Charlotte Truck Center

Charlotte Truck Center

My truck broke down on the entrance ramp to south I-77 30 miles north of Charlotte, NC.

I was on my way to Augusta, GA to pick up my load for the weekend. As I drove on the entrance ramp, my truck stopped moving forward. I kept pressure on the accelerator - nothing.

I called an "on the road" service truck. They came out, changed my fuel filters, which had just been changed at my recent oil change, but could have been bad if I picked up some dirty fuel.

Nothing. They attached their mobile diagnostic unit to my engine. Nothing. They said something was wrong that their mobile unit could not code.

So, I called Charlotte Truck center, the closest freightliner center. They called a tow truck for me. An hour later I was hooked up to the tow truck and on my way to the truck center... I keep up perfectly on all of the maintenance recommended for my truck and NEVER wanted to be part of this scenario.

We pulled into the center. It was very busy. When I signed in, I found out they were so busy they would not be able to get me in until Monday, it was Friday at noon. =(

They had a Red Roof Inn shuttle bus to pick up stranded truckers. I gathered my stuff, including laundry and emptying my frig, since I would be in the motel all weekend and the Red Roof rooms had refrigerators! I got into my room and "settled in". Put my stuff in their the frig in my room, went down the hall and put my laundry in and then sat on the bed and turned my computer on. Now...what to do until Monday!!??

On Saturday morning I decided to walk to the truck center, about 1/2 mile away. I got into my truck and grabbed a few things I thought I would need for the rest of the weekend. Then walked back and went the other direction a mile to buy some things at the Rite Aid Pharmacy up the road. As I was walking I saw the Saturn Rest and Rehabilitation Center. See my blog to find out what came out of that!! Very Fun! ( "Started as"just" an Idea)

So, after waiting out the weekend..Monday morning came.....

I walked back to the center. My truck was still in the lot. I got in and laid down on my comfy cozy bed to wait. I didn't wait long, about 10 minutes, and my driver door opened. They were here!! They reattached the drive shaft that needed to be disconnected to be towed, they hauled out the battery charger as the battery died over the weekend and drove it, slowly, with no acceleration, into the repair bay. The diagnostic tests began.

As much as I have enjoyed the power and ease of my 335 HP Caterpillar C-9 engine, (Cat C-9) it turns out it has a design defect. The HEUI pump (pronounced: Hewey) shaves off little metal flecks, like metal dust. They get into the fuel as it is pumped to my fuel ejectors, clogging up the ejectors and therefore taking away all of my acceleration. Not only did the HEUI pump have to be replaced, but so did all 6 ejectors, at a cost of $457 a piece. By the time I drove out of there Tuesday afternoon, with the Roadside service truck, tow truck, motel and repairs, it all came to over $6,000, as well as losing the weekend load, all-in-all it was very heavy hit for me.

Special note: I do want to say I am very thankful for James, the Service Dept Head and Don, the certified Cat Engine Mechanic. They were very informative, patient and kind in helping me with all of my questions and concerns. James patiently answered everything I asked and Don took out the little magnifying glass and light and showed me the little metal flecks he was telling me about. They made a very "painful" situation for me as easy to take as could be taken. And I appreciated, very much, the reduction they were able to take off of the retail cost of the parts.

This is the first time in my life I have owned my own "HOME". So, I know these are upkeep costs like all home owners deal with. It is all new to me, but I am still very very very very thankful I have this wonderful truck!! I have pictures on the sidebar of this blog.

I am now back On The Road. I had a load to Maryland and now am on my way from Richmond, VA to Chicago, IL.

God is so Good and takes care of me Mtt 6:25 -34

Life is Good.

Slick Winter Road Blocks

This morning I woke up to lines of semi trucks stopped in their efforts to get out of the TA truck stop I had pulled into last night. I too was stuck as I tried to back up a little hill of the spot I had parked in! I walked to the TA store to buy a bag of salt - they had none! So, I walked across the street to the Pilot Truck Stop and they also had none to buy, but the manager let me have a cupful out of their salt bag they used to salt their sidewalks. I walked back to my truck, threw two handfuls of salt at the base of my back drive wheels and started my truck and - poof! - backed right out, that was all it took. I was very happy and on my way!!

Well. sort of on my way, except the lines of semis in the aisles. I managed to maneuver my truck through the lot over behind the fuel aisles and find a nice dry spot and pulled in there.

As I looked around here is what I found: (PS I figured out - too late - I had my phone camera on incadescent!! So, thus all of the blue photos. Won't happen again, promise. =)

This truck was stuck, simply on a flat sheet of ice, all morning. He turned the corner to the TA driveway, his wheels slid out from underneath him and he jack-knifed. The wrecker first tried to pull him from the front, didn't work, went to the back, hitched to his trailer, pulled him back off the the ice patch and he was FREE! he backed into the intersection and drove away!

