road hogs and road rage.

One thing you won’t find is good food or places to park for the night. The days of the family owned truckstop are long gone, so now all you’ll find are service areas that cater for all road users, and are owned by large “hospitality” companies. As a result, they are totally focused on separating you from your hard earned cash, and giving as little as possible in return. Most contain some sort of fast food franchise, usually one of the big US burger chains, as well as a “family” restaurant, in which you’ll find grossly over-priced, poor quality food, that’s been sitting for hours under heat lamps – the only thing that isn’t as tough as shoe leather are the limp, soggy french fries. Other facilities in these service areas include one filthy shower that will give you an occasional dribble of tepid water, a shop selling rubbish at a 50% mark up and a game arcade. For the pleasure of parking here, we are charged about $35!

So more often than not, you’ll find trucks parked up in lay-bys (which are little areas at the side of the road for motorists to stop for a few minutes), or on industrial areas. Naturally, there are no facilities here – no toilets, washrooms, or food.

On the plus side, we don’t have to stop at every scales we come to. Most scales over here are also check points, where Police and Government Inspectors will examine you and your vehicle. These only operate part-time, and you only stop if instructed. Most of the officers know what they’re looking for, so if you drive for a well known and respected operator, you get left alone. I’ve only been stopped once in the last 5 years.

We face the same issues as you regarding the people we work for too. Planners and dispatchers that make promises to customers that the driver can’t possibly acheive, delivery and collection locations that think you have nothing better to do than sit and wait for hours on end, and people generally blaming the driver for everything that goes wrong.

Life tends to be easier if you travel out of the UK and into Europe, but not always. Most of the European bound traffic travels from here to France, and the bulk of that travels by ferry or tunnel from Dover in south-west England to Calais in north-east France. As this is a very busy route, it has become a focal point for French strikers, so whenever the French farmers or truck drivers have some sort of grievance, the first course of action is to block the roads approaching Calais. Similarly, the French fishermen have no hesitation in using the thier boats to blockade the entrance to the port. However, if you’re lucky enough to get over unscathed, Driving in Europe is a much more relaxed and pleasurable experience, and drivers seem to be treated with a lot more respect.

So your deliveries in Europe are done, and you’ve got your collection and you’re heading home – but your problems aren’t over yet! Believe it or not, there is a massive movement of people out of Africa, and they all think that England is the promised land. They pay all their savings to people traffickers and make epic journeys up through the Sahara desert to Libya,  across the Mediterranean sea to Italy, then up through Italy into France where they all converge on Calias. Here, at the final hurdle, they’re looking for an England bound truck on which to stowaway. You must check your vehicle VERY carefully, as there is an automatic fine of £2,000 for every illegal immigrant that comes in to the country in your vehicle, even if you can prove you didn’t know they were there. Drivers used to report any stowaways
they found, but now are more likely to let them go free to avoid the fines.

As with everything in life, there are good and bad things in a truckers life over here, so I’ll talk about the good stuff next time.

Take care.