This guy slipped as he was driving UP the driveway, his wheels just started spinning .

The police came and said, you need to get this truck out of the way! DUH!!?? Some people can be so insightful at times!! Anyway, he got his chains out, and was able to then pull up the hill and saved himself a big Tow Truck bill!!! Yay!!

This driver was trying to drive up the exit driveway because the other truck was stuck in the entry driveway!! Well, he FORGOT the cardinal rule of driving up a hill on ice - DON'T hesitate! Keep moving! He hesitated, when he tried to get going again, he just slid and slid, banged in the front of his tanker pretty badly and was perpendicular in the driveway. When the wrecker pulled the top truck back into the road, and then another truck off another sheet of ice, then he finally came and pulled this guy out and FINALLY, many many hours later ALL of the trucks in the parking lot aisles were able to go on their way!!

This is the way the driveway looked this afternoon!! Completely clear, no ice and yet this AM this was sheer ice and the tanker truck was perpendicular to the direction of that Target truck.

Felt like a warm spring day this afternoon!! About 46 degrees.

The ice had all melted and little streams of water appeared!

South Chicago

I was heading to a transfer drop in south Chicago at the UPS docks. I drove north on I-94 from Indiana. My street Pilot took me off the freeway at 79th St South in Chicago. It was 10 miles to go west across 79th St.

It was eye opening. A non affluent area! Beautiful weather and lots and lots of people hanging out at little parks and in front of shops and cafes and bars, etc, etc.

I was driving through lots of stop signs and stop lights, very slow drive. I'll admit, I made sure my doors were locked.

After about 4 miles I saw a bridge up ahead. As I got closer I noticed it said 13' 0" clearance!!

I had to stop in the middle of the street!! My truck cleared at 13' 4", I knew I wouldn't make it!! As I stood trying to figure out what to do, knowing I would probably need to back up on this busy street and turn around somehow!

Two men approached my truck, looking like they might want to help me. They did. They stopped traffic and helped me back and turn around. After turning I pulled to the side of the street. They came up to my window and asked me for a paper and pen, I gave them my little notebook. They wrote out these directions to help me know how to go around this low clearance bridge and get the next 5 miles to my destination!

Then he said, this is what we do all day, can you help us out? I said sure, and gave them $5, I was thankful!! He said they hustle everyday for this money! I was amazed!! I had experienced a new experience in South Chicago.

Continued evidence Of God's Love and Provision for me

As the next week of driving started, I heard, once again, the dreaded "hissing" sound. I also was to a point that I needed a regular service for my oil and filters. I was thanking God for my loads and my beautiful truck. I asked Him to lead me to a place for a service and a check of the new "hissing" I heard.

I was sitting at a very small Pilot truck stop in Mahwah, NJ. There "happened" to be a small truck repair shop right in their parking lot. I walked over and asked them if they could help me! =) Of course they were happy I stopped by, but for me I took my location as providential. They serviced my truck and fix the second air chamber on the back driver side airline for $427. That was not a real "bargain", but I had the money and was pleased it was fixed in a timely matter, that did not interupt any loads I had dispatched.

It was about noon and I headed out to my newly dispatched pick up about 50 miles south of me at 5PM that afternoon.

The front end of my truck started shaking violently. I didn't want to believe it was anything serious!! I slowed down and the shaking stopped. Everytime I accelerated it started shaking again! I did a u-turn and headed back to the shop I had just left 15 miles back.

They could not figure out why it was shaking, but recommended a shop down near the place where my pick up was scheduled. I soooo did not want to turn down the load I was scheduled for. It was a load back into Canada in Montreal.

I drove slowly to keep from shaking. At the next shop, they said they would have time for me the next morning. I was very firm and said that I would have to cancel my load to Canada and REALLY did NOT want to do that. They relented and took my truck in.

It turned out the tiny pull to the left I had felt and didn't think much about was my front end out of line. It had badly worn the inside of my passenger side steer tire. It had also worn out the tie rod ends. So, even though, it cost me $700 for two new tires and another $250 to put them on and realign the front end and replace the two tie rod ends, I was on my way in time to make my pick up on time and head to Canada!!

I was and am very thankful I was safe and on the road again.

The REAL miraculous part of this story goes as follows:

As I drove over the next couple of weeks, it seemed the truck was pulling very slightly to the right now!! This made me very nervous because the last time it was pulling slightly to the left, it turned to be out of alignment and ruined one of my tires and the tie rod ends and cost me $950!!

I was out of money now and didn't know what to do!?

I prayed and thanked God for my truck and job and asked Him to lead me and show me what to do!!

The alignment I had just had done had a 30 day warranty on it. That warranty was up on July 19th. It was July 16th and I had not been dispatched anywhere near Elizabeth, NJ where I had had the work done. I did not want to pay for the alignment check somewhere else when I had a free warranty check waiting for me in northern NJ. I prayed, I was sitting in southern NJ, a couple of hundred miles away from Elizabeth, the closest I had been all month, but still too far away to just "deadhead" to.

A dispatch came over my Qualcomm sattelite system. Pick up in Parsippany, NJ at 4 o'clock the next afternoon!!! I almost couldn't believe it!!! That was only about 15 miles from the repair shop!!! So, I took off, drove to the repair shop and parked in their lot. The next morning they took my truck in, checked it out and corrected the small problem. Also, my generator had not been blowing very cold air through it's air conditioner. I took the easy opportunity to have them refill the freon, which only cost $58 and I was on my way with a perfect driving truck and a great cool air conditioner.

It is such a wonderful feeling to know that God had provided this opportunity so miraculously. I felt very blessed and happy.

God's Love and Provision Continued

I picked up a load in Detroit and headed to Quebec City, Quebec to deliver it the next day.

I noticed a small "hissing" sound coming from the Air Brake button on my dash!

As I accelerated the air pressure built up in my airline system and the "hissing" stopped. The air pressure in my Primary air system built up to the required 120 lbs of pressure. A truck can legally stay on the road if the air pressure is between 100 and 120 lbs of pressure. The pressure in my secondary air line stayed at 115, so I was OK. (If I got stopped and inspected at a "weigh station", and they heard the hissing sound, I would be "put out of service" until a mobile fix it truck came and fixed the leak - very expensive and time consuming!)

As I stopped and started through my trip across Canada, I would hear the "hissing" and then as I accelerated it would stop and my air pressure would build to the legal limits. I was getting very nervous about this. I did NOT want to break down in Canada.

The next day I backed into my dock and the "hissing" seemed to get worse. My freight was unloaded and I took off towards the US border. I was very nervous by this time and was praying that God would protect my truck until I got back into the US.

I crossed the border, by Lake Champlain in northern New York. There was a nice little truck stop a few miles into NY. I stopped and got on the internet. I was praying and asking God to lead me to a place I could have the airline checked, that I could afford!!

It was Saturday AM, a weekend, most places were closed. After about an hour of searching around on the internet, I found a place listed on the NTTS site a national truck repair site. It was 120 miles straight south of me, on the freeway. I called. It was a small business owner who operated out of the garage on his property. He hesitated, because I wouldn't be able to get there until Sunday AM. But, I did sound quite desperate and he relented and said I could come.

I started driving the 120 miles down the freeway. I was checking the air pressure gauge on the dash every few seconds. I was scared, and praying constantly. The pressure stayed up and I kept driving.

I arrived at a truck stop at about 7PM Saturday evening. The truck repair place was only a block away. I was VERY relieved and had a nice dinner and watched a little TV and slept like a baby that night. In the morning, about 7:30 I drove over to the address I had. I drove in and parked. What a great "feeling" to know I made it safely to the repair shop!!!

When I saw the garage where this man had his small shop, I was again relieved. It was all very neat and had most of the high tech equipment you see in a big expensive truck repair shop. When I met the repair man, he put me at ease and seemed to know exactly what he was talking about. It turned out I needed a new air chamber in the back passenger side break line. He repaired it and tested it in about an hour and only charged me $171.00, I was elated!

I paid him, gave him a $20 tip and went on my way!!

What a relief. I thanked God for leading me and taking such good care of me!!

Please see my next post for another incident of God's protection and provision for me.

God's Love

Being alone, On The Road, could be very scary!
Since I have a natural adventurous spirit, it is exciting for me.

Mostly, it isn't scary, because I KNOW God is with me as I trust Him.
Many things happen that make me very aware of God's presence in my life.
A lot of them go by and I privately smile and praise God in my heart for His provision and protection of me!!

Honestly, the scariest part of being an independent owner-operator of this beautiful truck God has provided for me, is having an accident or something breaking down. The time lost in getting something repaired and the money it costs to repair a truck can be devastating. I thank God daily for my truck AND the company He has led me to work for!

I pray daily for His protection and provision. (I also drive very carefully!! Lots of following distance and slow around curves, especially exits.)

Well, I digressed, back to God and His love for me.

When I first got my truck in March of '09, I started praying and asking God to help me with the maintenance and upkeep of my truck. Every 12,000 miles it needs to be serviced, oil and filter changes. It costs close to $200 and needs to be done every 6 weeks or so. It is pretty easy to find places for these services at truck stops and other shops along the way, so that hasn't been too hard. God has provided enough loads for me, through Tri State - the company I contract my truck to, to provide the money to pay for these services.

I have had 3 breakdowns since March, please read my next posts to see how God directed me to places to have these repaired. In my heart, they were nothing short of miraculous and I felt so loved and provided for by God.